Jr. Joins Hendrick MotorSports

[Glenn]

http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/06/13/dearnhardtjr.announcement/index.html

Man, what a powerhouse that will be in '08.  They'll be tough to beat.  Hendrick teams have already won 10 of 14 races this season.

[burleytog]

Just have to wonder how well the personalities of Jimmy Johnson and Little E will co-exsist.

[roadwarrior]

Junior and Jeff Gordon, teammates. Whodda thunk it?

[Hawgin]

I think it's kinda strange really.  Junior went from wanting to have complete control over DEI, to third bananna in Hendrick?  Seems odd to me.  Also, why would Hendrick bring him in?  He has not shown a strong ability to consistently win, and I don't think Jeff or Jimmy will want to take a back seat to him.  The only thing I can think of with Hendrick, is that they are seeing dollar signs.  He is the most marketable driver on the circuit, but beyond that I'm not sure what he brings.  Besides that, now Hendrick will probably break ties with Kyle Busch, who is just as good driver as Jr.

Something about this whole thing just stinks.

[Gotta Love It]

The only thing I can think of with Hendrick, is that they are seeing dollar signs. He is the most marketable driver on the circuit

That pretty much sums it up...  

[Long Mike]

It's no great secret that DE junior and his step-mom have never seen eye-to-eye.  Since Teresa has inherited control of DEI, it was just a matter of time before Junior bailed.  I initially thought that he would go with his new company, JR Inc., but I guess he is much more valuable elsewhere.  As said above, money talks and JR wants to win the Championship.  Hendrix has both the money and the resources to provide both.  Little E is going to become even more wealthy, and now may have a legitimate at winning the Cup.

[Guest hibachi]

Personally I was hoping that Jr. would join my favorite driver, Tony Stewart, at Joe Gibbs racing.  After all, Stewart and Jr. have a good friendship and they have worked like teammates together in the past.  I have always liked Jr. and his dad is my favorite driver of all time.  But now that Jr. has gone to the "dark side" I've got nothing more for him than I do Jimmy Johnson and his rainbowed friend.  I hope Stewart puts him in the wall.  Jr. should have more cajones than to go to Hendrick Racing.  To me he's just like Johnny Damon, a trader.  If you're on the Red Sox and you want to be traded, fine... but for God's Sake man, don't go to the Yankees!

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

We offered him a job driving the big brown truck but the Teamster wages just weren't enough to suck him in,....oh well. ;D

[Guest the_muddy_man]

We offered him a job driving the big brown truck but the Teamster wages just weren't enough to suck him in,....oh well. ;D

I HEARD HE BALKED AT THE NO WHEELIES CLAUSE

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Noone ever said all 4 wheels had to stay on the ground,....."on time" means "ON TIME"!!   ;D

[cart7t]

I think it's kinda strange really.  Junior went from wanting to have complete control over DEI, to third bananna in Hendrick?  Seems odd to me.  Also, why would Hendrick bring him in?  He has not shown a strong ability to consistently win, and I don't think Jeff or Jimmy will want to take a back seat to him.  The only thing I can think of with Hendrick, is that they are seeing dollar signs.  He is the most marketable driver on the circuit, but beyond that I'm not sure what he brings.  Besides that, now Hendrick will probably break ties with Kyle Busch, who is just as good driver as Jr.

Something about this whole thing just stinks.

What does he bring?

When you think of the millions in Swag his fans will have to cough up when he changes from the 8 to the 5 you'll quickly realize just what he brings to the table.  As for driving skill?  I saw Jr. last night in an interview, he said if he doesn't start winning now he'll be known as the son not as good as his dad.

BTW, will Jr. fans still throw beercans at his new teammate?

[bassmasta7]

...Yes. I saw that interview on sportscenter and there will always be the Earnhardt Gordon rivalry. I dont like Jimmy Johnson but I just cant stand Gordon. As an Earnhardt fan, I think i can learn to like or put up with Jimmy Johnson but not Gordon and i think that is going to be the same for most jr. fans. I bet jr wins at least 4 races next year and will finish in the top 5 in the points. I think he will also win a championship in the next 5 years. The COT races have been dominated by Hendrick and they will only be racing COTs next year so Hendrick could dominate even more next year than this year. I guess I will have to go get a number 5 to stick on my truck and take the number 8 off.

[cart7t]

Wait for the new bumper stickers

8 - 3 = 5

;D

[Matt Fly]

Nothing has changed for me, I still dislike the Rainbow Warrior, and Jr is still the son of the Lengendary Dale Earnhart.

As for some thinking he'll be running the 3rd best car, Kyle is setting in 11th in points and has a win.      Sounds like a win win for all.

Matt

[Hawgin]

As for some thinking he'll be running the 3rd best car, Kyle is setting in 11th in points and has a win.

Matt

Which is exactly why I think it's strange that Hendrick is going to replace him w/Jr.  I'm not convinced that Jr is a better driver than Kyle Busch, but he sure does sell a lot more t-shirts, hats, posters, flags, stickers, coffee cups, etc.

[Catt]

I agree with Matt, he's just the son of a legend

As for Hendricks's domination y'all are forgetting one word Roush"  

[Glenn]

Why do people dislike Gordon?  I don't get it.  Is it because he wins races?  In the past several years, I've seen many outlandish and stupid antics performed by other drivers, but you don't see people hating them.  What gives?

[Hawgin]

Why do people dislike Gordon? I don't get it. Is it because he wins races? In the past several years, I've seen many outlandish and stupid antics performed by other drivers, but you don't see people hating them. What gives?

I agree with you that a lot of people appear to hate him just because he is good.  As for me, I dislike the guy because I'm a Tony Stewart fan, and the two of them have had several run ins with each other over the last few years.  I kinda of attribute to this: I'm a KC Chiefs fan, so I have always heard stories about the great Chiefs/Raiders rivalry.  In my time as a fan the Chiefs have pretty much dominated the Raiders, and other than one Super Bowl run the Raiders have not done much to trigger me to hate them, but I do.  I think the same thing has happened with Gordon.  Dale Sr. fans started to dislike Gordon because he came in and started winning races at a pace similar to, or better than Dale.  Whenever the new kid comes in and starts performing at a level similar to the aging warrior, the aging warriors fans hate the new guy for stealing away the limelight and the glory.  The old guys is forgotten because the of all the attention the new guy on the block gets.  After a while, new fans come in and see/hear the war stories, and they pick up the hatred towards (in this case) Gordon, but they can't really tell you why.

[Matt Fly]

As for some thinking he'll be running the 3rd best car, Kyle is setting in 11th in points and has a win.

Matt

Which is exactly why I think it's strange that Hendrick is going to replace him w/Jr. I'm not convinced that Jr is a better driver than Kyle Busch, but he sure does sell a lot more t-shirts, hats, posters, flags, stickers, coffee cups, etc.

Kyle  has two strikes against him within the Hendricks organization this year.    He shopped himself around to most of the competition to find out his value or worth to other teams and he left the track early in Texas which Jr. climbed into his car to finish the race.

Business is business,    Dale sells merchandise, has one of the top sponsors in the sport,....ie BUD, and that isn't gonna change anytime soon, any good businessman would do the same if given the opportunity.     Put him on the payroll.

Say what you want against JR, currently, he's 4th in wins since he arrived in the Cup,  and the other 3 ahead of him all won the Championship, he has two Bucsh Series Championships.

I also don't think the drivers of old would have been as dominate with the talent thats currently in Nascar.       The sport has grown, so has the talent level.

Matt

[Matt Fly]

Why do people dislike Gordon? I don't get it. Is it because he wins races? In the past several years, I've seen many outlandish and stupid antics performed by other drivers, but you don't see people hating them. What gives?

Glenn,    His nickname, the "rainbow warrior" represents the colors that are flown by Gays.    Thus the Rainbow warrior!!!!!!   and racing was primarily a southern sport.

Matt

[Guest avid]

I have never participated in these Nascar threads because I know nothing about it.

That is about to change.

My son is marrying a lovely girl whose mom is a Nascar fanatic.  I met her for the first time last week and I mentioned that BassResource.com and how alot of the guys here like nascar.  I then mentioned something like "I think they hate some guy name Gordon"  She went ballistic.   I mean it was like I said that Al queda is just a social club or something.  She wasn't angry at me of course, but she just became so animated about how she LOVES Gordon and so on.

I think if I 'm going to be able to talk to this Lady, I better start reading these threads.

What is it with you people anyway?

Somebody please 'splain.

[Catt]

Gordon is hated because he is a whiner; if he doesn't win it's always someone else's fault never his. I seen him cause a wreck and his excuse was the other guy should have gotten out of his way.

[squid]

Didn't he pick some of that up from the big E himself....The Intimidator....Mr get out of my way or I'll push you out.

I like Gordon.....If ya like IKE you should like Gordon....lol

Gordon can out right drive.  AND yes....he is a BIG whiner...but I am a fan of his.

[Glenn]

ALL drivers whine at some point or another. So that's a given.

And if it's a "southern" thing, then why not hate Biffle, Kahne, Jimmy Johnson, Tony Stewart, the Busch bros., etc.... Start throwing beer cans at them too. : And Montoya... well, let's just get a rope!

Sorry, don't buy it.

I appreciate and understand Hawgin's response. Seems to make the most sense. That said, the fact-of-the-matter is, Earnhardt Sr. is a legend and always will be. Not one driver will EVER take that away from him. Same goes for Petty, Yarlborough, Parsons, etc. Each man became a legend by his own accomplishments, and not "taking over" anothers. Earnhardt didn't "replace" his predacessors.

So... get over it! The antics by the fans towards Gordon is embarrassing for the sport. Can't say I'm a big Gordon fan, but I cringe when the fans act up towards him. It's not very southernly now is it?

[cart7t]

Gordon is hated because he is a whiner; if he doesn't win it's always someone else's fault never his. I seen him cause a wreck and his excuse was the other guy should have gotten out of his way.

LOL.  It's not very often I hear any race driver take the blame for any wreck they're involved in, I don't care what the racing series.

As for Gordon, great racecar driver.  He's kinda let the celebrity end of it affect his driving the past few years.  He was most impressive in that trading spaces racecar deal at Indy where he took Montoya's F1 Williams and ran some extremely impressive lap times.