Personally, I think it's smart for a team to bring in new blood and new ideas every few years. As a Jeff Gordon fan, although I like Robbie Loomis as a person, I really wish they'd replace him with one of the younger, more aggressive crew chiefs. Robbie, himself, said after Homestead that the reason the cars during the chase were not as good as they could have been was because he was too conservative.
From my viewpoint Jeff's problems this year were in his pit stops. If he had the same team as Kurt Bush had he'd have been a runaway winner for the Chase. He usually qualified in the first five rows and the crew was adept at tweaking the chassis/tire combo to get him slightly loose (oversteer) so he could dive low and power through the turns while climbing the banking. As it was if he didn't have to pit for a cut LR tire under green or if Bush's lost RF wheel had rolled down pit road instead of down the track bringing out the yellow and Bush had had to pit under the green I think Jeff/Jimmy would have won the Chase. Next year will be intersting since he lost his engine builder in the Hendrick plane crash...we all know that nothing stays still in racing and innovation wins races. And Jack Roush and Roy Everham will be very busy this winter. Can't wait for Daytona!!