Get to know 88′s new chiefs, Brian Whitesell and Lance McGrew
May 31st, 2009
So Tony Eury Jr. is gone — well, not gone, but relocated to a "key R&D role" in the Hendrick Motorsports organization. Change was necessary in the Dale Earnhardt Jr. garage, and change came from on high:
"Our performance hasn’t been where it should be," said Rick Hendrick in announcing the news. "It’s impossible to pin that on any one factor, but a change is the right decision at this point. We have a plan in place, and we’re going to move forward with it."
Hendrick’s Brian Whitesell and Lance McGrew will take over the crew duties, Whitesell for Dover and McGrew will be "interim" crew chief after that. Beyond that, well, it’s a bit early to say.
But who the heck are Whitesell and McGrew? Glad you asked. They’ve got a lot of history with the Hendrick organization, which, as you may be aware, has won a championship or two in its day.
Whitesell (top) is the team manager for both Mark Martin‘s #5 and Earnhardt’s #88 teams. He got into NASCAR by volunteering for Alan Kulwicki’s team in 1992, and was a part of that championship run. Soon afterward, he got a gig with Hendrick, and worked closely with Jeff Gordon‘s team. He served as interim crew chief for Gordon in 1999 after Ray Evernham left, and the team won two of seven races.
McGrew (bottom, the one who’s not Jimmie Johnson) won the 2003 Nationwide championship with Brian Vickers, and also led Vickers to a Sprint Cup victory at Talladega in October 2006. As a crew chief, he’s won in all three series, guiding Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Mark Martin and Ricky Hendrick to victory lane. He was the guy in the box when Tony Stewart won the Nationwide race this past February at Daytona, so clearly he knows what he’s doing up there.
Eury, meanwhile, will be reassigned within the Hendrick organization to what the company called "a key role with Hendrick Motorsports’ research and development group." That’s a whole lotta gray area there; here’s hoping it doesn’t involve getting everybody’s lunch.
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