Garage gab: Strong runs boost confidence of the 8 and 30 teams
There's no question that Dale Earnhardt Jr. needed that win on Saturday night in Bristol. In their last nine races, they only had two top-10 finishes. Both were top fives, but one of them was at a road course and one of them was at Daytona. We only have one more restrictor plate race and that's at Talladega. We have no more road courses.
On Friday morning at Bristol, I told car chief Tony Eury Jr., "You guys have to get 'em here, don't you?" He said, "Well, we're very glad to be at a race track where aero is not an issue." While the cars run at 120 to 140 mph around The World's Fastest Half-Mile, you can just about cut off the body and still run decent laps there. They were thankful that they didn't have to deal with that part of the equation because it sounds like they've been fighting some aero issues. After the race, crew chief Tony Eury Sr. said there are some wild, off-the-wall and aggressive setups in the garage, and sometimes you get caught up in them because everybody else is running them. If you don't understand them, you probably have no business running them, but he said that he has to give his driver what he's looking for. If that's conventional stuff or off the wall stuff, that's what we've got to start doing.
| Speed Mail Larry McReynolds |
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Burton boosts 30 team's confidence
Richard Childress told me on Friday night that the 30 team may be the best and most solid team in his stable. I know they are only two races into their honeymoon, but that group seems like they're coming to life. He even led the race until Earnhardt Jr.'s fresh tires prevailed. But Jeff Burton and the race team, led by Kevin Hamlin, needed a strong fourth-place run like they had. Hamlin is a smart crew chief. I talked to his wife on Saturday night, and she said that he has been beating himself up left and right this year. He just didn't know where to turn or what to do, but Saturday night's run not only gives Burton confidence, it gives the race team — and in particular crew chief Kevin Hamlin — confidence.
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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