by Lee Spencer

Dale Jr. shake-up

Tony Eury Jr. is for Dale Earnhardt Jr., as HMS tries to turn around the struggling No. 88 team. It had to hurt Rick Hendrick to split up Dale Jr. and his cousin, but here's hoping the No. 88 can rebound soon. Spencer: With his crew chief out and the heat on, Dale Jr. says he'd leave his ride to help the No. 88. But he'd rather fight on. Crew chief-driver splits are nothing new. Here's what the No. 88 has to do to get back on track. Hammond: Rick Hendrick finally came in and split up Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Eury Jr. But he should've acted sooner. Video: Rick Hendrick talks about the big change to Dale Jr.'s No. 88 team.

Earnhardt qualified 22nd and struggled through the first quarter of the 400-lap event Sunday but advanced to seventh on the restart following the third caution on Lap 122. Earnhardt remained positive about the potential of the team, but cautioned against judging the new situation too quickly.

"I felt like he was riding with me all day," Earnhardt said of his early reaction to McGrew. "That was a good feeling. Hopefully, we can keep that up. We had a lot of good communication. Again, it's the first race. We have a lot to learn about each other.

"I'm just going to work really hard on being mature and trying to maintain my part of the bargain and be willing to work for the whole team. I'm dedicated to trying to work hard and turn this deal around. This is a very, very, very small step in that direction."

Earnhardt felt the communication was "easy to understand" between himself and McGrew. His delivery and tone over the radio appeared calmer and more calculated than over the last few weeks as tension grew between Earnhardt and Eury.

On Sunday, Earnhardt's feedback was specific and respectful.

"They told me I had to give them a lot," Earnhardt said. "I took it up myself to do that. It was really hard to be that way with Tony Jr. It wasn't his fault. Maybe it's my own personal fault.

"(Eury and I) were too cool to talk that much to each other. There was too much pride I guess, between me and him. I don't know how you love somebody that much and carry so much pride around him, but that's the way we were. It's really easy to talk to Lance. He was like a sponge, taking all that information in."

Earnhardt called the race a good start but joked that he'll wait and see how they communicate in two months. We'll wait and see if we're at each other throats then or not."

Earnhardt emerged from the No. 88 car relatively fresh compared to the last few weeks of competition. He described his performance as "easy today" and felt like he could "go some more." When he was racing among the top five, Earnhardt said he wasn't putting any effort into using the car.

Overall, Earnhardt said he was thrilled by Sunday's showing.

He wasn't the only one.

Team owner Rick Hendrick, who made the decision Wednesday to separate Earnhardt and Eury, monitored the No. 88 team's radio on Sunday and considered the first outing "a good effort" and was "pleased" with the progress that McGrew made with the driver. Hendrick said Earnhardt met with the engineering staff throughout the weekend and devised a plan where the driver would describe the car's condition through each individual corner.

The game plan paid off.

"I thought the communication was really good," Hendrick said. "The car, we got to the front. We were one adjustment off that we had to take out of the car. But overall, I'd give it a really good grade.

"I think had we not had that adjustment we have a top-six or a top-five car. For the guys to work that well together that quick, I was really pleased. I listened to them all day and the communication was extremely good. The feedback was really good. I think that we have something to build on there going to Pocono."

Hendrick said the company has been supportive of the move. Given his personal relationship with the cousins, and the fondness he held for their grandfather, Robert Gee, Hendrick felt a new beginning was the best approach for everyone.

"It's a real tough decision when you have two really talented guys," Hendrick said. "Tony is a very good crew chief and Dale is an extremely good driver. But they've never worked with anybody else. All they know is what they've done for their racing careers and sometimes you need a fresh start. Tony needs another challenge.

"The pressure has been unbelievable for those two guys. It was to the point that I don't know how they took it. I could feel it. I could see it in their faces. I think that both guys will benefit from this."

Earnhardt said the key to the program progressing is being flexible and open minded. He felt "beat up" by the time his relationship with Eury ended but Earnhardt is hoping to build on the team's positive results.

"I don't want to give ourselves any credit yet until we can perform at this level more consistently," Earnhardt said. "But I'm really proud of my guys. I'm proud of Lance and I'm proud of Rick for supporting us. Everything they have done to try to help us has started to work."

For the Hendrick teammates, including Sunday's winner Johnson, it seemed as much of the weekend was overshadowed by the No. 88 team's struggles. Johnson called the situation difficult but was gracious enough to wish Earnhardt success.

"For us, teammates are family, and we want our teammates to be successful and win races and championships and all those things. So in one respect it is difficult. But at the same time, we have to worry about what the 48 team is doing and how our performance is," Johnson said. "Once we get into the motions of the weekend, we're just really worried about our setup of the car and our strategy and our shocks, our tires and really into our world. And when we have our debriefs we're able to share what we've learned and hope that the other guys can use that for their setups and stuff.

"The hardest part truthfully is answering the questions. Once the helmets go on and once cars fire up and we're on track, that's really the easiest part. I'm sure Junior would probably say the same thing. Once you get in the garage area and get to work, that's the easiest part of the job."

Earnhardt moved to 18th in the standings. He remains 501 points behind first-place Tony Stewart.

Lugnuts