Newsflash! Dale Earnhardt Jr has signed with Rick Hendrick for the 2008 season!

Okay, anyone that has heard of NASCAR has heard the most significant announcement the sport has witnessed since it was announced that Dale Earnhardt, Sr had tragically passed in February of 2001.

Ever since Earnhardt passed away, his son has been thrust into the limelight, with endless expectations. He has lurked in the shadows of his father, who is a 76-time Cup winner, and 7-time Winston Cup Champion. Earnhardt Jr has posted 17 career wins in only 7 years, which is an average of roughly 2 and a half wins per season. He has won at every type of track, with exception of the road courses, and of course, he is the 2004 Daytona 500 winner. For a guy that has been dubbed as the most overrated driver in NASCAR history, he sure does have an impressive track record.

However, when Dale Earnhardt was racing, and was enjoying his prime, he was rarely outshined. It was Earnhardt who ended the dominance of Darrell Waltrip. Of course, there were drivers such as Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace, and even Jeff Gordon that outperformed Earnhardt at times, but in the end, Earnhardt was the top driver in NASCAR. The same cannot be said for Earnhardt Jr.

Since Earnhardt Jr has arrived onto the NASCAR scene, he has not been the driver everyone refers to when they talk about the top dog. Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart have shared that title since Earnhardt passed away, and rightfully so. Gordon is a four-time champion, and Stewart is the only driver to win multiple championships this decade.

In order for that to change, Earnhardt Jr must win championships, not just a championship. With all due respect, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. is not a championship caliber team at this point in time, though Martin Truex Jr is beginning to really excel. At such a pivotal point in his career, Earnhardt Jr had to go to the best team in NASCAR, and that is Hendrick Motorsports.

However, the team that is the best now may not be the best team tomorrow. We saw this in 2005 with Roush Racing. Jamie McMurray, a highly touted young driver, left his ride at Chip Ganassi Racing for the opportunity to go to the team that placed five cars in the 10-man Chase for the Championship. But, how did McMurray fair? Exactly! No one really remembers how McMurray did in 2006, because he was practically invisible.

Earnhardt Jr is obviously in a different league than McMurray, so it is unlikely that he will bomb, but it will be interesting to see if he can really shine as Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson has.

His own legacy?

Dale Earnhardt Jr has often been compared to his father, and when he announced his intentions to leave DEI, he mentioned that his father made a similar decision at the age of 32. However, his father went to a team that had won few races, and no championships, and from there, he built his own legacy, with the help of Richard Childress. Earnhardt Jr could have done the same thing with an upstart team such as Ginn Racing. Instead, Earnhardt Jr went to the best team in NASCAR, which will benefit him, but he will not be able to build the legacy that his father did.

Rick Hendrick already has a legacy, and Jeff Gordon is the primary reason for a lot of the success that Hendrick Motorsports has enjoyed. Earnhardt Jr will only be a component of the Hendrick legacy.

This would be comparable to Dale Earnhardt signing with Junior Johnson or Petty Enterprises back in the early 1980’s instead of Richard Childress Racing. But then again, Earnhardt’s first choice was Junior Johnson, but the team already employed Earnhardt’s chief adversary Darrell Waltrip. The boat was not big enough for those two egos.

Who win at Michigan? Matt Kenseth. Kenseth will continue to be the only non-Chevrolet winner in 2007.

Projected Top Ten

Matt Kenseth

Mark Martin

Jimmie Johnson

Tony Stewart

Dale Earnhardt Jr

Ryan Newman

Jeff Gordon

Clint Bowyer

Carl Edwards

Martin Truex Jr

Also keep an eye on Jeff Burton, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Kyle Busch

Great darkhorse picks include Brian Vickers, Casey Mears, David Ragan, Bill Elliott, Bobby Labonte

Who could use a good finish? Dale Jarrett, Ricky Rudd, Greg Biffle, Scott Riggs, Elliott Sadler

Friday June 15, 2007

11:30 AM ET- NASCAR Nextel Cup Practice, SPEED

3:10 PM ET- NASCAR Nextel Cup Qualifying, SPEED

Saturday June 16, 2007

10:00 AM ET- NASCAR Nextel Cup Practice, SPEED

1:20 PM ET- Final NASCAR Nextel Cup Practice, SPEEd

Sunday June 17, 2007

1:30 PM ET- Michigan 400, at Michigan, TNT

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