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DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 13: (EDITOR’S NOTE: Image was processed using digital filters.) Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, looks on in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 13, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 13: (EDITOR’S NOTE: Image was processed using digital filters.) Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, looks on in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 13, 2016 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
It’s no secret that what the biggest regret of Dale Earnhardt Jr is when it comes to his professional racing career. The NASCAR Hall Of Famer has been pretty open about the fact that him parting ways with Tony Eury Jr. was, to him, one of those things he wishes he never did.
“I regret that,” Earnhardt Jr. said of removing Eury Jr as his crew chief.
“That’s probably my biggest [regret] in motorsports as a driver, was that decision because it did nothing and it made our relationship a challenge to repair.”
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DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 19: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Nationwide Chevrolet, stands on the grid during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 59th Annual DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2017 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
He described how Eury Jr. was the reason he got started in the Xfinity Series, something that launched his entire career, how he was his biggest supporter, and the collaboration that led to so many race victories.
“I don’t know what…I got confused there a while thinking that I knew better than anyone else what was best for me,” he added.
Tony Eury Jr. on being removed as the crew chief of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
That was Dale Jr’s side of the story. But as is the case in all stories, there’s always the other side, and in this one, the side of Tony Eury Jr.
The thing is, Eury Jr. was recently on Earnhardt Jr’s podcast show, the Dale Jr. Download. And it was during his appearance that he spoke about Dale Jr. removing him from the crew chief position, and how he dealt with it.
“All we needed was a breather. There wasn’t a racetrack that we didn’t walk into and we didn’t think we could win, like we were the threat,” he described.
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Eury Jr.revealed that when “it all went down,” he was told that he was being made the crew chief of Martin Truex Jr, a decision he had no problems with.
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“I’m like, ‘Okay.’ Like if you wanna do that, it’s fine, I mean, I’ll take Truex, I like Truex, he’s great. If that’s what makes him happy and that’s what he wants to do, then that’s what we’ll do,” he added.
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