His race day results with No 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a steady decline, crew chief Tony Eury Jr. lost confidence in his setups and strategies. He quit talking with Earnhardt on the radio because every brief conversation was dissected by critical fans and media. Earnhardt can feel the weight of NASCAR and its fans on him at times as the sport’s most popular driver. And when he failed, it was his cousin and loyal crew chief who often took the often unfair hit. When team owner Rick Hendrick pulled the plug on the unproductive relationship in late May, Eury was ready to move on.

“At some point in time you have to weigh it and say, ‘Is it worth it?’” Eury said. “And it wasn’t.” Eury was back at the track Thursday for the first time since the longtime duo were separated with Earnhardt in the midst of one of the worst starts of his career. He’ll be crew chief for #25-Brad Keselowski’s Hendrick Motorsports team for Saturday night’s race at Chicagoland Speedway – a less pressure-packed position than working with Earnhardt. Eury was excited, relaxed and talked about racing with “nothing to lose” this weekend, a sharp difference from his final races with Earnhardt.

Associated Press