Dale Junior And Hendrick? Gimmie A Break!
Wednesday, May 9th, 2007 1:33pm CDT
By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.
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Wow. It’s Wednesday already! Between tornadoes, flash floods, and all the other stuff on my plate, where does the time go?
So there’s this “rumor” trying to be pushed by the Winston-Salem Journal, but I don’t see anyone really biting on it. Can’t say I blame them. After all, Dale Junior at Hendrick Motorsports? That’s a little far fetched.
Not saying it may not be true to some extent, but we’ll get to that.
For the record, the main points of this post will discuss the current contact negotiations, adding fuel to its fire with the DEI/RYR merger discussion reports, Junior’s future home, why Hendrick won’t be it, and where he may very well (and should) end up.
So here we go with more what if scenarios, about Junior and his contract negotiations. To further complicate the situation, and perhaps it makes matters worse, is the recent media blitz of the DEI/RYR talks about combining forces to fight the beast.
To even further heat it up, Robert Yates being a staunch Ford team, and DEI being up on their contract with Chevy. Ford won’t let RYR go, as RYR is a big piece of their engine puzzle. Pretty much, if you run a Ford you’re running a Roush-Yates engine. Something the Ford camp isn’t willing to sacrifice. Not to mention that Yates is Ford’s #2 rooster in the hen house. Not a bad spot to be in, under any manufacturer. Heck, even the power of Gibbs is third in the chain behind Hendrick and RCR. Granted, that isn’t saying much since there isn’t a really true pecking order, but you get the point.
Now to even further the fuel to the fire, standing at at least a 6 alarm call, is Dale Junior himself. He flat out said he’ll be driving a Chevy next season. Junior gets what Junior wants, else they who want Junior don’t get what they want. I guess being the name that he is carries that much weight, and it should unless he’s tearing up the motor coach after finding brown M&M’s in the bowl. Or maybe finding Bud Light instead of the real McCoy in the cooler, so to speak.
So this article, and one previously (that I don’t have the link to offhand at the moment) is trying to mention that Junior could potentially head to Hendrick’s umbrella. I think that is ridiculous. Their “source” claims he’s leaning towards Hendrick, after looking at what both Hendrick and RCR have to offer. I’m calling shenanigans, and a very clever media ploy. A media ploy to either put pressure on DEI, or throw the hounds off the trail and give them something to talk about. To me, the Hendrick rumor looks to be intentionally made into more than it is, for the sake of exposure and pressure.
I won’t say that it isn’t possible. Hell, anything is these days. If you told me 18 months ago that DJ would be in a Toyota, I’d have said you were nuts based on how tightly DJ was integrated into the Ford camp. So yeah, I’m not always right, but I can only call it like I see it at the time.
It is probably likely that indeed there has been talks with Hendrick. But look at what’s on the table right now. Hendrick has 4 teams already. They support MB2, for example, but can you see Junior going there even if it was in name only and Hendrick was doing all the work? Um, no. So Hendrick would have to bump someone from its current stable over to MB2. Not either of their Champs, so it would have to be Casey of Kyle. Think that will happen? It’s not a likely move.
Seen it speculated that he could move JR Motorsports up to Cup, but give me a break. Junior isn’t “dumb”, and knows that would be career suicide. Not that Dale Jarrett’s fans don’t love him, but do you think they like to see him running in the back or not at all? It takes a lot to run in Cup, and it would kill Junior’s hopes of a title.
Through it all, there is only one logical choice. I’ve said it before, again, and again. I’ll say it now, too.
Richard Childress Racing.
If Junior wants a Championship, that’s the only path to it.
Hendrick could do it, no doubt, but there just isn’t the room there. Their drivers are under contract, and Junior isn’t for 2008. Yet. The driver at Hendrick would have to “agree” to step over (in name, most likely) to one of the satellite teams. Can’t say any of them would be willing, knowing what they have right now might not be there.
Richard Childress Racing.
You want this sport to come to life, there you go. Dale Junior was destined for that spot at RCR from the time Dale signed with RCR “back in the day”.
Now let’s be reasonable here. This is becoming a big issue because of the notes about DEI and RYR having discussions. If Junior gets what he wants out of the contract, majority ownership of DEI, then it’s a moot point. There would most likely be no merger with RYR since they won’t be switching away from Ford.
Would they have to, and would DEI have to switch to Ford though? Maybe not. Enter the COT, CORN, or whatever you want to call it now.
There is even less of a manufacturer difference in it, and I’d be willing to bet that a Ford team and a Chevy team could work together on darn near everything, motors excluded. The question with that is, would the manufacturers bite off on it? If it means benefits all around, and keeping ahead of the eventual Toyota plan when it gets off the ground in upcoming years, they may if they see it as a big threat.
Dale said he wanted things wrapping up or wrapped up in May. The 600 will be over before you know it, and considering that Dale Junior had no idea that DEI was having discussions with Robert Yates Racing, what does that tell the public about DEI’s concern for the negotiations with Junior? True or not, it sends a message that they are already proceeding on their given path. This path being presented between the lines in the media doesn’t seem to include Junior. You would think that if they were going to give over the reins of DEI, that he would at least have been advised of the discussions, not blindsided by them.
In the end, there really is only one logical decision for Junior to make. Richard Childress has always had his back, and will no matter the decision. Tony Eury Jr. will get all the help and support he needs on his end, which he isn’t really getting now (unless Jr gets control and makes it happen), and Junior will get all the help and support he needs as a driver.
A red, and sometimes black, #3 Budweiser Chevy. Now won’t that bring up some emotions and make for some headlines? Dale Junior is the only one that could pull it off, and it would be one heck of a “feel good” story. Not to mention that it would literally be something that would make ya feel good. A Dale Earnhardt fan or not, and newbies don’t count, seeing Dale Junior pull out for the Bud Shootout in that car would be something spectacular.
Filed Under: Dale Earnhardt Inc #8, Dale Earnhardt Junior, Drivers, Nascar, Nextel Cup, Teams
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