Jr is too nice to be going to the Evil Empire of Nascar, however, as I thought more about it, Hendricks lost his son and Jr lost his Dad. This could just be a perfect match.

It seems to me if you are a Junior fan and you want to see him win- well, he is back with a team that can win (DEI just wasn't anymore). It is an “either or” situation. He could ride around in twelfth place for another three years at DEI sulking about his step-mother and the team’s decline- or move to a team that definitely could win.

I don't think his "fans" grousing about "being teammates with Gordon" mattered one bit to his decision.

But the pressure is on him squarely now. Put up or shut up time for him and his fan base. Hendrick wins. It wins with different people, different crew-chiefs, different tracks, different teams and different cars. They win and win and win.

If #8 can't win here, it means he probably is- outside of restrictor plate racing- a whole lot closer to Dave Blaney and Bobby Hamilton Jr. than a lot of his fans will want to admit.

I'm looking forward to it. It will be a good story.

Frank,Frank,Frank
Slow down with the Dale JR comparisons. For starters, I agree that JR can win with Hendricks, but this win win win business you are talking about, in all your Hendricks love have you forgotten about the red headed step child at HMS? The 25 car. I realize that Mears just won,(on fuel mileage)but when was the last win for that team? The team that has had different drivers and different crew chiefs. Jr is not an "also ran" caliber driver. He has 17 wins since he started, only a few other drivers can match that:Gordon, Johnson, Stewart, Kenseth. Thats pretty prestigious company. From that short list only one of them is missing a championship.

I also am looking forward to it, I believe your are right, it should be a good story.

PS. I want to know if dale3 fan used to where a Johnny Damon jersey.
Im out.

oh no, I completely agree. Should jr not win at Hendricks, I think an apt comparison for his career would be Casey Mears- but with a certain flair for plate racing.

Good for Jr. I hope it all works out for him. As for Busch oh well that's the name of racing!!

Jr. is where he wanted to be for the last 2 years....He has a chance now to further his career and become a man of his own legacy and not in the shadowof his wonderful dad. Give the kid a break, all you Jr fans that jump ship because hes signed with Gordon really werent fans to begin with..just bandstanders!

Linda- I think you're right. One of the best reasons for this is that sometimes just a change of scenery is good for people.

Whatever dynamic that existed at DEI just wasn't working too well anymore. It wasn't terrible (there is nothing inherently "bad" about being one of the top ten-fifteen individual stock car teams in the USA).

But if you're a Jr fan- and want to see him be a Top Five/Championship contender- it was increasingly hard to argue that was going to happen at DEI.

These super multi-car teams made huge investments in engineering and technology and talent. Hendricks is a totally bigger and tech saavy organization than it was a decade ago with the rainbow warriors.

DEI is still a collection of Earnhardt family and talent selction (Truex and Waltrip) was based on relationships. It was cute when family ties made Jr and his pals the guys who cut the grass at the shop. It isn't so cute when the same lawn mowing team is still in charge of building the cars and racing organization.

Jr. has a better chance to win now- maybe his fans need to swallow their pride and anger toward Hendrick's team- and realize they lost this battle with Gordon, etc. -but now could win the Championship. I mean, isn't that why you are a fan of the guy- or is it to justify tossing beer and stuff at Gordon.

JR wants to win, Hendrick will take him that way. Provide him the tools. Hendricks got COT all figured out- all JR has to do is drive. 2008 is all gonna be that new car. I can't think of a better team to be on and Busch off.