Publication: NASCAR News
As Earnhardt Jr. matures, so does JR Motorsports | |
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NASCAR NEWS - Thursday, December 6, 2007
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As Earnhardt Jr. matures, so does JR Motorsports
By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
He didn't tuck in his shirt when he appeared before the
cameras to announce his impending split with Dale Earnhardt
Inc. He didn't tuck in his shirt for the news conference
announcing his new five-year contract with Hendrick Motor-
sports. But when it came time to announce driver and
sponsor extensions for his own Busch team, there was the
notoriously scruffy Dale Earnhardt Jr., with a crisp,
white shirt tucked neatly into a pair of pressed dark
pants.
It's a concession that likely had to do with the presence
of officials from the U.S. Navy, which is backing the
No. 88 car of driver Brad Keselowski at JR Motorsports,
and likes things to be spic-and-span. But it also says
something of the affinity NASCAR's most popular driver
has for his burgeoning enterprise on what will become the
Nationwide Series next year. He may have 17 Nextel Cup
wins, two Busch titles, a new contract with the sport's
best team and a legion of passionate fans, but it's easy
to see the pride he has in JR Motorsports, which started
in 1999 with one employee. It's his baby, and it's grown
up with him.
"I think the things that we have done at JR Motorsports and
the things that we have went through, our trials, have been
just as much of a learning experience as anything else as
a lot of the stuff that has been well publicized in the Cup
Series withthe changes we made there," said Earnhardt, who
signed Keselowski to a two-year extension prior to the
season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. "The Busch
Series can be a lot of work. There is a lot of attention
and focus that it requires, so we have had our hands
literally full all year long."
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JR Motorsports has come a long way since it was a one-man
operation run out of a shed on DEI's property. Founded as
a marketing tool to help the then-Busch driver Earnhardt
sell a few more T-shirts, it became a racing entity in
2002 when Earnhardt and a few friends built a street stock
and entered it in 10 races at Concord (N.C.) Motorsports
Park with driver T.J. Majors behind the wheel. Over the
next two years the team traveled the country, participat-
ing in bigger Late Model events, before breaking into the
Hooters Pro Cup series with driver Mark McFarland in 2005.
Late that same season, JR Motorsports made its Busch debut.
Earlier this year, the team moved into a new, 66,000-square-
foot shop in Mooresville, N.C. And beginning next year, JR
Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports will combine opera-
tions for the Nationwide Series, fielding a two-car squad
based out of Earnhardt's shop. Thirty employees were shifted
from Hendrick's main campus to JR Motorsports in the move,
which effectively makes Earnhardt and new Nextel Cup owner
Rick Hendrick business partners. Earnhardt will own one of
the two cars -- Keselowski's No. 88 -- and his boss the
other.
For Earnhardt, playing car owner brings about experiences
very different from those he encounters in his day job.
There's the presence of family, like mother Brenda Jackson,
sister Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, and uncles Danny Earnhardt
and Tony Eury Sr., all employees at the JR Motorsports
shop. There's dealing with sponsors, which occasionally
forces him to tuck in his shirt. There's the sometimes
unfortunate duty of firing a driver; earlier this season,
he cut Shane Huffman loose for wrecking too many racecars.
And there's also the credibility he feels he receives by
tackling his own business enterprise, something he can't
get behind the wheel.
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"I have learned a lot. There are so many things that you
tackle, things you enjoy. The relationship with the Navy
has been really fun. Working one-on-one as the owner
with a sponsor was new to me. We have really enjoyed the
relationship. I have learned a lot through the Navy and
how that actually works and how you have the working
relationship and compromising," Earnhardt said.
"With the drivers it has been challenging as well, an
enjoyable challenge. Brad is a likeable young guy and we
have a lot of things in common. We get along great. I want
to see him succeed. That is sort of my motivation is to
help to achieve whatever he wants to achieve and get to
where he wants to go. I feel like the credibility I seek
has been in respect from the community, whether it be my
sponsors, the drivers and crew members that work for me
and amongst the garage. It is great when you have guys
come knocking on your door on Monday wanting to know if
there are openings or opportunities for them to work in
our program. That is a compliment for us every time it
happens. It has been happening quite often."
Now, in addition to Keselowski, Earnhardt's stable also
includes a Hooters Pro Cup car, a Late Model team head-
lined by Martin Truex Jr.'s cousin Curtis, and the
Hendrick Busch entry that could feature Landon Cassill
and an array of other drivers. Personally, his goal is
to perform well enough that Keselowski merits a Cup ride
-- but with a team other than JR Motorsports, which the
owner has no plans to take to NASCAR's top level.
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"Our ultimate goal right now is to stay in the Busch Series
and to work there," Earnhardt said. "I enjoy that series.
It is part of my history. It is part of me as a driver.
That is where I hope to stay and enjoy a lot of success
and be formidable for many years. We have aspirations to
look further ahead than that. I think it would do an
injustice not only to our partners such as the Navy, but
ourselves, if we do not tackle the challenges we are facing
now. We are still trying to become a successful team in
the Busch Series. Until we are and have mastered and seem
to be in control of that, we can then see what other places
and opportunities we may have to grow. But that is definite-
ly not even in the back of my mind right now."
Truthfully, he has more pressing interests. In addition
to getting his team ready for the 2008 Nationwide Series,
there's also the small matter of preparing for his ride
in Hendrick's No. 88 Sprint Cup car. Tony Eury Jr., his
crew chief, has been deep in preparation since October.
Earnhardt, who hasn't won a race at NASCAR's top level
since May of 2006, believes the pieces are in place for
a breakthrough. But it won't be easy.
"I feel right now that Tony Jr. is very stressed out and
has a lot on his mind. The last couple of months, since
going to work there, the information has just been crammed
into his brain," he said. "He could use a vacation. He
knew when we signed on that we were going to kind of have
to up our program a little bit, up our efforts. Jeff
[Gordon] gave me a little bit of advice at the end of the
season, that the work ethic might be a little more intense
than I was accustomed to as a driver. For the crew chief,
it's probably the same. Tony Jr. talks of 7 o'clock meet-
ings every [morning]. He seems really stressed to me. His
mentality is positive and focused, like he's going after
it and attacking it. But you can tell he's in a new
environment. There's just a little more going on that
he's got to get in tune with."
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