in NASCAR Articles

Start your engines

Did you hear that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is getting a new crew chief from China?

His name is Win-Won Soon.

Last season was tough for NASCAR’s most popular driver.

In his seventh year on the circuit, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had only one checkered flag and finished in 19th in the Nextel Cup standings.

It was the first time he failed to win at least two races since his first full season on the circuit back in 2000. It was also his worst finish in the series standings. Earnhardt’s struggles appear to stem from changes he made to his team heading into last season which resulted in the replacement of his long-time crew chief Tony Eury Sr.

The change was sparked by a personality conflict Earnhardt had with Eury Sr.’s son, Tony Eury Jr., who had worked with his father on Earnhardt's car. Eury Jr. also happens to be Earnhardt's cousin.

Eury Sr. was actually moved into a management role at Dale Earnhardt Incorporated (DEI), and Eury Jr. was made crew chief for teammate Michael Waltrip. But the changes backfired shortly into the season, and after a number of poor results Earnhardt fired his new crew chief in May.

By the time he had been eliminated from NASCAR’s postseason, Earnhardt brought Eury Jr. back onboard as his crew chief.

With personality issues settled, Earnhardt, 31, heads into the opening race of the 2006 NASCAR season this weekend in Daytona. The first race of the season is the Budweiser Shootout on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, TNT), followed by two Gatorade Duels next Thursday (starting at 2 p.m. ET, TNT).

All three races are preludes to NASCAR’s most prestigious race, the Daytona 500, which takes place next Sunday (Feb. 19, 1:30 p.m. ET, NBC).

The defending NASCAR champion is Tony Stewart. The notoriously hot-headed driver had five wins last season en route to earning nearly $7 million and capturing the Nextel Cup. It was his second series title.

Stewart did not win last year’s Daytona 500, however. In fact, Stewart has never won the 500. Instead, last year’s checkered flag went to Jeff Gordon, who won the race for the third time.

It was the first of four checkered flags for Gordon, who has won the NASCAR series title four times. Despite the wins, the 34-year-old California native actually had a disappointing season finishing 11th in the series and failing to qualify for the postseason.

In head-to-head NASCAR futures odds, BetUS has Stewart favored at -130 to finish higher than Gordon in Nextel Cup points this season. Gordon is an underdog at +100.

Stewart and Gordon are both listed at +500 to capture the most wins.

The favorite to win the most races is Jimmie Johnson at +300 followed by last year’s Nextel Cup runner up Greg Biffle at +400.

Earnhardt Jr. is a longshot to take home the most checkered flags at +1000. 

Comments or Questions? Email FaceOff@BetUS.com.