If a driver has to tell the crew chief what changes to make to a car then why do teams pay for a crew chief?

Actually, the driver tells the crew chief how the car is handling, and the crew chief decides what adjustments to make to improve the handling.

I think what you may be missing and that is with the 24 car Jeff calls the shots and with the 48 it really is a collaberation but push comes to shove Jimmie defers to Chad.Wasnt long ago when Jimmie and Chad clashed on those decsisions.Not a problem any longer.But really!!! with the season Jeff and Letarte have had together if they dont win the championship it will be because Chad and Jimmie are that good.Certainly no shame or blame for the #24 they have had a great year to date and havent finished worse then 11th in the chase.No Letarte will be at HMS long after Jeff hangs up his helmet,probably the crew chief for Jr. and dont hand the trophy to Jimmie to quickly 30 points is one dropped lug nut from going away.

Good question. I think in many cases the driver just communicates how the car is driving, or handling. It's up to the crew chief to communicate to the boys on the wall what they need to do to the car. There are however some drivers more capable of knowing what they want done to their car, and sadly there are some drivers who THINK they know what needs to be done to the car, and they should just shut up and drive. Fuel mileage was already mentioned, but I have also noticed how some of the best crew chiefs out there, i.e. Knaus, Addington are very good at keeping their driver focused and calm. A "cheerleader" if you will. In your case, and knowing who your favorite driver is, it probably does seem as if Eury Jr. is nothing more than a middle man. I would have to agree with you. Put somebody more capable on top of Jr.'s pitbox, with more authority (not a blood relative) and I think we would see major changes from the 88 team, and Jr.'s attitude and driving.

I think it may be a little more complicated than that. If you look on Jimmie Johnson's pit box during a race, Chad has about two or three computer screens in front of him (I don't know what they're for, I just know that they're there) and he's all the time looking at one of them, talking to one or more of the crew members, or doing something else. (I have to use Jimmie's crew chief instead of Dale Jr's because who knows what Tony Jr is doing.) I do know that they are responsible for calculating pit stops and fuel runs and that might be a little hard for the drivers to do when they're on the track. I'm sure there's more but I can't remember what else right now.

Each driver/crew chief relationship is different. Some drivers take a much larger role in chassis adjustments than others. When I listen to my fave driver during a caution, it usually seems like it is group think, the driver makes a suggestion, and the crew chief makes the decision. But the crew chief does do much more than just make adjustment decisions. So he would still be required even if the driver had complete say as to adjusting the car.

The crew chief's job is to take feedback given from the driver and use that feedback to make adjustments on the car. Sometimes the driver doesn't know exactly what the car needs so he usually just tells where the car is loose or tight on the track. As a crew chief you have to figure out what to adjust (tire pressure, track bar, wedge, etc.) in order to fix the car. Some things that work some places don't work for others so its constantly changing and you have to keep up with it. The crew chief is essential in making race winning decisions!

The driver doesn't say put in a spring rubber or give me 1 round of wedge.

The driver says my car does this here and this here. The crew chief uses that info to make the adjustments.

the driver's job is to give feedback on how the car is handling. the crew chief can then decide what needs to be done to make the car handle better. although a lot of the drivers probably worked on their karts and/or dirt cars, these cars are entirely different. that is why the crew chief often has to tell a driver to shut up and drive and leave the work and decision-making to him and the crew.

good question my take is the crew chief has alot more duties than making changes on raceday lets see he has to make sure the cars get to the track make sure the cars for future races are ready or getting ready he has to evaluate the crew see where they can make improvements or who is making mistakes then he might have to find possible replacements i mean im sure there is alot of behind the scenes stuff he's responsible for i think there has to be a trust between driver and crew Chief so if driver says its tires and crew Chief says u need a spring rubber driver should be ok with the call also the crew chief coordinates race day strategy

I think a good analogy would be that a crew chief is like like what a conductor is to a symphony. They orchestrate the teams procedures. Someone has to be in charge of the decisions and keep the flow