ESPN.com's NASCAR Icons took some readers' questions and went to JR Motorsports' Nationwide series crew chief Tony Eury Sr. for the answers.
Eury, who also serves as the director of competition for JR Motorsports, began working part time as a crew chief for Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Nationwide series cars in 1982 before joining DEI full time in 1986.
In 1998, Eury teamed with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the first of two consecutive Nationwide series championships before both made the jump to the Cup level in 2000.
Eury served as DEI's director of competition from 2004 to 2007, when he returned to crew chief duties for DEI's No. 15 car driven by Paul Menard. In July 2007, Eury left DEI to become director of competition for JR Motorsports and interim crew chief for the No. 88 Chevy driven by Brad Keselowski.
Eury continues to head the No. 88 team as its crew chief and oversee both JR Motorsports programs in the Nationwide series.
Here are your questions and Eury's answers:
We keep hearing about the Toyotas having the extra horsepower. I see the Chevy teams are pushing for NASCAR to approve the new RO7 engines for the Nationwide series cars. With that in mind, have you heard exactly, or what is your best guess as to how big of a horsepower difference we are talking about in numbers, up to this point in the season?
Thomas McCroden,
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Eury: All we've been told is peak horsepower and they're up about 15-17 on us there.
What do you have to set up differently on your car to adjust from the usual day race at Chicago to the night race this week?
Jessica,
Spring, Texas
Eury: This will be our first night race here at Chicagoland. The main difference is that we put rubbers in the springs.
Are you pretty hard on Brad or do you try to just keep him loose by joking around?
Dempsey,
Kingsford, Mich.
Eury: I'm not really hard on Brad. I just try to keep him focused each weekend. We've been running well and we're in the hunt for the championship, so it's important for him to concentrate each weekend on the task at hand.
Going from being a crew chief for Dale Sr., Dale Jr. in Cup races -- and being a good crew chief at that -- do you plan to jump back up and be a crew chief in Cup races again?
Ben,
Lexington, Ky.
Eury: I really hope not. I'm enjoying being back in the Nationwide series. It's great having my Sundays at home.
What's your take on the Cup drivers competing in the Nationwide series and ultimately winning the championship as they have in years past? Try to be objective, because I know you'd like to see Brad win that trophy as I would! You're awesome!
Emily,
Roswell, Ga.
Eury: I used to be on that side of things when I worked at DEI and we had Nationwide cars with Dale Sr. I think having the Cup guys in there running against the younger Nationwide guys helps make the series better. It raises the level of competition and definitely gives Brad and the other Nationwide guys something to brag about when they beat the Cup drivers.
We're up running with Bowyer for the title and I think Brad has a shot at it. I hope we'll turn that around for the Nationwide guys this year.