willpilot the car in select events next year

told everyone that his sister Kelley and cousin Tony Eury Jr. have now been included as part owners in JR Motorsports with he and Rick Hendrick. "I will be working with Tony Jr next year," he continued, but on more than an ownership level since he says it looks likely that Eury Jr will remain the crew chief of the No 5 car in that series. Eury Jr. took over crew chief duties during the final few races of 2009 and Earnhardt Jr. willpilot the car in select events next year. But what everyone wanted to know, as well as the fans that just voted him their Most Popular Driver, is what will his Sprint Cup team is doing for next year to improve their performance. "As an entire unit, the 88 car could have been stronger. But we had some broken links some areas," he said.He says that changes have been made in the engineering department as well as in shoppersonnel and shock area. "We didn't change the driver or the crew chief so that was good," he says. Now in Vegas to accept his award don't fear that he'll stay and get distracted.Earnhardt Jr.

said he flew in this morning and will be leaving right afterward to head back to North Carolina and continue preparing for the 2010 season. . At the 20 game mark of the season, the Toronto Raptors have achieved Brothersteve’s Blog's earlier prediction of a 7-13 record. Predicting the Raptors will bounce back in 2009-10 , the Raptors were forecast at:“Raptors go 2-8 out of the gate”“The next 10 games get a little easier but with road games against Denver, Utah, Boston, and Atlanta, matching the 2006 record of 5-5 will be an accomplishment.”That “accomplishment” over the past 10 games was something the Raptors were supposed to be able to do!So maybe the earlier prediction isn’t exactly leading a fan to the same conclusion as the Raptors' play. The First 10 GamesThe Toronto Raptors started off the 2009-10 season on a strong note. The Raptors 10 games in were better than expectedat 5-5 and they had beaten some good teams in the process.“In the five Raptors wins, they have held opponents to just 91.6 points while scoring a laudable 104.2. That’s a defensive performance worthy of any of the league’s top six defensive clubs.”“But in the five Raptors losses, the Raptors have scored 109.6 points while their opponents have poured in 120.2.”An inconsistent start for a team with nine new players and a new coaching staff wasn’t anything to be surprised at. Plus, four of the losses were against western conference clubs on the road.At this point there was a case to be made for Jay Triano doing a good job at beginning to implement a defense that an offensive team could run. The Last 10 GamesThere was good reason for optimism around the Raptors.

Even if the second ten game stretch included seven very good teams with better than .500 records.And the next five games followed earlier expectations. The Raptors lost in another couple of tough Western Conference road games before coming home to take two of three, beating Miami and Indiana. So far, so good.There was no indication that the Raptors would lose the next five in a row.It started with an embarrassing 35 point loss to the 4-9 Charlotte Bobcats, followed by Paul Pierce’s embarrassing dunk over Chris Bosh in the loss to Boston and ending with 146 points given up to the Atlanta Hawks.Perhaps the worst result of this five game skid is that it has become apparent Head Coach Jay Triano has lost the room and the Toronto Raptors players have not “gelled” as a team. What are the Raptors sayingChris Bosh is saying the Raptors are just not a very good team.Jarrett Jack and Antoine Wright are saying the coaches are not making players take responsibility for their mistakes. The coaches are not teaching players how to correct their mistakes. Some players are too sensitive. They are being told everything is okay but it’s not!Jay Triano isn’t talking to his players post game whether they win or lose.