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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. is admittedly scared by the daunting task of replacing crew chief Steve Letarte. Hell leave it up to team owner Rick Hendrick and management at Hendrick Motorsports, and theyve got the entire season to find a new crew chief. Letarte was formally introduced Friday as the third and final member of NBC Sports Groups broadcast booth for its NASCAR coverage beginning in 2015. Earnhardt and Letarte have been paired since 2011. Although the duo has just one win together, theyve made the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship the past three seasons. More important, Letarte rebuilt the confidence in NASCARs most popular driver and instilled a structure around Earnhardt that the driver admits raised his professionalism in the race car. "The one thing that I fear is just trying to get a guy in there thats equally as talented," Earnhardt said Friday at Daytona International Speedway. "Steve is a great cheerleader and definitely built up my confidence and changed me as a race car driver and as a person. Working with him has really helped me grow. I think that my fear is can we replace Steve?" Earnhardt brought cousin Tony Eury Jr. with him to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. When that working relationship fractured, Hendrick replaced Eury with longtime company man Lance McGrew. Only that combination failed to produce results, so Earnhardt was paired with former Jeff Gordon crew chief Letarte when Hendrick made a massive organizational shake-up shortly after the 2010 season ended. Letartes influence on Earnhardt was immediate, so Earnhardt will once again put his trust in Hendrick. Hell also want Letarte and Jimmie Johnsons six-time championship winning crew chief Chad Knaus to be part of the decision making. Knaus works side-by-side with Earnhardts crew chief, so Earnhardt believes Knaus needs to have input. "It was Rick and upper management that decided to put me with Steve," Earnhardt said. "I didnt know exactly what was going to happen, but I just wanted to trust their judgment, and thats what Im going to do again. "I would love to have input from Chad Knaus and Steve. I think that Steve knows what makes this team work. Steve knows how I can be successful and how the individuals within the team can be successful. Its important that Chad has got a lot of influence because he knows how well the shop works together and what the culture is in the shop and how a guy, a particular guy may mesh in that environment." Letarte, meanwhile, finds himself in the unique position of entering his final season atop the pit box under an intensified spotlight to perform. Earnhardts popularity already brings immense attention and pressure to the No. 88 team, and with Letartes end-of-year exit looming, fans could be particularly harsh about results. Letarte believes it will be business as usual. "I think what makes this situation unique is Im not going to crew chief for another organization," he said. "Im not working on being a broadcaster in 2014, Im working on filling a trophy case, and to do that we have to win our first race." Letarte and Earnhardt first discussed the NBC opportunity in October, when Earnhardt heard rumours and summoned Letarte to his motorhome to discuss the whispers, and Letarte kept his driver involved as he weighed his decisions. Ultimately, after 19 years in the garage, it was the ability to spend more time with his two children that made the NBC job more attractive than continuing as a crew chief. "I dont think Ive ever hidden it from anyone that my family has always been my No. 1 priority," Letarte said. "If it comes down to if Im going to be unsuccessful in anything I do, being a father shouldnt be on the list. So Im going to put that one first, and this allows me to put that one first and still be in a sport that I love and join a great team." Earnhardt can respect that. "For me personally, it was difficult. And the more I sat down with him and talked about it, the more it made sense and the more I understood his situation, and I could put my own selfishness aside and kind of understand what was important to him and how this was good for him," Earnhardt said. "He deserves these opportunities and hes earned it." Air Jordan 1 Uomo Saldi . Watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 9pm et/6pm pt. Serge Ibaka returned to the Thunder lineup from a calf injury that was supposed to sideline him for the remainder of the postseason and the results were sparkling. Scarpe Air Jordan 1 Scontate . - Skiing far more aggressively than in her season debut a day earlier, Lindsey Vonn was in provisional 10th place after the first 45 skiers in a World Cup downhill on Saturday. http://www.airjordan1scontate.it/. The 20-year-old overager has appeared in 35 games for the Ontario Hockey Leagues Erie Otters this season, scoring 41 goals and adding 27 assists with a plus-28 rating. Air Jordan 1 Offerta . The 21-year-old Wickham headed Sunderland into a 26th-minute lead --to add to the double he scored at Manchester City and his strike in last weekends win at Chelsea -- and then sealed the win with a late header. Air Jordan 1 Scontate Uomo . Not bad for a defenceman. The goal, that is. Although the shuffling dance steps werent bad, either. Barrie scored 55 seconds into overtime, Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots, and the Avalanche moved a step closer to their first playoff berth in four years with a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Joey Logano was pushed into the Sprint Cup Series as a fresh-faced, budding superstar barely old enough to drive at NASCARs national level.When Joe Gibbs Racing chose him to replace Tony Stewart in 2009, Logano moved quickly into one of NASCARs top rides with out-of-whack expectations built by glowing recommendations from veteran drivers.It was quickly apparent that Logano would need years to properly fill Stewarts seat at JGR, and the organization had to make a change after four seasons and just two victories. Roger Penske was fast to grab Logano, who has blossomed into the driver many thought hed be when he turned 18 in 2008 and finally became eligible to race at NASCARs top level.Loganos win Sunday at Kansas Speedway was his career-best fifth of the season and earned him an automatic berth into the third round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. After the victory, Penske thanked Joe and J.D. Gibbs for giving Logano four years of seat time and breaking him in.Probably have to send (JGR) a check, Penske joked.Logano heads into Saturday nights race at Charlotte Motor Speedway at the top of the Chase rankings and confident hes a legitimate title contender with his No. 22 Team Penske crew. Its a spot Greg Zipadelli always believed Logano could reach.Zipadelli was Stewarts crew chief at JGR and spent three seasons atop the pit box with Logano before Zipadelli moved into a management role at Stewart-Haas Racing.We asked him to do something he probably wasnt ready to do, Zipadelli said. He did the best he could at the time, and I think he got beat up over it.Logano left JGR with 41 top-10 finishes in 144 starts in the No. 20. He also won five poles, but never earned a spot in the Chase. In his first season with Penske last year, he had career-highs in top-fives, top-10s, laps led and made the Chase.I think the change was good for him. He went to a group that was excited about having hhim a€” not that Gibbs wasnt, but they made different choices, Zipadelli said.dddddddddddd We pushed him pretty early. There was never a day I didnt think that kid had talent.___MASON MITCHELL: Mason Mitchell started last winter unsure of his 2014 racing plans and took a gamble leaving his home in Iowa to move to North Carolina to start his own team.The move paid huge dividends as his Mason Mitchell Motorsports team last weekend won the ARCA Racing Series championship.Its unbelievable, Mitchell said. I know there were not too many believers earlier in the year, but we showed them what we were about. I learned so much about myself, living at the race shop and being dedicated. Its just pretty incredible. It takes a lot just to get to the race track.Mitchell finished the season with one win, six second-place finishes and 12 top-five finishes. He also won five poles and his 18 top-10 finishes led all ARCA drivers.Mitchell was solid on every type of track ARCA visited: In two dirt track races, he finished second and fourth. He was 10th on the road course in New Jersey. In nine short track races, he led 449 laps and had seven top-10 finishes.Youre not supposed to do this the first time, Mitchell said. I figured wed be competitive by the end of the race season, but not all year. We never really had a bad day at the race track.___INDYCAR-ENGINE DEVELOPMENT: IndyCar has named Marvin Riley the director of engine development. He will work in developing the rules and performance standards for IndyCar Series engine manufacturers Chevrolet and Honda.Riley, who holds a mechanical engineering degree from Michigan and a business masters from UCLA, has worked the last 10 years as a member of Honda Performance Development. He most recently served as assistant manager of HPDs engine development department, where he was responsible for the execution of all major engine performance specifications and test plans. ' ' '