Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn't won a Nextel Cup race this year and will have a new crew chief starting with this weekend's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Steve Hmiel will step in on an interim basis, replacing Pete Rondeau after just 11 races. "We are capable of consistently winning and are focused on that as a company," said Richie Gilmore, vice president of motorsports for Dale Earnhardt Inc., in a statement Tuesday. "We are going to concentrate our efforts on improved results with the No. 8 car." Earnhardt is currently 11th in the Nextel Cup standings, 229 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson, and has just three top-five finishes this season. He was third at the season-opening Daytona 500, then slumped to three straight finishes outside of the top-20, but has done no worse than 15th in the last seven races. Rondeau, who took over as Earnhardt's crew chief this year after serving in the same role for teammate Michael Waltrip, will continue with DEI in another capacity. "Pete is a valuable asset and has brought a number of innovations to our organization," Gilmore added. "We're happy that Pete is so strongly dedicated to Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and its success." Hmiel is the technical director at DEI.