The word 'embattled' is starting to irritate me.

'Embattled' crew chief Tony Eury Jr. is still on the job.  Is that a huge surprise?

I'm not surprised.  I didn't expect there to be a huge shake up on the 88 team this week.  For some reason, I seem to be the only one who thinks so.

What has Tony Jr. done wrong except not handing Dale Earnhardt Jr. a win?  I thought the driver was supposed to be involved in wins too.  The last time I looked, the crew chief sits on top of the pit box, and the driver sits inside of the car.  Of course, the crew chief is important to the outcome of a race, but for some reason, people keep forgetting the guy that's pushing the throttle, the brake pedal, the clutch pedal, and actually turning the steering wheel.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has not been faultless this season.  Just go back and watch your Daytona Tivo again.  Don't get me wrong, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of my favorite people in the world, but he's human, and he makes mistakes, believe it or not, just like me, or possibly even you.

I know I make mistakes.  Just ask my current boss.  She'd probably talk for about an hour or more about my current transgressions.  I'm new to what I'm doing, and I make mistakes.  Believe me, I make a lot of them, apparently.  Today I think I peeved her more than I thought was humanly possible.  Leave it to me though.  I managed to do just that.

I'm just saying that even though owner Rick Hendrick says all is well, we'll see what we will see.  Nobody drives these days for Rick Hendrick without producing, and I don't think that even good ole Dale Jr. and Tony Eury Jr. will last forever without producing wins.  If they eventually don't produce wins, Rick Hendrick will demand a change.  Probably that will first be a crew chief change, but eventually that might be a driver change.

For the moment, I encourage the Junior Nation to leave Tony Jr. alone.  Right now he's the chosen man.  Let him do what he does, and quit busting his chops for at least right now.  Tony's the man on the pit box.  If he gets to stay there, fine.  If he leaves, you can have your pound of flesh then.  Right now, Rick Hendrick has faith in this combination.  He's the guy that pays the salaries and turns off the lights at night.  Let's give it a little time.