Eury's unsung efforts make Junior's HMS path smooth

As the final laps wound down Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, Tony Eury Jr. found himself on the brink of doing something he never did -- gamble. This is a guy who, when the Sprint Cup tour visits Las Vegas, won't even lay $20 on the tables. He called over to Steve Letarte, his fellow crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports, and asked: Are you going for it? The answer was short and immediate. No way.

So it would be just him, making the call that would send driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. to either a narrow victory or another crushing near miss. The last time he had tried something like this, in 2005 with Michael Waltrip, the fuel had run out and Jeremy Mayfield had coasted to the win. Now, the computer said they would be two laps short. But they were tired of that 76-race winless streak, tired of all the questions about when they would win in Hendrick equipment. They were in front and wanted to stay there. So who cares, Eury told his driver over the radio. Go for it.

"You don't want anybody to have a misfortune," Eury said later, "but I was like, please, somebody hit something."

He got his wish when Patrick Carpentier spun, ending the one attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, and making Earnhardt a winner for the first time since Richmond in the spring of 2006. There wasn't even enough fuel left for a victory lap -- the No. 88 car coasted down the pit road, and had to be pushed to Victory Lane. But none of that mattered. They were winners again. The pressure was off. And it all happened because Eury had taken an uncharacteristic risk, bucking the cautious nature that so many members of Junior Nation deride him for, and proving once again how much trust exists between this driver and this crew chief.

"It's a little underestimated, but that trust is there every time I climb in the car," Earnhardt said. "I wouldn't choose this job. I would go do something else if I didn't believe in my crew chief and didn't have faith in what kind of racecar he built. And if I didn't have that option and opportunity, I don't feel like this would be very enjoyable."

Earnhardt is enjoying the best start of his career, with already as many top-five finishes as he had all of last year, a third-place points standing that almost guarantees a Chase berth, and now the weight of waiting for that first Hendrick victory finally removed. And so much of it has happened because of the unsung efforts of Eury, who's been at Hendrick since last October, laying the groundwork for what's been a mostly seamless transition for NASCAR's most popular driver to the sport's biggest team. Judging by results, he's grasped the new car better than any of his teammates. He's smarter than people give him credit for, and he runs an operation that performs as if it's been at Hendrick for years.

And what does he get for all this? Not the endorsements and adulation his driver does. No, the crew chief catches only heat, criticism from supposed members of his own fan base, people who don't think he's creative enough to win consistently at NASCAR's top level. No matter that all but one of Earnhardt's career victories have come with Eury on the box in some capacity. No matter that Eury was calling many of the shots as car chief in 2003, when Earnhardt finished a career-best third in points. No matter that Earnhardt trusts Eury more than he trusts any other person when it comes to the racecar, and that a move to Hendrick without Eury would almost certainly have set the driver back months.

Yes, they're family -- their mothers were both daughters of the late ace Hendrick fabricator Robert Gee. Yes, they squabble and curse at one another on the radio. Yes, their working relationship isn't exactly as buttoned-down as you'd expect from a couple of Hendrick employees. But it's clear they bring out the best in one another. And it's obvious that Earnhardt has fared far better with Eury than without him.

"There's one thing that I'll never change, and that's how me and Tony Jr. work together," Earnhardt said. "People have just got to get used to it, and that's just how we are. That is that, and we ain't going nowhere. When we win, obviously the big problems are little problems and the little problems are gone. But as long as we work together, which I hope is forever, we're going to go at it because that's just how we want the best for each other. We want the best out of each other. You can write that story. If that's what you want to write for the rest of your career, you can write it, because it will always be there."

Eury will be the first to admit, he's been a little conservative in the past. The nature of this crew chief isn't to take chances like the one he took Sunday. But working for Rick Hendrick is changing that. Earlier this year at Phoenix, in a similar situation, Earnhardt pitted for fuel and teammate Jimmie Johnson stayed out to win. At Michigan, those roles were reversed.

"If I can see Dale Jr. happy, and I can run top-five and I can see my pit crew happy, and everybody is enjoying their jobs and we can come here week in and week out, I'm perfectly happy with that," Eury said. "And sometimes that's why I don't go for it, or I don't put it on the line is because, you know, why take a fifth-place car and run 25th? Why do something and bring the whole team down? I would rather see them up on the pedestal and the moods be good. That's kind of been the difference over here. Me and him, we've got to get a bigger fire because Rick expects us to win every week."

Eury should know -- after all, he started his career sweeping floors at Hendrick. Now he's calling the shots for what statistically is the organization's top driver. And Earnhardt wouldn't have it any other way.

"I'm fortunate," Earnhardt said. "I know there are other great crew chiefs out there, but at the end of this whole deal, in my mind, he'll be considered one of the greatest."