Rain Shortened Coca-Cola 600 Proves One Thing To Junior Nation

CHANGE is NEEDED!

Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t have much to show for this season except a second-place finish at Talladega, and top 10 runs at Las Vegas (10th) and Martinsville (eighth).

In five out of the last six races, Earnhardt Jr. has an average finish of only 28.6 (not including the second-place finish at Talladega).

So again those are finishes of 20th (Texas), 31st (Phoenix), 27th (Richmond), 27th (Darlington), and 38th (Charlotte).

Not very impressive are they?

I’m sure that sponsors National Guard and AMP Energy are not very happy with any of these results. And of course, I believe that Rick Hendrick and Earnhardt Jr. are not either.

There were rumors before Mark Martin won at Phoenix that they would swap the crews of the No. 88 and No. 5, but once Martin won at Phoenix and Darlington, those rumors were crushed and denied.

So the BIG question is what will happen this week.

A shakeup needs to happen NOW for this No. 88 team. Who can/will fill the role of crew chief for Earnhardt Jr. because that is where/what they need to change first.

Now don’t get me wrong, Tony Eury Jr. is a successful crew chief and a hard worker. And he knows how to work on these race cars. And that’s exactly what he needs to do.

Eury Jr. has only won two races with Earnhardt Jr. since taking that spot from his father Tony Eury Sr. in 2005 (Richmond (2006) and Michigan (2008).

Fifteen of Earnhardt Jr.’s 18 career wins have come with Eury Sr. over a five-year span.

Is Eury Sr. the answer?

I don’t know, and I wish I did know, because as an Earnhardt Jr. fan, it sucks to watch the races. It's no fun anymore.

Earnhardt Jr. carries a lot of the sport. They have to change this week or the story at the end of the year will be about how NASCAR hit its peak and is falling off the charts.

Earnhardt Jr. has a chance to lift NASCAR out of its economic downturn, but only if he wins races and contends for championships.

Michael Moore is a Sports Jabber Contributing Author

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