Posted on 11/27/2013 8:32:10 PM PST by ican'tbelieveit
Very interesting.
I assume good money and a lot less pressure and hours of work.
He doesn’t come to mind as the most personable and articulate guy to put in front of the camera, but I’m sure they don’t offer these jobs without doing auditions.
I’d be interested to know the real reasons Letarte took the job. He’s only 34 years old and he’d have to still have some passion to be a championship CC. To me it just doesn’t pass the smell test.
Looks like the network will follow the same announcing format - lead announcer, crewk-chief and a driver.
Earnhardt Jr. talks about Letarte leaving after 2014 season: #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr., met with members of the media at Daytona International Speedway Friday morning and discussed the departure of Steve Letarte as crew chief in 2015.
The transcript in part:
Q. Obviously with Steve just leaving, can you talk about your thoughts, and how long have you known, and what you think about the situation?
DALE EARNHARDT JR.: Yeah, it’s definitely a unique situation. He actually included me in on the discussion before the end of last year, and I had a pretty good understanding, whether he knew or not, what he was going to do. I had a pretty good understanding what his decision was going to be when I left Homestead. So I’ve had time to really wrap my brain around it. It was hard because we are such good friends, and I really do enjoy working with him a lot. But at the same time I’m happy for him because it gives him the opportunity to spend time with his family. It’s something that’s really important to him, and the way these races are broadcast and how they’re presented to the fans is a big part of how the sport remains healthy, and I think that he’s going to be incredible in that role. I think that he’ll — I think that he’ll be really good. I’m excited for him because I know he’s really looking forward to it. You can tell when he talks about it how genuinely enthused he is about the opportunity. And at the same time, you know, I’m not worried about this season and how focused we may be. I know that he’s really good at separating things and keeping things compartmentalized, as Jeff Gordon likes to say about Steve. I know that we’re going to be fine as far as how we’ll compete this year and how dedicated and how we might move through the process of the season. I expect us to do nothing less than improve on what we’ve been doing and steadily keep moving toward our goals. But it’s definitely going to be emotional and difficult at times, just because we really enjoy working together. But I’m excited about the year. I’m excited about our chances as a team. We’ve got a great group of guys. Steve is a great crew chief that’s going to get us a good opportunity to try to win some races. And I think that the team, just based on the personalities and how well we all get along and mesh and how much fun we really had last year, I think that everybody can buckle down and do their jobs, and I think we can do well.
Q. What do you fear the most about losing Steve as a crew chief? In other words, kind of what are such his strengths that you’re like, man, how are we going to do this without him?
EARNHARDT JR.: Yeah, I think the one thing that I fear is just trying to get a guy in there that’s equally as talented. I think — I’m not really — Steve is a great cheerleader and definitely built up my confidence and changed me as a race car driver and as a person. Working with him has really helped me grow. I think you guys have all seen that over the last several years. I think I can carry that with me, what I’ve learned about myself and what I’ve learned about the job and what my job is and what my responsibility is to Steve and the crew chief. I think I can carry that with me - hopefully I can at this age. Hopefully I’ve learned something and learned enough to do a better job for the next guy. I think that my fear is just can we replace Steve. It’s a guy that’s going to be hard to replace. I’m not worried about the specific qualities that Steve has, but just will we be able to get a guy in there of equal talent, and how well will we be able to make that transition seamless. It’s going to be a real challenge to do that, and I guess that’s my only concern.
Q. At this stage in your career how much input do you want to have on who your next crew chief is? Will you make suggestions? Will you have say in the final decision? How will that work?
EARNARDT JR.: I won’t make any suggestions at all. I will leave that up to Rick, Doug. I would love to have input from Chad Knaus and Steve. I think that Steve knows what makes this teamwork. Steve knows how I can be successful and how the individuals within the team can be successful. I think he’d be a good guy to sort of pick at and hope that Doug and Rick would include him in that conversation at times. I think it’s important that Chad has got a lot of influence because he knows how well the shop works together and what the culture is in the shop and how a guy, a particular guy may mesh in that environment. But I don’t really want to have any influence on the choice. I want — I think that those guys are the ones that can make the choice and have the most success with that decision. I’ll just kind of — it was Rick and upper management that decided to put me with Steve. I didn’t know how that was going to work out. I didn’t know much about Steve. I knew him and Jeff were not really clicking at that point in time in their careers, so I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen, but I just wanted to trust their judgment, and that’s what I’m going to do.(Team Chevy)(1-10-2014)
Interesting, thanks.
Like most championship teams, Hendrick has a deep bench.
I doubt they will have much trouble plugging in a new guy.
Ernie Derr, 12 IMCA Stock Car Champion passed away on January 8th at the age of 92. He along with the other Keokuk Komets made Keokuk the racing championship capital of the country. Altogether they won 27 national championships Not NASCAR but important in stock car history. He was “The Man” and we will never see another like him. fellow townsmen Dick Hutcherson managed to rest 2 IMCA championships from him, Don White three. Two drivers that couldn’t Ramo Stott, who went on to win 2 ARCA and 1 USAC championships, and Ron Hutcherson, who won 3 ARCA championships. When I hear thunder this spring I will visualize Ernie in his red and white Hemi Charger and Dick Hutcherson in his gold and white 427 Ford battling it out on that big half mile dirt in the sky. Rest in Peace Ernie Derr, and thanks for the memories.
Welcome, No problem.
Hot off the TV:
Today’s Preseason testing is running 1-5PM EST on FS1.
Due to yesterday’s rain out the session will run till 9PM Tonight.
FS1 will resume coverage at 7PM EST until 8PM EST.
The problem will be finding the “right” one to pair up w/ Jr.
Hmmm. Interesting little tid-bit at the end about Steve and Jeff. I wonder how much consideration, if any, would be to move Chad to CC for Dale.
chad is going no place. he & jimmy are too close.
The whole dad-gum world has gone crazy. No single car qualifying in 2014 for the Nationwide & Truck series:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/qualifying-changes-coming-nascar-2014-212300167—nascar.html
I didn’t leave Nascar… Nascar left me...
Wife and I discussed NASCAR’s demise this morning while walking. Doesn’t seem that long but we got involved w/watching and going to races 8 years ago - so relatively speaking we’re still (kinda) newbies. There have been so many rule/car/fuel/track (etc) changes in just those 8 years; bottom line: we’re going to pull back attending and watching. We still have reservations for the Vegas and Sonoma races but after that -
Heavy snow at the house. Is your ark done yet?
Didn’t we show the SS Bender at the Marina? I hope you enjoyed the Nascar Preseason Thunder that just concluded...
Missed it. Watched playoff football games instead. Hard to get excited about racing with a blizzard blowing in.
EXTRA EXTRA Read all about it on… http://www.jayski.com
Lots of interesting tidbits in there. I’m trying to care but not having much luck. Perhaps when we get back from Maui...
Has the new year’s FR Nascar Fantasy League been established yet? If so, need the sign up information.
Settlement day here in PA is Feb 10. Headed to Palm Coast Florida where my kid drives a trailer for Pepsi in Daytona. Best I can tell it’s about 30 miles to the track. Imagine that :D Told my partner of 38 years we are going on vacation and not coming back! She s so excited!
It looks like registration for teams just opened up on Yahoo. Normally the winner from the previous year sets up the league and posts the password for the league, etc. I can’t think of the winner’s handle at this time - does someone else remember so he can be pinged??
I believe it was 4kids dad (Keokuk29fan):
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3091047/posts?page=100#100
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