TALLADEGA, Ala. – Greg Ives didn’t even know if he would be on top of the No. 88 pit box Sunday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway.
The crew chief’s eight-year-old daughter had just fallen out of a swing set and landed awkwardly, breaking her right arm just above her elbow. She went to the hospital, and the injury required three pins.
“Dale (Earnhardt Jr.) offered to fly me home, that it would be okay if I missed the race,” Ives said. “She's my biggest fan, my biggest critic as well. I asked her if she wanted me to come home. She said no, it was my job to go out there and try to win the race. That's the only thing that's going to satisfy her.
So Ives stayed to serve as the No. 88 team crew chief. And the team left Talladega with its first win of the season – and Ives’ first win as a Sprint Cup Series crew chief.
“Of course,” Ives said when asked if he was emotional when Earnhardt took the checkered flag. “It's my first win as a Cup crew chief, first win thinking about things that are more than just race cars, whether it's my daughter, whether it's my mom, all those sorts of things. That's going to weigh on you.
“You work hard to get to a point to be in Victory Lane no matter where it is, what it is. That all gathers up in one lap or one race, you're going to have that.”
"I feel great about where this race team's going."
Greg Ives
Earnhardt, emotional himself after earning his first win of the season, said he didn’t hesitate to let Ives know it was OK to head back home if he needed.
“Not being a father, I felt like that maybe I wanted to give him that opportunity,” he said. “I felt like if there was ever a weekend that Greg could comfortably go home without any guilt, he could have done it last night without a problem. We'd have fueled up the plane and sent him.”
But, as Ives mentioned, the crew chief’s daughter wouldn’t let him.
“He says she’s tough as nails,” Earnhardt said. “She didn’t even cry or anything. She told him not to come home. She was mad at him last week for the car we took to Richmond.”
Let Ives explain.
“After Richmond when we didn't perform as well as we did, she told me I need to give Dale better race cars because he can't win with one like that,” he smiled. “She's pretty tough on me for an eight‑year‑old. That's good. That's what we need. We need self‑assurance that we're doing the right thing, but at times we also need a kick in the butt.
Ives said the No. 88 team also gets that encouragement and motivation from the fans in Junior Nation week-in and week-out, which is part of what made Sunday’s win at Talladega all the more special.
“When you have 43 racecars going by, you still hear the crowd cheering, you can see them jumping up in the stands, that puts a chill around you,” the crew chief said.
From here, Ives said the No. 88 team won’t rest on its laurels. He wants the team to improve its short-track program, continue to build on intermediate tracks and keep pushing in order to be a threat when the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup rolls around.
“I feel great about where this race team’s going,” he said.
Most of all, he wants to keep working hard and earning wins for Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick.
“It means a lot when you're working for an organization like Hendrick Motorsports, to have the support and backing of Mr. Hendrick, it has to mean a lot,” he said. “If it doesn't, you're not thankful for your position and for your job.
“Whether it's crew chief, whether it was sweeping floors, I'll work any day for that man, so it means a lot to me.
And through all the celebrations, he’s proud of his daughter.
“Just thinking about my daughter with a broken arm, her being tough enough to not want her daddy,” he said. “That's pretty cool.