IN SOME WAYS I DONT GET IT. HE HAD THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO GOTO RICHARD CHILDRESS AND MAYBE DRIVE THE NUMBER 3 BUDWIESER CAR AND HE CHOSE THE ENEMY. I UNDERSTAND HE WANTS TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS AND THAT HMS IS A GREAT PLACE TO GO. HE NOW HAS TO WAIT 5 YEARS BEFORE HE CAN LEAVE AGAIN.. WATCHING HIM BE A TEAM MATE OF JEFF AND PUSSY JIMMY WILL MAKE ME SICK. WHAT WOOD DALE SENIOR THINK. WOULD HE HAVE LET HIM DO THAT. HELL NO.. NASCAR TO ME WILL NEVER BE THE SAME....
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The day that Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans never thought possible arrived Wednesday.
That's right, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson haters, Junior went over to the other side: Hendrick Motorsports.
After all the years Junior Nation has spent casting verbal and oftentimes profane aspersions on the drivers of the No. 24 and 48 – not to mention all the beer cans and other trash that have littered race tracks each time the duo crossed the finish line ahead of their heartthrob in the No. 8 Chevrolet – their driver has done the worst thing possible.
He joined the enemy.
And he'll stay there for at least the next five years.
But it gets even worse: Junior fans also can forget about their long-held dreams of Junior following in his father's footsteps by racing for Richard Childress in No. 3 Chevrolet – at least for the time being.
Even if it wasn't Richard Childress Racing, any team other than Hendrick probably would have been OK by Junior's fans. But no, the son of NASCAR's Elvis had to become a rebel with a cause by going and joining The Beatles, thinking he'll make much more beautiful music there in the long run.
Earnhardt's decision to join Hendrick Motorsports, however, wasn't a well-crafted plot to tick off his fans or cast aside all their years of loyalty. Really, Junior's decision had nothing to do with the fans; it was all about performance. After seeing HMS drivers pass him en route to victory lane so many times during his own Cup career, Junior's decision all came down to one simple thing:
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Earnhardt just wants to win.
He feels he can greatly add to his current total of 17 Cup wins – all with DEI – with superior Hendrick engine power under the hood and 560 employees at his back. It's all about support, technology and know-how, and Junior will have more of that at HMS than he ever had at DEI.
While stepmother and DEI owner Teresa Earnhardt may have held him back both on and off the race track, new boss Rick Hendrick is sure to capitalize on Junior's popularity and his intense hunger to prove he can win a Cup championship.
But there's a significant flip side to consider in Junior's quest for that elusive title.
He goes from being the unquestioned No. 1 at DEI to No. 3, at best, at HMS. Until Gordon retires, he'll likely be the biggest of the big dogs there, followed by his heir apparent, Johnson.
That leaves Earnhardt and Casey Mears to fill in the voids.
Sure, on the surface, Wednesday's announcement looks like sheer brilliance for Earnhardt. He's going from a Triple-A team to the New York Yankees of NASCAR. He's going to the organization that is the biggest, the best and the most successful in the sport.
But will NASCAR's most popular driver be content not just to play second-fiddle, but third-fiddle? Can he go from being the face of DEI to being just one of a cast of characters at Hendrick?
Kyle Busch has known his place at HMS. Will Earnhardt, who is Busch's de facto replacement, be willing to be equally subservient?
Let's hypothesize about his debut race with his new organization, the 2008 Daytona 500 next February. Not only will it be that legendary event's 50th anniversary, its meaning takes on a whole new focus with Junior driving for HMS.
What if Junior's new teammates, particularly Gordon and Johnson, are locked with him in a last-lap battle for the checkered flag? Does he think – or even expect – his new best buddies to simply let him go by just because his name is Earnhardt?
Yeah, right.
Instead, we'd likely see something that would make Brian Vickers taking out then-teammate Johnson and Earnhardt at Talladega last fall look like touch football compared to the battle royale that might take place at Daytona – or, for that matter, at any other place if the situation presents itself.
Wednesday morning, Hendrick and Earnhardt were all smiles as they announced their new partnership. They talked about the strong family atmosphere at HMS, the kind of familial relationship that Junior apparently never had at DEI. They also talked about how easy it will be to co-exist with his new stepbrothers at HMS given that the marriage now is final.
That may exist in a perfect world, but not in our world, and particularly not in the NASCAR world, where it's truly every man for himself, teammate or not.
All families have had squabbles between brothers. Heck, even the Brady Bunch didn't always share the love with one another.
If anything, while they likely will also smile and welcome Junior to the family, don't be surprised if Gordon and Johnson take things up a notch themselves just to show their new teammate who the real top dogs are at Hendrick.
While Rick Hendrick said Wednesday that he always has considered Dale Jr. as a son, make no mistake about it that Gordon and Johnson are the true favorite sons at HMS.
And if Junior thinks he's going to be happy being just one of the boys rather than the boy he has been at DEI, it may be one big happy family at HMS for everyone except the newest addition.
