CONCORD, N.C. -- Rick Hendrick praised Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his manners on the radio at Dover, a week after the car owner questioned his driver's temperament.

Hendrick said after the New Hampshire race that he wanted Earnhardt to be less emotional on the radio and give better feedback about the car to crew chief Tony Eury Jr.

Hendrick liked what he heard Sunday although Earnhardt had a car worth screaming about. Earnhardt blew a tire and spun just after being lapped.

He never made it back on the lead lap and finished 24th to fall to ninth in the standings heading to this weekend's Camping World RV 400 at Kansas Speedway.

"I was real proud of Junior in Dover," Hendrick said. "He sure had an opportunity [to yell], he could have, should have. He was extremely good on the radio."

Hendrick also defended Jeff Gordon's crew chief, Steve Letarte, who has come under fan criticism as Gordon's winless streak grows. Gordon has not won in the last 33 races.

"Stevie has done an unbelievable job," Hendrick said.

"The frustrating part of this deal, these cars have to be tuned to each driver. Since I've been racing with Jeff Gordon, we've had the worst luck [this season] that we've had in all the years since we've been together.

"If he's got a good car, then we screw it up in the pits, we fumble a pit stop or ... something that puts him in the back and then he's in a wreck. I predict Jeff will win a race before this over. We're not out of it yet. I think if we can just have one good race where we finish as good as the car was and not have something go wrong, I think it will give the team a lot of momentum.

"Steve Letarte is smart; he works hard. He's the same guy that led the points by 300 last year and got [Gordon] to finish second in the Chase. He didn't go brain dead this year."

Said Gordon about Letarte: "I'm extremely happy with the job that Steve's done. Whenever we're not performing, my fans seem to stay loyal to me, and I appreciate that, but I'm as much a part of this team and its performance as anybody else out there. If there's going to be criticism, I want it to come across the board."

Driver change

Red Bull Racing announced Tuesday that AJ Allmendinger will not return to the team after this season, fueling speculation that Scott Speed will take his place.

No replacement has been announced.

Allmendinger finished 16th on Sunday at Dover to help the team climb back into the top 35 in car owner points. His career best finish was a 10th at Indianapolis in July.

He failed to qualify for the season's first three races before Mike Skinner subbed for him in the next five.

Allmendinger returned at Talladega in April and has made every race since. Skinner drove for Allmendinger in Tuesday's test at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Speed, an ex-Formula One driver, has been competing in the Craftsman Truck series and ARCA series this season.

He has one win in 10 truck starts. He leads the ARCA standings with three races left.

Pit stops

Brad Keselowski will attempt to qualify for the Cup races at Lowe's Motor Speedway and Texas for Hendrick Motorsports. Hendrick calls Keselowski "the future of our company."... Tickets remain for next month's races at Lowe's Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway.