Dale JR

[Skins57]

I am a huge non-fan of this guy, but let me ask a question.

Did you guys hear his comments after the race about "needing to get in and out of the pits quicker" A true shot at his crew and even said something if they can not get the job done they can go somewhere else.

To me, this is the type of stuff that a driver should never say on camera. What does tis accomplish? piss off his crew? try to make him look like it was all the crews fault he finsihed third( which I would sayis a very good finish).

Am I correct or do you disagree with this.

My opinion is this. If the crew needs ripped do it in hte garage. not in hte media. so his crew had a sub par day, I guess (I was working and missed hte race)

I never once heard his crew or what ever complain about him getting docked points at Bristol for spinning out to avoid going a lap down. Also just last week if he would not have been spinning out everytime I seen him, he could have finished better but did I hear his crew complaining about needing a guy that can actually drive a race car? Let me answer that NO.

Sorry this really ticks me off, I do not like Jr anyway but I think he was in the wrong for ripping his crew live on air.

Ok my rant is over now :D

[rskinsfan10]

Yeah I saw/heard that, and I thought it was bit harsh also. He did seem to point the finger more at them then simply saying that "we" need to do a better job in all aspects of the race.

I'm with you Jeff. Keep that behind closed doors if you are going to single out anyone.

[LATrueRedskin]

Yeah I'm not a fan of Nascar either, but saying things like that on camera and to the public first is not gonna be good for business. Thats not gonna be good for anyone.

[CarMike]

Well, as everyone knows, I'm a huge fan of Jrs. [especially since Jrs a big Redskins fan...] I didn't hear the post race comments. This is the first i'm hearing of this.

But, he said exactly what I was thinking during the race. Down the stretch of the race his pit crew was a good second slower than everyone else. And its been that way for a while now....longer than this year.

What do you expect from this guy? He's in the championship points race. Yes, a 3rd place finish is a excellent finish. But, Johnson still had a better finish, coming in 2nd. That means that he fell a couple of points further behind. If the truth hurts, too bad. His guys needs a kick in the arse. With better pit stops he could have won the race easily.

As for him spinning himself out...atleast he had the balls to admit it. I wonder how many other drivers have done the exact same thing? But didn't have the sack to admit it. If Jr hadn't admitted to it there would have been no way to prove it.

And lets not act like Jr is the first and only driver to say something about his crew that should have been said behind closed doors. The guy is a competitor. I'm sure this was said right after the race when he was pissed off about losing a race when he could have won it with a better crew.

IMO thats what seperates Gordon/Johnson from the others. They have very good pit crews. They stay very consistant. Something Jr has never had. Consistency that is.

[dj_stouty]

Here is what Dale said:

"We came out way behind everybody all the time," Earnhardt Jr. said. "We had one good stop, but I got run into the grass on that one. We've got to get better on the pit stops. If the guys can't take criticism -- we're tired of being patient, being patient, being patient -- they've got to get it together. If they can't take criticism, then they can go have s---ty stops somewhere else. We've got to get faster on pit road.

I really don't see too much wrong with that statement. Obviously he is running low on patience with his pit crew. This is no different than a HC in the NFL having a press conference after a loss and calling out his special teams unit for losing the game.

I'll bet Junior has had plenty of "off-camera" talks with some of his pit members. Maybe this "talk" will work...

[rskinsfan10]

If the truth hurts, too bad. His guys needs a kick in the arse.

But couldn't that kick be applied behind closed doors? I don't think that publically embarassing your employees motivates them one bit. As a matter of fact, I for one thinks that it leads to bad feelings and the chance that things will get worse. He could have threatened their jobs privately, and no one outside of the shop would have been the wiser.

I'll take it a step further and say that in stock car racing, you shouldn't piss off someone that essentially has your life in their hands. The pit crew is responsible for the care of that entire car, and you just never know how someone would respond to being humiliated like that. Not saying that anything like that will happen, but just a thought.

[CarMike]

Good points Kenny. Like dj said....he's probably had more than one or two talks "privately". I'm sure this isn't the first time its came up. dj makes good points about this being like a HC in football not being happy with his STs. So he starts calling them out. He didn't call out anyone by name. But as a unit. Now if he had mentioned a name, that would have been wrong. But he didn't.

And if his team was childish enough to "savatage" his race car, then thats even more reason to find someone else.

[Skins57]

I just don't think he needed to do it on camera. You guys are right that he is not the first to do this but even if my guy (Gordon) said the same thing I would be upset.

My point is this, I can bet his crew chief was not on camera last week saying things like " Well if Jr could have keep the 8 car going the right direction more often we could have had a better finish and if he doesn't get better, he can take his s----y road course driving talents elsewhere"

That is my point. Maybe if the driver is doing a perfect job and at no point does he ever make a mistake (never happen) maybe then he could belittle his crew on air. So the next time he has an off day as a driver, he should remember that

[RedskinsDave]

He should've just punched one of them in the face like Tony would've done. :D

[rskinsfan10]

He should've just punched one of them in the face like Tony would've done. :D
:D

[Skins57]

He should've just punched one of them in the face like Tony would've done. :D


thats funny but soooo true :D

[IowaSkinsFan]

Isn't Jr. saying something like that the same as a QB calling out his lineman on TV saying they need to block better and longer? I'm with Kenny on this one. I think it should have been kept behind closed doors.

[CarMike]

robert, I'd agree except for one thing. Its not like he singled one person out. He spoke as a unit that they have to get better.

[bfauble83]

Its easier to get in and out of the pits when jeff gordon isn't pulling out of his pit box like an idiot

[Skins57]

Its easier to get in and out of the pits when jeff gordon isn't pulling out of his pit box like an idiot
:cry: :lol1:

[Agrawog]

I am sure if the move Gordon made on pit road had been made by JR. or Tony or any of the 'good ol boys' you would have thought it was an amazing aggressive move to keep his position.

I am a medium Nascar fan (watch some races, know something of the drivers) but can someone explain to me the division between JR. and Gordon among the fans. I mean I know they compete and Gordon had a lot of success and all but they really seem to hate him. I have always wondered why?

[Skins57]

My take on it is this. Gordon came into NAscar and with in a few years was dominating and the he was not the normal southern boy. He started beating the fan favorites with regularity and this set bad with the Earnhardt fans and most of the Dale Sr fans automatically liked Jr (understandably) Gordon was this small guy that was destorying everyone for yearsnad had a hot wife (now a rich ex-wife) and I honestly believe most fans got sick of him winning and became jealous of his success (I was :D) Now that is the Gordon fan side of it I am sure the other side will sound much different

As far as the pit road thing I did not see hte race so if someone could tell me what happened I would be grateful

[Agrawog]

At the end of the race there was a final set of pit stops and the cars in order from front to back were Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, and Jr.

They came on pitt road in that order as well so everyone got into their box fine and the service went well. Johnson's crew was the fastest (by 1/2 second) and he started out. Gordon came out next just ahead and swung wide to make sure Johnson did not pass him. Jr. meanwhile was coming out behind Johnson who had to swing to the farthest lane of pit road to miss Gordon. This put Jr. onto the grass which was very wet and he could not accelerate or turn back onto pit road. He coasted slowly and made it out but lost a lot of places.

Very borderline but aggressive move by Gordon was the communal opinion of the announcement team.