Mammoth Blog

Starting over -- again -- in my mind is the absolute wrong thing for Hendrick to do but I think he has no other choice after Junior's comments last week in Charlotte. In airing his frustration over the continued failings of the 88 team, Earnhardt didn't quite endorse having crew chief McGrew back to call the shots in 2010 and it seems the whole team is now in complete disarray. Rather than using the final five races of the season to work on chemistry and prepare for 2010, Hendrick will most likely be searching for the right personnel to plug into a situation that has gone from bad to worse in the second year of Earnhardt's tenure with the powerhouse team. In my mind, Earnhardt needs a crew chief that will tell him what to do and how to make the car better and not the other way around. Unfortunately I'm not sure if that person exists right now. Unless Hendrick is willing to really shake up his ranks by pairing Earnhardt with Chad Knaus or Steve Letarte, I think he should leave McGrew as crew chief. Give Earnhardt and McGrew a chance to work together over the offseason and see what transpires at the start of the 2010 season. Though the end result after the crew chief change from Tony Eury Jr. has continued to be mediocre, there have been little sparks here and there to make me think that with just a little luck McGrew and Earnhardt can succeed together. If they don't, it's getting to the point where you have to wonder if there is anything at all that can be done to turn around Earnhardt's fortunes. Clearly the new car is giving him fits and the lack of testing isn't helping his cause.

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