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'Interpreter' may help 8 team communicate

by Larry McReynolds

FOX race analyst Larry McReynolds has more than 25 years of NASCAR experience as a mechanic, crew chief and broadcaster.

Updated: August 25, 2004, 5:32 PM EST

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Patti from Maryland: What do you think of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s on-track slump? I don't understand why he does not have a better running car. I think that he should get a new crew chief or borrow Martin Truex Jr.'s crew chief Kevin "Bono" Manion and see if he can get Dale Jr.'s car running better at each race.

Larry McReynolds: I think the Chance 2 Busch team and the DEI Cup teams do a good job of sharing information, and I certainly have a lot of respect and admiration for Tony Eury Sr. and Tony Eury Jr. We can't forget they're the same two guys who won two Busch championships with Earnhardt Jr and most of that crew.

Whether it's aero, the new tire combination or a combination of several things, Earnhardt Jr.'s feedback is not what they need, or they're not interpreting it right. I'm not saying that they need to wipe out that group and start over, but maybe they could bring in someone to help try to tie Junior to the crew.

Speed Mail Larry McReynolds


SpeedMail Subject: Comment/Question: Name: Email: Hometown:

Earnhardt Jr. is a tough nut to crack. His dad was a tough nut to crack. I worked with him for two years, and sometimes I felt like I was going to have to take him into the corner and beat him with a ball bat to try to get feedback out of him. When I'm told the car isn't driving good, I can't fix that. You've got to tell me what it's doing and where it's doing it. I think Earnhardt Jr. gets frustrated very easily as his dad did so I think it's probably a combination.

I don't know that Kevin "Bono" Manion is the answer. I don't know who the answer is or if there is an answer. But that team is missing something, and I think they need to try something different. If you do the same thing every week, you're going to get the same results. Bringing someone in — "an interpreter" — to dig deeper into what Earnhardt Jr. is feeling and trying to tell those guys may help them understand what he's really trying to tell them.

You don't win three races — Daytona, Atlanta and Richmond — and sit third in the points without doing something right. They are lacking consistency, but every time we think that group is out in left field, they win a race or two. They're a very unpredictable race team.

FOX race analyst Larry McReynolds has more than 25 years of NASCAR experience as a mechanic, crew chief and broadcaster. He and his fellow Crew Chief Club members take you behind the wall at www.crewchiefclub.com.

"Larry McReynolds: The Big Picture" is on bookstore shelves now, or you may order your own autographed copy from www.DWStore.com.

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