No. 11 Pit Crew Switched Up After Repeated Mistakes

By Mike Kerchner
Senior Editor
CONCORD, N.C. — One week after Dale Earnhardt, Jr. announced he was leaving Dale Earnhardt, Inc., the team his father founded, and would be looking for a new ride, his step-mother and DEI principal Teresa Earnhardt announced a partnership with Richard Childress Racing — the team most believe the younger Earnhardt will join next season.
DEI and RCR have come together to create Earnhardt-Childress Racing Technologies, a company which will build engines for both racing companies, with engine development work to begin immediately.
The new organization will develop and build engines for Nextel Cup and Busch Series cars fielded by both companies. A new facility will be built, but until then work will be divided between RCR’s Welcome, N.C., location and DEI’s Mooresville shop. All six Cup Series cars fielded by the two operations are expected to use common engines for the first time at Daytona in July.
“I spoke with Teresa a couple of months ago,” Childress explained Friday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. “It was an idea I had and I spoke to her about it. Ritchie Gilmore and I got together with Max (Siegel) and started talking more about it. It really makes sense for us to put our programs together.”
Childress believes the partnership will pay dividends years from now.
“We are looking really more down the road, a couple of years down the road,” he said. “With Toyota doing what it is doing, the model that Yates (Robert Yates Racing) and Roush (Roush Fenway Racing) put together. Hendrick is doing about 11 or 12 teams right now, and we feel we can only be more powerful.”
Earnhardt-Childress Racing Technologies will also lease engines to other teams competing in NASCAR’s top-three divisions. As well, the company expects to build engines for other racing applications, including the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series, off-road racing and late-model stock cars.
RCR and DEI, along with Andy Petree Racing, were previously part of RAD, an aerodynamic consortium formed in the late 1990s among the three Cup programs. 
The late Dale Earnhardt earned six of his seven Cup championships driving for Childress.
Childress said he had not spoken to Earnhardt, Jr. since he announced he was leaving DEI and said the partnership with DEI was in the works long before Earnhardt, Jr. made his decision to look for a new employer.
 
— Matt Kenseth and his Roush Fenway Racing teammates claimed the pole for the Nextel All-Star Challenge, completing three laps of the 1.5-mile superspeedway and an 11.6-second pit stop in two minutes and 1.401 seconds. Jimmie Johnson qualified second.
Meanwhile, Roush Fenway teammates Carl Edwards and David Ragan swept the front row for the Nextel Open.

— Ryan Newman’s Penske Racing No. 12 team won the NASCAR Nextel Pit Crew Challenge at Charlotte Bobcats Arena May 16.
The team made four penalty-free pit stops en route to a 24.66-second final-round victory over the Petty Enterprises team of Bobby Labonte. The winning team of jackman Britt Goodrich, gasman George Whitley, catch-can man Bryan White, tire changers Ben Brown and Joe Piette, Jr. and tire carriers Trent Cherry and Scott Reineger earned $70,300.
Meanwhile, the individual winners per position were jackman Mitch Lash (No. 44 Toyota), gas man Jeff Patterson (No. 20 Chevrolet), catch-can man Brian Larson (No. 20 Chevrolet), tire changer Nick O’Dell (No. 9 Dodge), tire carrier Jason Gay (No. 9 Dodge), tire changer Daniel Rankin (No. 43 Dodge) and tire carrier Bryan Rockwell (No. 43 Dodge).

— Denny Hamlin was visibly upset after a mistake on a pit stop cost him victory at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway last week. As a result, heads rolled at Joe Gibbs Racing and Hamlin’s No. 11 crew had some new faces at LMS, with Scott Wood moving from gasman to jackman and Brad Rothlin from the JGR No. 18 Busch team taking over as gas man. Scott Merritt, also from the No. 18 Busch team, joined the team as front tire carrier. Dennis Terry moved from back tire changer to front tire changer, with Jonathan Sherman moving from the No. 96 Cup team to rear tire changer. Heath Cherry remained as the rear tire carrier and John Eicher as catch-can man.

— In an effort to help make sure the team qualifies for next weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the Wood Brothers have hired 1988 Nextel Cup champion Bill Elliott to drive their No. 21 Ford. Third-generation Wood Brother Jon Wood was scheduled to drive the car, but with the team having failed to qualify for two of the last three events, Elliott’s champion’s provisional could be important for the team’s chances of competing in NASCAR’s longest race. Wood shares the ride with Ken Schrader, who gave his blessing to the hiring of Elliott.
Elliott will also drive a Toyota in Saturday night’s Busch Series race.

— Crashing was the name of the game during practice and qualifying for the Nextel Open and Nextel All-Star Challenge on Friday. Robby Gordon, David Stremme, Michael Waltrip and Aric Amirola were among those who crashed. Many blamed a harder compound Goodyear tire for the difficulties.

— Toyota teams used a new tune-up package in their engines here this weekend in hopes of improving performance. The change came the result of chassis dynamometer tests conducted following the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (a track very similar to LMS) in March.

— Two veteran drivers picked up sponsors for the All-Star weekend and the Coca-Cola 600 at LMS. Coke Zero will sponsor Kyle Petty’s Dodge, while the Pep Boys auto parts chain supported the Ginn Racing Chevrolet of Sterling Marlin.

— Dale Earnhardt, Jr., car owner Teresa Earnhardt and crew chief Tony Eury, Jr. were severely penalized by NASCAR this week for the improper mounting brackets found on the rear wing of the team’s Car of Tomorrow prior to the May 13 event at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The team was docked 100 driver’s points and 100 owner’s points, while Eury was fined $100,000, suspended for six races and placed on probation through Dec. 31.
The team is protesting the severity of the penalty, but admitted in a statement a mistake was made and the brackets “should not have been on the car.”

— Legendary NASCAR driver Junior Johnson has lent his name to a new distilled alcoholic beverage manufactured by Piedmont Distillers in Madison, N.C. Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon Carolina Moonshine will be available in state liquor stores.

— Robby Gordon has hired Gene Nead, formerly of Bill Davis Racing, as the new crew chief for his No. 7 Ford.

— NASCAR officials said Friday that the indefinite suspensions of Michael Waltrip Racing crew members David Hyder and Bobby Kennedy will be lifted May 30. Both were tossed out after Waltrip’s No. 55 was found with doctored fuel during qualifying for the Daytona 500. Waltrip has cut ties with Hyder, but Kennedy, who has worked for Waltrip for many years, will return to the Toyota operation.

— Tim Andrews, son of Petty Enterprises crew chief Paul Andrews, recently tested a Nextel Cup car fielded by Dale Earnhardt, Inc. at Kentucky Speedway.

— Kyle Busch has created the Kyle Busch Foundation to benefit children with special needs.

— Former crew chief and team owner turned television announcer Andy Petree dominated the inaugural crew chief’s race, which was held prior to the Nextel Open utilizing 600 Racing built Thunder Roadsters.