The test allowed Jr. to combine info with his ’08 crew chief. "I know Tony Jr. has a list of things he feels are important, so we'll tackle them all until he's happy. This is our first time in a Hendrick Motorsports car. There are a lot of things I might not be familiar with, so this will give me a chance to familiarize 
myself with the new car, as well as address the things Tony Jr. would like to work on. It will be a good test."
But we’re guessing the history aspect had Jr. all worked up, right? "It's a great-looking car. It's old school, and man I love old-school paint schemes. This is a replica of Rick's very first car. It's even got City Chevrolet on it. I love it!"
Tony Eury had an agenda for the test and said, "We obviously want to run well, but the biggest thing is familiarizing ourselves with the Hendrick Motorsports setups. We'll try to pick out Dale Jr.'s feel (for the car) and see how it correlates to the other Hendrick drivers. Everyone on the team will be working to figure out his style in how he drives the car."
So how important is communication between a driver and crew chief? "It's really big,” said Eury. “I've got to get the other crew chiefs and engineers to where they understand Dale Jr.'s lingo. It'll help the whole company if we can do that. It's pretty simple for me to walk in, look at the setups and understand them. Figuring out a driver's feel is different. The quicker we can get everyone to understand what he likes, the better we'll be."
To that end, how are things going for Eury at Hendricks? "Everyone has welcomed me in. Going to the driver debriefs after practice and having people ask my opinion right off the bat was nice. I feel like I'm a big part of it. I don't want to overstep my boundaries, but I also want to do anything I can to help Hendrick Motorsports win this championship (in 2007)."
Even Alan Gustafson, crew chief for Casey Mears, remarked on how big this test was for Jr. and his crew chief, "This test will be important to them. They already know each other extremely well, but they'll be learning new processes and understanding how we interact (at Hendrick Motorsports). As a company, we can only benefit from having talented people. Dale Jr. is a great driver, and Tony brings a fresh perspective on things. He (Eury) can critique some of the things we do and help us get better. It's been great so far, and I expect it to get better as everyone gets more time together."
