Gordon, Earnhardt Jr. ready for 2006

 

By Dustin Long
dlong@news-record.com

Their 10-week experiment over, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. enter next season hopeful that they'll contend for the championship.

Gordon and Earnhardt, the sport's two most popular drivers, both used the final 10 races to make changes after failing to make the championship chase. Gordon (11th in points) finished outside the top 10 in points for the first time since 1993. Earnhardt (19th) had his career-worst finish.

Both teams changed crew chiefs near the end of the season. Rookie Steve Letarte joined Gordon, and Tony Eury Jr. returned to Earnhardt's team.

Gordon showed more progress during the final stretch. He had five top-10s in 10 races, including a win at Martinsville. Gordon also improved at 1.5-mile speedways, which had been a weakness most of the season. He struggled with his car's handling at those races until late in the chase when he finished second at Atlanta, 14th at Texas and ninth at Homestead.

"That's the kind of momentum we need," car owner Rick Hendrick said. "I look for them to be really strong next year."

Those late-season results suggest that Gordon and Letarte already are communicating well. Letarte made adjustments to the car that made Gordon comfortable in it. Gordon and his previous crew chief, Robbie Loomis, could not always do that. Gordon needed to find that comfort level again during the 10-race stretch so he could go fast again.

Gordon looked strong in the season finale at Homestead, where he led 39 laps and ran in the top 10 most of the race. His finish helped him climb to 11th in the points and earn a spot at the NASCAR Nextel Cup banquet next Friday in New York.

"I was just really thrilled the way we ended the season," Gordon said. "Not making the chase, we just tried to get some momentum and I feel like we have recently. And (Homestead) was a great run for us, out there leading and I felt like at one time I had one of the best cars."

That's something Gordon rarely could say most of the season after winning three of the year's first nine races. It's also something Earnhardt rarely could say at all this season.

After Earnhardt won a career-best six races and placed fifth in the points last year, Eury Jr. was moved off Earnhardt's team because the cousins constantly fought.

Earnhardt was paired with Pete Rondeau, who had limited crew chief experience. Although Earnhardt climbed up the points standings after a slow start, Rondeau was released in May because driver and crew chief were not communicating.

Steve Hmiel filled in as interim crew chief, but the team's equipment was no match for others and Earnhardt struggled to get top-10 finishes.

Eury joined Earnhardt at the start of the chase. Earnhardt got three top-10s during the chase but finished 40th or worse three times because of accidents. Earnhardt finished the season 19th in the points.

One change, though, was that Earnhardt and Eury seemed to be working better together than before and not arguing as much.

"I'm still having fun," Earnhardt said after placing 40th at Phoenix when a blown tire sent him into the wall. "I wish the season would keep going a little more. I've just gotten a rhythm where we're going to the track and being fast. We got a little bad luck, but we've got good cars."