“Laid Back” Dale Earnhardt’s Ex-Crew Chief Reveals Richard Childress’ Decision to Remove Him & Pair With NASCAR Driver He’d Tell to “Shut the Hell Up & Just Drive”

Larry McReynolds is an iconic crew chief and NASCAR commentator who has taken care of the legendary Dale Earnhardt in his career. But he doesn’t believe he was an ideal fit for The Intimidator.

In fact, he believes he could never get him to victory lane despite winning the Daytona 500 together.

McReynolds told Mike Wallace in his podcast when asked about his experience being the crew chief for The Intimidator, “Well, it was pretty cool. Yeah. I could not help him find Victory Lane.”

Many assumed he and Earnhardt just didn’t get along. But his former crew chief shut that rumor down easily. “It wasn’t that Dale [and] I didn’t get along. There were so many things written about we were arguing, we were fussing, we were fighting. That was to the contrary. We just had very different personalities. Dale was very laid back. I was a very high-strung individual. And we just couldn’t get things plugged together to get what we needed to win a race.”

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Richard Childress turned it around for Dale Earnhardt

It seems like Childress knew he already had a great team behind him. The former crew chief detailed, ” Think Richard had come to a realization. He had two really good race car drivers. They’ll Earn Heart and Mike Skinner. He had two really good crew chiefs in Kevin Hamlin and Larry MC Reynolds.“

But he managed to strike the perfect balance between the teams, giving each driver the perfect crew chief. McReynolds described Childress’ 100 IQ move, “‘You know what I think I just have a mix wrong. And he made the decision to swap Kevin, and I put me with Mike and put Kevin with Dale. Both teams were immediately much better. I was exactly what Mike needed, I was high-strung. I would tell him to shut the hell up and just drive the race car.”

Read More: “When I Lost The Man..”: Dale Earnhardt Jr, Who Lost His Father In a Tragedy, Confessed to Losing His Way in the Aftermath in a Heartfelt Interview Once

Well, his move sure worked out for the best because both drivers went on to win multiple races later on. Moreover, both crew chiefs also got comfortable in their seats. Sure looks like Kyle Busch found the perfect team for himself.