Dale Earnhardt Jr. will join Hendrick Motorsports in 2008, hopefully moving one step closer to a championship that has eluded him while driving for his late father's company.
Rick Hendrick said Earnhardt will replace Kyle Busch on his star-studded roster of drivers. The announcement Wednesday ended five weeks of recruiting for Earnhardt, NASCAR's most popular driver, who became a free agent May 10 when he said he would leave DEI at the end of this season.
His criteria for a new team included finding a place he could win championships, and Hendrick is the perfect fit. Hendrick has won six championships, and has 10 wins through 14 points races this season.
"It became apparent to me the man I wanted to drive for," Earnhardt said at a news conference. "He competes with integrity and most importantly, he wins races ... So today, it is with great honor to introduce my new boss for 2008, Mr. Rick Hendrick."
It was not immediately clear what number Earnhardt will drive, and who will sponsor the car. Since starting in NASCAR, Earnhardt has driven the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet. It's possible that Hendrick could trade Busch's No. 5 to DEI for the No. 8, should he wind up signing with Earnhardt's old team.
"We haven't even began to work around that and see what the options are and opportunities are, and that's something we'll work out down the road," Earnhardt said.
Hendrick has longtime ties to Earnhardt's family. He fielded a car in 1983 for Dale Earnhardt Sr., who drove it to a Busch Series win at Lowe's Motor Speedway. That entry was co-owned by Robert Gee, who is Junior's maternal grandfather.
Joining Hendrick's stable could anger Earnhardt's followers because it will team him with Jeff Gordon, a driver generally despised by Junior's rabid fans. Following several of his recent wins, Earnhardt's fans have thrown beer cans at Gordon, most notably after career win No. 76 in April at Talladega Superspeedway. The win tied Gordon with the elder Earnhardt on NASCAR's victory list. "We do have a personal competition. If you want to call it a rivalry, fine," Earnhardt said. "He's fun to race with, and especially if you beat him, it's a good feeling. ... We can both challenge each other to be better race car drivers."
Earnhardt hasn't come close in seven full seasons at DEI to winning a Cup title. Hendrick, meanwhile, has won six championships since 1995, and along with four-time champion Gordon, currently fields defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, Busch and Casey Mears.
Here's a rare sighting of snow covered Mount McKinley (Denali) peaking out above the clouds. It's hard to tell where the clouds end and the mountain starts but it's there. We were lucky enough to see it three different days during our stay in Alaska. This photo is from the 20th on our way to Denali Park.
over 100 miles round trip. We went through the Red Top trail and that was a lot of fun. There was some water to play in. We stopped in Denham (population 40) on the way back for a good old fashioned nummy burger. The trail got a little dusty and I was a mess but had a great time.
