Earnhardt's crew chief replaced

CONCORD, N.C., May 28 (UPI) -- Tony Eury Jr., a cousin of Dale Earnhardt Jr. who had been on his crew through the driver's career, has been removed as the No. 88 car's crew chief.

Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, said Eury would leave the team immediately. Team manager Brian Whitesell will serve as crew chief for Earnhardt this week at Dover, Del., and Lance McGrew will take over on an interim basis the following week at Pocono in Pennsylvania.

Earnhardt has yet to win a race this year and is in 19th place in points after a 40th-place finish Monday. Earnhardt and Eury made a highly publicized switch from Dale Earnhardt Inc., in 2008. Since then Earnhardt has won once in 48 starts.

"Our performance hasn't been where it should be," said Hendrick. "It's impossible to pin that on any one factor but a change is the right decision at this point. We have a plan in place and we're going to move forward with it."

A news release said Eury will join Hendrick Motorsports' research and development group.