“Worst decision I ever made”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. recalls his ‘biggest regret’ that destroyed his relationship with ‘cousin’ crew chief
Dale Earnhardt Jr. recalled his career's biggest regret while he sat down with his 'cousin' Tony Eury Jr. The two-time Xfinity Series champion was paired with the latter for his Xfinity and Cup Series campaigns. However, cracks soon plagued their relationship to the extent that neither was willing to strike up a conversation with the other.
The 50-year-old's father Dale Earnhardt. and Tony Eury Sr. were family, not by birth but became one after Eury Sr.'s home visit for some plumbing work for the 'Intimidator.' The latter was an occasional racer who joined Earnhardt's garage (DEI) after Eury asked him to build a motor for his car. Their relationship strengthened over time and they married with the other's sister.
As a result, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Eury Jr. became cousins and often competed on dirt in their childhood. While the former raced in a go-kart, the latter found his interest in a mini-bike.
The duo would become driver-crew chief at Dale Earnhardt Inc. Both Eurys massively contributed to Junior's two Xfinity titles and 15 Cup Series wins until the end of the 2004 season. However, the same year saw bitterness creep in between the cousins, which saw Dale Jr. make the "worst decision."
While talking with Tony Eury Jr. on the Dirty Mo Media podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. recalled one incident when tempers flared between them as both tried to 'smart off' the other.
"We ran a couple of practices, I smarted off, he smarted off, and in five minutes, neither one of us wants to say a word to the other one, don't wanna look at each other. It stayed that way like the rest of the weekend," the 50-year-old said.
But it ended poorly and the two broke up before the 2005 season.
"We go into the offseason and then I go into (Richie) Gilmore's (VP of DEI) office and he says, 'I think we ought to make a change.' I was like, 'I'm still pissed off so what kind of change you wanna make?' Worst decision I ever made in my career...it's my biggest regret in racing was that decision. If we'd just have figured it out and patched it up, we would've stayed the course," he added.
Following their split, Gilmore assigned Eury Jr. as Michael Waltrip's crew chief for the 2005 season.
When Richie Gilmore outlined the 'right' time for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Eury Jr.'s reunion
The 2004 silly season saw Eury Jr. get Michael Waltrip as the driver while Dale Earnhardt Jr. got under the guidance of DEI's technical director Steve Hmiel. However, the NASCAR Hall of Famer couldn't replicate the supreme form he had with Eury Jr.
"We didn't change the teams because of a performance issue. We changed it because of an attitude issue between me and Tony Jr," the 50-year-old remarked on his split via ESPN.
The switch became a struggle for Dale Jr. Even though he clinched the Chicagoland Speedway victory, he and Hmiel couldn't punch the playoff ticket. The same was the case with Waltrip and Eury Jr. But Waltrip left DEI after the 2005 campaign.
It prompted Gilmore to reconsider a Dale Earnhardt Jr.-Tony Eury Jr. reunion. Moreover, since the former was already eliminated from the Chase, DEI had 10 races to experiment with a reunion.
"This (playoff exit) gives them a chance to start working on their chemistry. With both of our cars out of the Chase, the time was right to move forward," Gilmore expressed his thoughts via ESPN.
After a disappointing 19th-place finish in the 2005 season, Dale Earnahrdt Jr. and Tony Eury Jr.'s reunion proved beneficial as they wrapped the 2006 season in P5.