I'm not sure bringing Tony Eury, Jr. as Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s crew chief next season at Hendrick Motorsports is the best idea.

I realize the closeness between the two, their relationship as friends and relatives. But if Junior is truly committed to winning races and championships as he said he was in his move from DEI to Hendrick, I believe a new crew chief would better serve his goal.

The track record Hendrick has with its personnel is impeccable. Whenever the team needs a new chief to call the shots for one of its teams it finds them, whether it's in a fill-in situation such as the suspensions of Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte caused, or when one of its team members are put into full-time crew chief roles.

Dale Jr would have been better suited to have Hendrick align him with one of its current personnel. It's a fresh start for Junior with a new team, car, crew, sponsor and number. Dragging along his old crew chief is baggage that I think he'd be better off without.

The likes of a Darian Grubb or Alan Gustafson would have helped Junior make the transition to Hendrick and the way that team works, hardly something you can argue with based on the past success as well as what the team has already done this year.

If Junior is going to make a change in his professional life, he shouldn't have let his personal relationships get in the way.

Last week's visit to Bristol Motor Speedway was the best in a long while. The three nights of racing with the Craftsman Trucks, Busch Series and NEXTEL Cup Series were some of the most exciting I've seen at the track in more than ten years.

The new track surface and layout actually made two and three wide racing possible and the drivers all three nights showed it early and often.

But I'm reading and hearing some of the experts saying Bristol is now not its old self anymore and that the salm bang, shove a guy out of your way to pass aspect has been lost and with it the "charm" of the track.

I don't get that view at all. These are the same people who complained last year's Bristol August night race was a single file parade and that drivers were holding back to protect their spot in the Chase.

Did anyone miss having 15 or 16 caution flags Saturday night? I sure didn't and to me, the last several 500-lap races at Bristol have been nothing more than demolition derbies. Now we have a place where drivers can actually use their skills and pass one another, not just ram their way to the front.

The truck and Busch races had better finishes than Saturday night's Cup event. But there was still plenty of action in the 500-laps from where I sat. I think Bristol is better and will only improve as the surface ages. Don't count me among those who miss watching 100 or more laps of caution whenever NASCAR comes to "Thunder Valley."

Dale Jarrett's name has been in the news this week with talk about a pending retirement.

I hope it's true.

DJ is a champion driver, one of the sport's best personalities and a continued legacy of one of NASCAR's first families, following in his father Ned's footsteps.

But unfortunately, Jarrett has joined the ranks of athletes that have stayed around their sport far too long and past their prime, tarnishing the accomplishments made.

I realize there's a lot of money on the table to be a full-time NEXTEL Cup driver these days and walking away from the sport has to be a difficult decision.

But the situation Jarrett finds himself in should help him make up his mind.

Despite the denials, Toyota will certainly be shifting some of its support from existing teams like Red Bull and Michael Waltrip Racing to support the three-car Joe Gibbs Racing stable. MWR is all but certain to be downsized to a two-car effort, especially in light of the well-documented struggles of 2007.

And longtime sponsor UPS, which together with Jarrett helped form one of the greatest driver-sponsor relationships in NASCAR history, can't be pleased with the recent performance. How could they when Jarrett has missed more than half the races this season while arch rival FedEx reaps mountains of publicity and success as young Denny Hamlin's sponsor.

MWR's Ty Norris recently said he was recently at a UPS summit and that "UPS says things are going well."

They must have been talking about a drop on packing tape costs because there's no way anyone at UPS could be saying that about their NASCAR efforts.

DJ has a future in television and just as he did behind-the-wheel, he should follow his father's lead to the booth.

That would be the best thing he could deliver to UPS in a long time.

Lost in the Brickyard weekend news shuffle last week was the "revelation" that Ray Evernham and Erin Crocker had a personal relationship.

In other headlines ripped from the pages of the obvious, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is joining Hendrick Motorsports, Tony Stewart is a smart aleck and Bill Weber is the worst announcer on television.

Evernham decided to "come clean" about the relationship, which everyone who spends anytime covering the sport knew about a year ago, only when his public relations minions decided to shuffle a few chosen media members away for a little personal chat last Friday.

Those mouthpieces, some at the World Wide Leader in Sports, if you catch my drift, then wrote stories about how Ray felt sorry for poor Erin and how moving to another team would better her career.

I'm sure Jeremy Mayfield spit Mountain Dew out of his nose in laughter when those stories hit the airwaves.

The bottom line is whatever Evernham and Crocker want to do in their private lives is their business. But here's a little tip, constantly being together in the garage, at functions, even holding hands at some points, is probably not the best way to keep any personal relationship a secret.

The way Evernham's team has performed this year is the bigger story in my mind, with total collapse probably the headline.

I have no interestest in whatever Ray and Erin want to do together that doesn't involve a race car.

Although I have to admit watching a prominent NASCAR team owner parade around with a woman less than half his age, both pretending nothing is going on and the relationship was purely professional, was just a little bit creepy.

Ray should be holding the hands of Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Scott Riggs as their seasons go down the drain.

Well TNT's summer schedule of six NEXTEL Cup races is over and judging by the amount of negative e-mails I've received from readers and fans, not too many were impressed.

Me neither.

Even when I'm at the track covering a race weekend, I record the telecast and try to watch it during the week to get a sense of what the fans and viewers at home are being presented. The six races TNT gave us this year were in my opinion flat and about as exciting as that last race at Chicagoland Speedway.

Let's focus on the positives. The chemisty between Wally Dallenbach and Kyle Petty was great. I had my doubts because when you think about it, both guys really are filling the same role - current or recently retired driver/analyst. Dallenbach - who I think is an unheralded analyst, had a good rapport with the late Benny Parsons. But he and Petty hit it off immediately and brought insight, some humor and a little bit of edge to the overall bland telecasts.

Pit road work was in capable hands with regulars Matt Yokum and Marty Snider joined by Ralph Shaheen - another unheralded and underused commodity - and Lindsey Czarniak, bumped up from some lower-level racing telecast work. On a whole a solid effort, although the Yokum-Tony Stewart connection is starting to get a little old and uncomfortable. Matt's a good reporter but he's hamstrung trying to get anything out of his pal "Smoke," as evident of their victory lane "interview" after Chicagoland.

Bill Weber is not a play-by-play announcer and should be relegated to feature reporting - I'll leave it at that. Larry McReynolds is okay, but he didn't fit on TNT with all of his FOX background and connections over the years. And host Mark Fein, a capable broadcaster with stick and ball experience, was weak trying to run a NASCAR telecast with limited knowledge clearly on display.

TNT's "Wide Open" coverage was something that will no doubt be in racing's future and the network should be applauded for trying something different. But the six race stretch was forgettable and I still can't understand how NASCAR can put two of its biggest races - the Pepsi 400 at Daytona and the Chicagoland race (it is the number three market in the country) on cable rather than a regular network, which would provide wider exposure.

ESPN/ABC is on deck and the bar is set pretty high based on the networks' past glory. They won't have far to go to surpass TNT's effort, but racefans have been waiting for their return for nearly seven years. The pressure is on.

Pete Pistone

I have to applaud NASCAR for the way the sanctioning body handles any illegal substance abuse.

Unlike other sports that give repeat offenders chance after chance, NASCAR's zero tolerance should be the becnhmark for all professional sports.

Drugs, alcohol abuse or any other illegal substance have no place in a sport of high speed and danger.

Shane Hmiel and Kevin Grubb are two examples of how swiftly NASCAR has dwalt with this issue in the past.

Unfortunately Aaron Fike is the latest.

Fike was suspensed indefinitely when he and his girlfriend were found with heroin last weekend outside an amusement park in Cincinnati.

Had Fike been an NFL or Major League Baseball player, who no doubt would have been able to appeal and prolong the process.

NASCAR has no such issues.

Taking the action they did in this matter and similar ones before it is the right thing to do.

Other sports should sit up and take notice.

Pete Pistone

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I'd think being a NEXTEL Cup crew chief might be the most overated job in the sport these days.

Based on how Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kasey Kahne have performed without their regular crew chiefs calling the shots on raceday at times this year, it seems most anyone can step into the job and have success.

As Tony Eury, Jr., Steve Letarte, Chad Knaus and Steve Francis served suspensions for rules infractions this year, their drivers have gone on quite well with interim guys in their absence.

It's like managing a baseball game sometimes; most everyone knows when to bunt, when to hit and run, when to put in a lefty reliever to face a lefthanded hitter, etc. During a race, it's usually making similar choices - pitting for fuel, tires, adjustments to the car based on driver input, etc.

To me the real skill of a crew chief comes during the week, when the car is set-up and prepared for a particular track. That's where guys like Knaus, Letarte, et all earn their pay.

Unless NASCAR can find a way to keep these guys out of the shop during the weeks any are suspended, banning them from the race track will make no difference. Cellphones and Internet connections are also in place raceday from the banished chiefs, make no mistake about it.

A suspended crew chief should be banned from all team activities. Until NASCAR sits out a driver for a penalty infraction, that's the only way the sanctioning body will get teams' attentions that breaking the rules won't be tolerated.

Pete Pistone

I raced home from vacation for this?

After a week with the family in Orlando, we arrived back home late Sunday afternoon and I was able to get back to homebase to watch most of Sunday's race in Sonoma.

Unfortunately I missed the best part of the day, Kyle Petty's expletive on live television, which will surely end the TNT experiment of putting a live microphone on one of its driver/analysts.

The rest of the day was a mind-numbing experience. Fuel strategy added to the already boring sight of watching NEXTEL Cup cars drone around a road course made my post-travel/flight nap all the more enjoyable.

Yeh, I watched a pretty good batle between Montoya and McMurray for a few laps, but really, this is not what NASCAR racing was created to do.

If you enjoyed Sunday's race and like NEXTEL Cup events on road courses, more power to you.

As for me, I'm thinking about squeezing another couple days vacation out around August 12, if you get my drift.

Pete Pistone

BROOKLYN, Michigan - Not surprisingly, the Dale Earnhardt Jr. sweepstakes has triggered a frenzy of possibilities for 2008 on the driver-team lineup front.

With Kyle Busch now the top free agent for the Class of 2007, where he'll land is the hot topic here at Michigan this weekend.

A story that is making the rounds is that Busch is bound for Evernham Motorsports and not just as a fourth team member, as Evernham has stated his intention of growing his stable by one for next year. Reports have Busch a candidate to replace Elliott Sadler, who joined the team less than a year ago.

Sadler is said to be very unhappy with things at Evernham and may be granted his release, paving the way for Busch to join Evernham, who covets his services.

That of course would beg the question of where Sadler would be headed.

Right now it appears that Evernham, RCR, JGR and Ginn Racing are all investigating the possibility of adding fourth teams for 2008, in order to get in under the wire for NASCAR's team cap in 2009.

Throw in the open seat and possible addition at DEI and Sadler would be someone who probably wouldn't be without a home for very long if he indeed parts ways with Evernham.

Stay tuned, "Silly Season" is already in high gear.

Pete Pistone

Here it is folks. The team that will represent Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in the post-Dale Earnhardt, Jr. era beginning in 2008.

There will be a three-car team at DEI next year and it will look a lot different than the 2007 edition.

Martin Truex, Jr. will be back and inherit the senior member role of the team. Truex, Jr. will drive the No. 1 car and based on his start to the 2007 season, has a chance to continue his steady climb up the NEXTEL Cup ladder.

Easing his way into the No. 8 seat vacated by Junior will be none other than Greg Biffle, who flatly denied any interest to leave Roush and/or join DEI when Junior first made his free agent announcement. But as always, things are very fluid in the NEXTEL Cup garage area and Biffle is none too pleased with the "direction" of Roush Fenway these days, referring to his car last week at Charlotte as "the usual junk" on a national radio program earlier this week.

Biffle's former crew chief Pat Tryson will team up again with the former Busch and NCT champ at DEI in a move that will allow Roush to get down to the four car team mandate by NASCAR and give DEI a proven commodity.

The final member of the trio in the DEI No. 15 will be - Dan Wheldon. Paul Menard and his father's money will be high-tailing it to Robby Gordon Motorsports after this season, reuniting the Menard sponsorship with Gordon and giving Robby a long-necessary teammate.

Last weekend in Indianapolis, Wheldon's name was on the lips of most everyone as the next open wheel star to continue the exodus from IndyCars to NASCAR. The outspoken Brit has made no secret of his desire to work on a bigger stage and a move to stock cars is something he's looking at very deeply.

There wil be a learning curve to be sure, but in the long run Wheldon should prove to be a find for the stock car set.

So there you have it - DEI 2008.

Teresa and Max - no charge.