Monticello — Rick Hendrick has replaced Tony Eury Jr., chew chief and cousin of Dale

Earnhardt Jr. Eury was reassigned to Hendrick Motorsports' research and

development group. Lance McGrew, who has worked with several NASCAR Sprint

Cup and Nationwide Series drivers over the years, was named as Earnhardt's

interim crew chief starting with the Cup race at Pocono next weekend.

Brian Whitesell, manager of Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevrolet team, called

the race this past weekend at Dover. Earnhardt Jr. managed a respectable

12th-place finish.

Pressure on Hendrick to make the change had been building in recent

weeks, but he didn't act until after Earnhardt finished 40th in the 43-car

field Monday in the Coca-Cola 600.

"The frustration after Charlotte just reached a point with all of us

that we said, let's try something different," Hendrick said in a

teleconference.

"This year, our goal is to make the Chase and we think we can do it.

Some guys are going to have to have some bad luck and we're going to have to

run a ton better."

Hendrick said Eury has "tremendous talent" and that "we want him to be

part of our organization for a long time."

But Earnhardt's struggle created "probably the most pressure that I've

felt in racing since I don't know when," Hendrick said. "Hopefully we're

going to ease some of that. We just need a fresh start."

Junior met with reporters at Dover and said the pain of his split with

cousin Tony Eury Jr. "may linger for a long time."

"When you're at Hendrick Motorsports you're in the best equipment, and

you should win races," said Junior. "And if you don't, that makes for a hard

argument that you had any business being there in the first place.

"We've got to work hard the next six months to give ourselves that

argument.

"And I really think we can do it.

"Everyone on that team knows we've got the microscope on us. That's

sometimes a good thing, sometimes a bad thing.

"If you don't run top-five or top-10 every week, you're not that good.

"Most everyone else in the field doesn't get that kind of scrutiny,

doesn't get ridden so hard.

"But we know those are the stakes, and that when we show up at the race

track we have to live up to those expectations."

Meanwhile the issue over Jeremy Mayfield's drug suspension by NASCAR

grew even more complex.

Mayfield and his attorney went to court Friday in attempt to get a

restraining order against NASCAR. The judge denied Mayfield's request

because Mayfield and his team did not show up for the Dover race.

Mayfield said he had been taking two medications; one was Claritin-D and

the other was a prescription drug for Anxiety and Attention Deficit

Disorder.

NASCAR said he had tested positive for a third drug, which they labeled

extremely dangerous. Mayfield said he had not been told about the third

drug, which could have been amphetamines.

In the suit, Mayfield alleged that NASCAR did not follow proper testing

procedures and failed to give him a chance to prove his innocence. He even

said one of the samples had been tampered with before it was tested.

Another hearing has been set for next Wednesday.



Weekend Racing: All three of NASCAR's major series' will be at different

tracks. The Craftsman Trucks are at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway, while

the Nationwide Series will be at Nashville Superspeedway. The Sprint Cup

teams travel to Pocono, Pennsylvania.

Fri., June 5, Craftsman Trucks Winstar World Casino 300, Starting time:

8:30 p.m. (EDT); TV: Speed.

Sat., June 6, Nationwide Series Federated Auto Parts 300, Starting time:

7 p.m. (EDT); TV: ESPN2.

Sun., June 7, Sprint Cup Pocono 500, Starting time: 12:30 p.m. (EDT);

TV: TNT.



Racing Trivia Question: How many children does Jeff Gordon have?

Last Week's Question: Where is Tony Stewart's home town? Answer:

Rushville, Indiana.

You may contact the Racing Reporter at: hodgesnews@earthlink.net.