Huffman Out, Earnhardt Jr. to Drive Own Car

Was firing driver Shane Huffman Tony Eury Sr.'s first order of duty for JR Motorsports? Effective immediately, Huffman is out of the Busch Series #88 NAVY Chevrolet:

Dale Earnhardt Jr.:

"Upon a midseason evaluation of the performance of this race team, we decided we needed to make a change, and right now we have a window to do that. Because of the short notice, I am going to drive the Navy car Friday night at Daytona. It's a big race for us. We are carrying a special Navy SEALs paint scheme on the car, so we want to make sure we give it a good run for the Navy and all our sponsors and employees."

A mid-season replacement will be named in the near future.

So, was Huffman's termination strictly performance related as implied in the statement? Highly unlikely.

Huffman has run 18 races and has one 1op 5 and four top 10 finishes to show for it. The previous driver of the #88, Mark McFarland, was let go after 21 races and only one top 10.

Certainly Huffman's performance was an improvement, but things with him got a little more personal.

Long before the news of Huffman's impending fatherhood was posted on Answer this..., a source told me that Junior was not happy about Huffman's second out-of-wedlock child. At all. Nor was he thrilled with the way Huffman was handling the situation. Junior was also concerned with how the NAVY would take the news. My guess is it didn't go over very well. Or maybe Junior didn't even want to find out.

Next!

Curtis Truex Jr. anyone?

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

7-03-2007 @ 5:39PM

CJ said...

Cant blame Jr for firing Huffman, he was a bust just as was Mark McFarland! I know that Jr has been wanting to drive his own car and for good reason, to find out if it's the drivers or the equipment and to evaluate them, and i think thats a great idea. I dont think it's wise to run the whole season, which he isnt, but to hop in a car, knowing you have talent to determine whether it's equipment failure or operator error, well, it's a good way to evaluate your operation. Im actually suprised that Jr has went with two bust drivers, he's been quite exceptional at knowing talent such as tapping Martin Truex Jr for Chance2 and telling people that Denny Hamlin was the most under rated driver on the sport right before he climbed in the FedEx car, so Jr has had a sense of who's talented and who isnt, but i could tell from the get go that McFarland AND Huffman would be bust. I think he needs to try and get two Busch teams, although easier said than done with sponsorship now of days, but if he had two Busch cars, i say hire a veteran for one, such as David Green or someone with alot of Busch or Cup experience, and in the other put a driver that's fairly young, but has shown potential, in my opinion i think Jon Wood has done that, but unfortunately Wood wont dump the family and i dont know where his future lies at the moment.

7-03-2007 @ 6:02PM

Margaret said...

Why would Junior not be happy with him having kids out of wedlock. He shouldn't judge that, many people have kids out of wedlock. Now I totally understand Junior firing him because of how he was handling the situation because he was doing it poorly and it would look bad on Junior and the Navy.

7-03-2007 @ 6:11PM

Natalie said...

Good. Shane did nothing in that car but drive around. It has been shown that Busch only drivers can perform well and Shane just didn't. Personal issues aside, he just wasn't meshing well with the equipment. And it's not like the equipment is bad. Dale Jr, Robby and Martin proved that.

I think Dale Jr. should do what Harvick did for Clint Bowyer. Share the ride for a year with someone like Curtis Truex, then let Curtis do the series on his own the year after. He should start doing it this year with Curtis and all of next year, then toss the reigns over to Curtis full-time. It definitely worked for Clint Bowyer.

7-03-2007 @ 7:17PM

Dan said...

Good call Natalie, I agree

7-03-2007 @ 11:20PM

Beth said...

I agree Navy was probably a concern with "how" Huffman handled his off track activities. We all know drivers are part of a "package" that must have talent and be "marketable"

7-04-2007 @ 12:55AM

I say if he's goin to split a season with someone, it should be Jeremy Grath or whoever that motocross driver was that he hired for his development program. I'd go with him over Curtis Truex Jr.

7-04-2007 @ 9:29AM

Kristin said...

I can see the Navy being concerned with how Shane handles his life off the track, as well as Junior being concerned. I don't think Junior should be upset if Shane had a child out of wedlock (that's his business, really), it is probably just the way Shane is reacting to it, or should I say not reacting to the situation.

7-04-2007 @ 10:11AM

SANTYA said...

I agree with Jr. I have been a fan of his dad's and a fan of Jr's since he began. I applaud him for having standards and morals wanting his teams to be good and well respected.A previous comment said everybody has kids out of wedlock. There may be but that still does not make it right. THank you Jr for choosing the high road. Santya

7-04-2007 @ 11:04AM

snubel said...

I do NOT understand how a man could have 2 out of wedlock children. I am very curious to know if he supports the first child and if he has a relationship with that child. It appears that Shane 'dropped' the 2nd childs mother when he found out that she was pregnant. If he needs info on how to prevent having a 3rd unwanted child then he needs to go to a drugstore buy a large quantity, use them, and keep them with him. When a child knows that their father doesn't want to share their life it is devastating and affects the kids entire life and self esteem. Junior did the right thing. I don't think it was Navy Pressure. It's common sense and I wouldn't want someone with that character flaw as my 'showcased driver' for Navy or anyone else. I feel very bad for the child(ren).

7-04-2007 @ 1:17PM

Gail said...

GO JUNIOR SHANE IS WASTE ANYWAY THE NAVY # 88 NEEDS A GOOD DRIVE LOOK FORWARD TO SEE YOU DRIVING IT THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!

7-04-2007 @ 4:08PM

Ed said...

TOO BAD THE NBA AND NFL THUGS ARENT HELD TO THE SAME STANDARD AS NASCAR. GUESS THAT IS ONE OF MANY REASONS THAT NASCAR IS SO SO SO POPULAR....GO JUNIOR

7-04-2007 @ 8:01PM

TRH776 said...

I AM IMPRESSED THAT JR.STOOD UP FOR WHAT HE BELIVES, AND HIS VALUES. THIS IS RARE IN THIS DAY AND TIME. HE IS A GREAT ROLE MODEL FOR KIDS AS WELL AS ANYONE OF ANY AGE. KEEP IT UP JR.I'M SURE THIS IS DUE TO THE WAY HIS FATHER RAISED HIM, AND THE IMPACT DALE SR. HAD ON HIS LIFE.

7-04-2007 @ 9:54PM

Karah said...

GOOD... I'm actually glad he's gone and I believe Junior did this because of the pregnancy... if Junior had been thinking about Shane's performance in the car, etc... he would have had a backup for when he did give Shane the boot... yet Junior's driving the car this weekend.

Shane needs to learn what wrap it up means.

7-05-2007 @ 12:02AM

Bill said...

Way to go JR!!! We don't need any Clinton wannabees on your team!!!!

7-05-2007 @ 7:35AM

Musicman said...

TGOM,
I heard rumors over the holiday that NASCAR is going to give the 8 to Jr next year. I heard it from a bunch of Ford fans, so they didn't have all the details. Has anyone else heard this? Has there been any confirmation? I hope it is true, but it doesn't seen likely. I would assume that this news would be the lead story my AOL Nascar page.

7-05-2007 @ 8:47AM

john wilson said...

i think jr. should look in florida for a driver.. a lot of tallent there..(tim russell)..

7-05-2007 @ 10:28AM

Courtney said...

The bad thing is Huffman done better in his short amount of time than JR has this season. What people do outside their job is their buisness, you wouldn't want your personal buisness to get you fired from you job now would you? Besides we all know JR is not that innocent. His buisness is probaly worse than ours could ever be. They are just looking for a reason to be the center of attention. Lets see how good he does for the navy and maybe Shane could've doen better. At least I think so.

7-05-2007 @ 12:23PM

h proct said...

way to go Jr more people should have your morals hope you can fine a driver like martin and bring him along

7-05-2007 @ 2:21PM

grumpyoldman said...

Junior is probably remembering what it was like for him growing up without his father around. But, cmon...Shane was 13th in a series dominated by Cup drivers.

7-05-2007 @ 4:58PM

McKendree said...

I believe that Dale had legit reasons for letting Shane Huffman go. What all they were, aren't known for sure. Having two children out of wedlock will look bad for Huffman's image and can reflect on the company that he drives for. I hope Dale Jr. finds someone to fit into his company who can win for his team. Curtis Truex Jr. could do this in time.

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