Hendrick Motorsports swap pairs 3 drivers with new crew chiefs for ’11

Rick Hendrick must love that old ABC show “Wife Swap,” because he’s now making his team into “Crew Chief Swap” central. On Tuesday, the so-called “superteam” of NASCAR announced new driver-crew chief pairings for the upcoming season, just two days after Jimmie Johnson won his fifth straight title driving for Hendrick.

“I think that after the championship we decided that these moves would make all four teams better,” NASCAR’s most-recognized team-owner said. “The excitement inside the organization yesterday afternoon and last night, I think everybody is pumped, excited, and I think we have a kind of new energy level to attack and get ready to go into 2011.”

The most dramatic move Hendrick says he’s ever made involves swapping three crew chiefs and moving two drivers to new shops. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will now be paired up with crew chief Steve Latarte and Jr.’s No. 88 cars will be prepped with Johnson’s in the new 48/88 shop. Jeff Gordon now gets to work with Alan Gustafson, former crew chief for Mark Martin, and Martin will get to work with crew chief Lance McGrew, who formerly was Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief. Also, Martin and Gordon will be paired in the new 5/24 shop at Hendrick.

“The only things we changed were the seat, the drivers, the sponsors and the numbers,” he said.

Hendrick started putting the wheels in motion after the Texas race three weekends ago. He asked everyone in his two shops (at the time the 5 and 88 cars and 24 and 48 cars were paired together) to write brief reports on how they feel the overall team could get better. And this was his plan.

Now, I know at first fans of each driver seemed to be in an uproar, but I feel this move will help everyone at Hendrick. Fans of Mark Martin were especially angry that their driver would be losing his crew chief of the past two years, Alan Gustafson, but with the new pairing of Gordon and Martin, Gustafson will still be in the same shop as Martin. So, not a big loss for the 51, soon to be 52-year-old.

Martin had a lackluster year this past season, but ended strong with Gustafson. He now gets McGrew, who had trouble clicking with Earnhardt Jr. in their year-and-a-half partnership. Earnhardt Jr.’s move to the No. 48 shop will pair him with Letarte, who couldn’t exactly get clicking with Gordon, and with the help of five-time champ crew chief Chad Knaus, Earnhardt may finally get rolling again.

There are about 10 weeks before the cars hit the track in Daytona, but I’m fired up to see how this will work out. Although I’m bummed myself that Martin and Gustafson have been split, I’m excited to see what the new crew chief/driver pairings will do for the so-called “superteam”.

As for speculation about 2012, well, just don’t ask Mark Martin ahead of time. I don’t want another Indianapolis to occur again (http://www.fox19.com/Global/story.asp?S=12861787).


However, Hendrick seemed to be optimistic that he wasn’t putting Martin in a lame-duck situation, going so far as to say, “You gotta look at the future, and you gotta know that Mark's got one more year, but my commitment to Mark and my sponsors and everybody else, we're not going to have a lame duck situation. We're going to go for wins and championships, and Mark can do that.”

But, is it believable? You tell me.

This certainly sounds believable: “Mark's got one more year in our organization, and we have to look down the road. I have made a commitment to Mark Martin, and I think when you talk to him, he will tell you that the makeup of what he is going to have next year is mostly what he had in '09 -- a lot of it. We are going to do whatever it takes with people, with equipment, whatever it takes for Mark Martin to win races and have the opportunity to go for the championship again…. Mark's not getting the short end of the stick. He is going to get all the stick he wants, and that comes from me.”

So, the onus is now on the three new pairings, and Rick Hendrick. Will HMS get back to championship form on all four teams? Will Dale Jr. finally get back to his prime form? Will Mark Martin’s finals season at Hendrick Motorsports be like his first (2009)? Will it finally be the year someone not named Jimmie Johnson wins a title? Will Jeff Gordon finally get his fifth Cup?

I think I’ll have some more to say on those questions as the off season rolls along.
-------------------------------------------
Join me tomorrow for some comments and photos about the UC/UConn game and what song should be playing on the speakers in the Lindner Center (the UC athletics building) today? I’d tell you, ‘if only in my dreams.’ Have a good Sunday.