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JOLIET, Ill. — Tony Eury Jr. says media pressure contributed to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s tailspin this season and that's why the crew chief-driver pairing were split earlier this season.

Eury spoke publicly for the first time since car owner Rick Hendrick replaced him with interim crew chief Lance McGrew after the Coca-Cola 600. Eury remains at Hendrick Motorsports, and is serving as Brad Keselowski's crew chief this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. This is Eury's first race since the split.

"I think you guys put so much pressure on him after Daytona that Dale Jr. just basically had enough," Eury said, referring to criticism of Earnhardt after he had two pit-road mistakes and triggered a multi-car car with Brian Vickers.

The following week an engine problem ended Earnhardt's race early.

"That's two negative weeks and you guys were all over him and just brought him down," Eury told the media. "Every week the hole gets deeper and deeper and deeper. It's like you're throwing a squirrel into a hole. It's not coming out, so (it'll) dig the other way to get away from it. In a nutshell, that's it.

"If I could go over there right now and turn the team around, I would. We've tried our teammates' setups, we've tried our own setups we've tried everything we can imagine. When things are going our way, something happens. At the end of the day, you still got the same results. We've got to get Dale Jr. having more fun right now."

Eury says he's told Earnhardt that he needs to enjoy himself more.

Eury admits it was "emotional" for the cousins to be split. Eury and Earnhardt had worked together every season but one since 2000 when Earnhardt moved to Cup full-time.

Earnhardt last won at Michigan in June 2008. That's his only win in the last 116 Cup races.

While their working relationship no longer produced wins, it has not affected their personal relationship.

"He's family," Eury said of Earnhardt. "We go deeper than this racing deal."

MAYFIELD CONSIDERS SELLING: Jeremy Mayfield is considering selling his race team, because he can't find any funding since his suspension for failing a random drug test.

His wife, Shana, says the team is considering all options and selling the remaining inventory is a possibility. Mayfield transferred ownership of the No. 41 Toyota to his wife following his May 9 suspension.

Mayfield told ESPN earlier Thursday he had a meeting scheduled with a potential buyer on Monday when NASCAR summoned him for a drug test.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com