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Written by:
Tom Jensen
06/12/2007 - 07:00 PM
Harrisburg, N.C.
Earnhardt Jr.: setting off in a whole new direction for 2008. (HHP Images/Harold Hinson) ยป More Photos
In the end, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. kept his word and Rick Hendrick kept his cards close to the vest.
On Wednesday, Earnhardt ended five weeks of suspense when he announced he would be joining the powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports outfit, winners of 10 of 14 races this season and six of the past 12 NASCAR Nextel Cup championships.
"I've taken this as seriously as anything I've ever done before," Earnhardt said Wednesday morning at JR Motorsports, the home of his NASCAR Busch Series team. "And I can say this process has opened my eyes to a number of great people in the sport. I wanted to take as much time as possible to find the right time, the team that was right for me and the place where I could compete for championships. As I sit here today, I can say with complete honesty that I've found and accomplished that goal. We talked with many teams, but one stood out above the rest. And it became apparent to me the man I wanted to drive for. I've known him since childhood. He competes with integrity and most importantly, he wins races. I feel like this decision will give me that opportunity, and hopefully I can give my fans what they expect and deserve and have a whole lot of fun along the way."
Earnhardt will replace Kyle Busch, with sponsorship, paint scheme and car number still to be determined. Earnhardt has signed a five-year deal to race for Hendrick, and car owner Rick Hendrick has promised to go all out to help the third-generation driver win his first championship.
With Dale Jr. transferring his flag to the Hendrick stable next year, there will be "no room at the inn" for Kyle Busch in the No. 5. (LAT photo) ยป More Photos
"I've made a lot of commitments today that I'm going to have to live up to," Hendrick said. " I take a lot of pleasure in trying to win championships for different people, but this one has a special place in my heart. I can't tell you how special this is to me, how thrilled I am and how much pressure I feel to make sure that he's going to win races."
Hendrick said he was every bit as excited as Earnhardt is. "It is a 'wow' day. This is an awful special day for me, both from a personal standpoint and a professional standpoint," said team owner Hendrick. "In my whole racing career, this day is going to go down as one that I'm still having a hard time believing we've got it done and it's happening. It's a day that's an exciting time for us to be able to bring a talent like Junior into our camp."
The move was consistent with Earnhardt's stated wish to keep driving Chevrolets and join a team that could help him win races and championships. He detailed that goal five weeks earlier when he announced that he would be leaving Dale Earnhardt, Inc., the team started by his late father and the only team he had driven for in his
During the five weeks between announcing he was leaving DEI and joining Hendrick, Earnhardt's future has been the subject of more rumors than Paris Hilton. The day after Earnhardt's first announcement, a North Carolina television station reported that it had "confirmed" Earnhardt would drive for Richard Childress Racing in the No. 33 with Budweiser sponsorship. Another oft-repeated rumor had the third-generation driver headed to Joe Gibbs Racing with sponsorship from Visa. Then there was the belief that NASCAR's most popular driver might jump to Ginn Racing or even move his JR Motorsports NASCAR Busch Series team up to the Nextel Cup Series. "Most of what I read came out of thin air," Earnhardt said of the many rumors surrounding his potential choices.
But the bottom line was pretty basic: Earnhardt wanted to win and no one's won more than Hendrick in the past decade, which as a team has 159 NASCAR Nextel Cup victories, including 62 since 2001 and 10 this year. In each of the last two seasons, all four Hendrick drivers have won races.
DEI, meanwhile, has only 24 victories as a team and just one victory in each of the last three seasons. Earnhardt himself one only once in 2005 and again in '06. In addition, his relationship with stepmother and team owner Teresa Earnhardt had deteriorated to the point where the two barely spoke anymore. He didn't even tell her he was leaving DEI until the morning of his press conference five weeks ago.
Earnhardt's role in all this was relatively simple: He wanted to go to a championship Chevy team. That made Hendrick a relative no-brainer. For Hendrick, though, the deal was much more complex, as he had four fully-sponsored teams with four drivers under contract, all of whom have already won a race this season.
The breakthrough came when Kyle Busch asked for his release from the team, which freed up a spot at Hendrick. "It became pretty obvious to me that other people were talking to Kyle," Hendrick said.
The two tried to negotiate a contract extension but decided to part ways around the time of the Coca-Cola 600. "It became pretty obvious both of us that maybe a fresh start might be good for both of us. He had unbelievable opportunities I had an unbelievable opportunity we decided it would be good for him to pursue those and me to pursue this opportunity with Junior."
And both Earnhardt and Hendrick are hopeful the end result will be another championship for Hendrick and a first for Earnhardt.
At 7 p.m. ET, SPEED will present a special half-hour edition of The SPEED Report to summarize the day's events.
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