Can Someone Help Junior Find a Mirror?
Shane Huffman has been discharged from his duties as the driver of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 NAVY Chevrolet in the NASCAR Busch Series.

In military terms, discharges rate as Honorable, General, Other Than Honorable, Bad Conduct and Dishonorable. I'm not sure where this one rates, but I bet I know what it means for Huffman — the same thing it meant for Mark McFarland: a trip to the Land of Obscurity.

Earnhardt Jr. made it sound very official and military-like.

"Upon a midseason evaluation of the performance of this race team, we decided we needed to make a change," he said.  "I’m doing this to give us time to evaluate our options and see who we want to put in the car for the rest of the season."

Huffman raced his way to 13th place in the Busch Series standings before being made to walk the plank, but the numbers really are a bit deceiving.  He finished 42nd at Phoenix after a first-lap crash in which he had no fault.  His place in the standings was 102 points behind eighth-place Marcos Ambrose — a decent finish at Phoenix may have put him there.

The Legion of Dale Jr. fans is sure to disagree with me, but I would caution any prospective young driver to consider the JR Motorsports job very carefully before enlisting.

Huffman's qualifying record in the car is dismal, at best.  He averaged a 24th-place starting spot and a 23rd-place finish, so he finished where he started. Does that mean Huffman couldn't get the job done?  Possibly.

Did the team make adjustments to the car to make it better as races and the season progressed?  Obviously not, but crew chief Wes Ward remains at the helm despite less-than-stellar results in 2006 and 2007.

Ultimately, it is Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team, and he has the option of doing anything he wants with it.  However, does anyone out there actually believe the team has gotten the owner's full attention this year?  If you do, I've got about 10,000 words of press conference transcripts that can shed some light on other matters he's discussed this spring.

The arrival of Tony "Pops" Eury at JR Motorsports will make things better — no doubt about it — and Junior driving the car at Daytona definitely changes the Las Vegas betting line.

One thing is certain: Huffman has been set adrift, but I'm not so sure the reason behind the discharge is Honorable.
Posted: 7/1/2007 2:51:00 AM
Comments:
13th in Points?  Considering you have the likes of bigger name Cup stars like Edwards, Harvick, Biffle, and Kenseth ahead of him in points it's not too bad.  Other Buschwackers of Ragan, Reutimann, and Blaney are there too.  So whether you debate the Busch series is truly a "minor" leaque for Cup or just a play ground for Cup stars,... how bad is he actually doing?
Posted On: 7/4/2007 9:51:00 AM
I agree, I makes no sense to replace him especially with a little momentum on his side.
Posted On: 7/4/2007 9:51:00 AM
Let's See,  How many of you guys have all the facts.  Jr did what he felt he needed to do as and owner. You might not agree with it but it is his responsibility to make the hard decisions and do what needs to be done.  I am a fan of Shane's and hope he can  find another ride.  I am ALSO a big fan of the Navy car...
Let's see how Brad does in the car before we throw the owner under the bus.
Posted On: 7/4/2007 9:51:00 AM
If the stories are true then it wasn't just what Jr wanted, it was what the sponsor wanted after hearing that Shane got a girl pregnant then dumped her. (Just repeating what I've read on other sites.)
True or not, that's not what the Navy wants to hear about their driver. If Jr had not removed Shane then Navy would have said "see ya" as a sponsor.

Posted On: 7/4/2007 9:51:00 AM

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