Head2Head: Junior's move

Is Earnhardt wise in choosing Hendrick as his new home?

By NASCAR.COM
June 13, 2007
03:26 PM EDT

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This week's hot-button debate focuses on Dale Earnhardt Jr. going to Hendrick Motorsports.

Earnhardt announced in May he was leaving DEI and the early summer question has been where he will land. Rumors have predicted every team in the garage, but everything became official on Wednesday when he made his decision: Hendrick Motorsports.

Earnhardt will replace Kyle Busch in the Hendrick stable, as Busch will be released of his contract at season's end.

This season Hendrick cars have won 10 of the 14 races, with Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon combining to win eight of them.

By going to Hendrick, is Earnhardt making a good career decision?

Read both sides of the argument and then weigh in with your take.

Is Dale Jr. making a good career move?


Yes	No
I'm certain there are more than a few die-hard No. 8 fans having a hard time stomaching the fact today that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is about to become the newest employee of Rick Hendrick Motorsports. Junior, a teammate of Jeff Gordon, the anti-Dale? I'm certain that fact in itself is hard enough to swallow. Junior fans are apt to point at the other skeletons in Hendrick's closet. Yes, Hendrick ran afoul of the federal government a decade ago, and the No. 48 team has run afoul of NASCAR a few times since. Imagine, he even hired Geoffrey Bodine and Darrell Waltrip to drive for him at one time. However, it's hard to argue with Hendrick's success on the track: 159 victories, 614 top-five and 1,017 top-10 finishes since 1984. Oh, and don't forget the six NASCAR championships. I'm certain Junior didn't forget when he first entertained the idea of switching teams. Hendrick prides himself on getting top-notch equipment and hiring the best people to run his operation. Just look at the numbers. Fourteen races this season, 10 wins for Hendrick. And when it comes to the Car of Tomorrow, Hendrick cars are basically lapping the field. With his win Sunday at Pocono, Gordon is far and away the active leader in victories with 79. Of the other drivers age 40 or younger, Jimmie Johnson's 27 wins trail only Tony Stewart's 29. Of the four victories in NASCAR history recorded by drivers younger than 22, Kyle Busch has three. Consider what Junior might be able to do with Hendrick equipment on a weekly basis. Look at how well Busch and Casey Mears have been running, and imagine what a driver with Earnhardt's obvious talent, coupled with Hendrick's vast resources, might be able to accomplish. That's what had to cross Junior's mind when he started seriously looking at the possibilities. If what's important to Junior is wins and titles -- and he's stated that fact time and time again -- then Hendrick was the right move. Sure, reliving the past with Richard Childress Racing would have been a heartwarming story, and watching Junior and Tony Stewart goof on each other at Joe Gibbs Racing would have been entertaining. But when all is said and done, the No. 1 team in the sport right now, without a doubt, is Hendrick. And if Junior wants to be No. 1, that's a good place to start. • Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM	Every car at Hendrick Motorsports has won this season. Two of the team's cars have won championships since 2001. And in the Car of Tomorrow, nobody does it better than Hendrick-powered Chevrolets. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has to be drooling. Welcome to the pressure-cooker, buddy. It has been 40 races since Earnhardt has won. He has openly said DEI did not give him the equipment to win consistently nor to win a championship. Well now the garage is packed full of new toys for Junior. Everybody wins at Hendrick. But what happens if Earnhardt doesn't? What happens if he's the team's new Casey Mears -- the new guy who is expected to come to Hendrick and show the real talent he has? Sure Mears won at Charlotte, but that's one bright star among a dozen bleak ones this season. For Junior to move to any other team, he would have had a crutch. Can't win at RCR? That's OK, they struggled for several years and haven't won a title since daddy did. Can't win at Gibbs? That's OK, that 18 car hasn't been the same since Bobby Labonte was champ. Can't win at Ginn? That's OK, they have plenty of money but are still new at spending it. Can't win at Haas? That's OK, they've never won a Cup race. Can't win at Hendrick? What's wrong? Earnhardt carried a magnificent burden while at DEI as the only driver there consistent enough to win on a week-to-week basis. That was always the case, or at least until he announced he was leaving. That's when Martin Truex Jr. suddenly became the driver everyone expected him to be. As third man on the totem pole at Hendrick (yes, he's third), he is no longer the standard bearer and that's bad for him -- especially when the top two drivers at the team have combined for eight victories in the 14 races this year. Now Junior carries an even bigger burden and one of the greatest risks of his career. He must live up to the expectations that Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have established at Hendrick. In far worse equipment, Junior has failed to do so. So with the same equipment, if he can't get it done, he risks being exposed as simply (gasp) a mediocre driver with a truckload of fans. • Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM

Yes

I'm certain there are more than a few die-hard No. 8 fans having a hard time stomaching the fact today that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is about to become the newest employee of Rick Hendrick Motorsports. Junior, a teammate of Jeff Gordon, the anti-Dale? I'm certain that fact in itself is hard enough to swallow.

Junior fans are apt to point at the other skeletons in Hendrick's closet. Yes, Hendrick ran afoul of the federal government a decade ago, and the No. 48 team has run afoul of NASCAR a few times since. Imagine, he even hired Geoffrey Bodine and Darrell Waltrip to drive for him at one time.

However, it's hard to argue with Hendrick's success on the track: 159 victories, 614 top-five and 1,017 top-10 finishes since 1984. Oh, and don't forget the six NASCAR championships. I'm certain Junior didn't forget when he first entertained the idea of switching teams.

Hendrick prides himself on getting top-notch equipment and hiring the best people to run his operation. Just look at the numbers. Fourteen races this season, 10 wins for Hendrick. And when it comes to the Car of Tomorrow, Hendrick cars are basically lapping the field.

With his win Sunday at Pocono, Gordon is far and away the active leader in victories with 79. Of the other drivers age 40 or younger, Jimmie Johnson's 27 wins trail only Tony Stewart's 29. Of the four victories in NASCAR history recorded by drivers younger than 22, Kyle Busch has three.

Consider what Junior might be able to do with Hendrick equipment on a weekly basis. Look at how well Busch and Casey Mears have been running, and imagine what a driver with Earnhardt's obvious talent, coupled with Hendrick's vast resources, might be able to accomplish.

That's what had to cross Junior's mind when he started seriously looking at the possibilities.

If what's important to Junior is wins and titles -- and he's stated that fact time and time again -- then Hendrick was the right move. Sure, reliving the past with Richard Childress Racing would have been a heartwarming story, and watching Junior and Tony Stewart goof on each other at Joe Gibbs Racing would have been entertaining.

But when all is said and done, the No. 1 team in the sport right now, without a doubt, is Hendrick. And if Junior wants to be No. 1, that's a good place to start.

• Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM

Every car at Hendrick Motorsports has won this season. Two of the team's cars have won championships since 2001. And in the Car of Tomorrow, nobody does it better than Hendrick-powered Chevrolets. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has to be drooling.

Welcome to the pressure-cooker, buddy.

It has been 40 races since Earnhardt has won. He has openly said DEI did not give him the equipment to win consistently nor to win a championship. Well now the garage is packed full of new toys for Junior. Everybody wins at Hendrick.

But what happens if Earnhardt doesn't?

What happens if he's the team's new Casey Mears -- the new guy who is expected to come to Hendrick and show the real talent he has? Sure Mears won at Charlotte, but that's one bright star among a dozen bleak ones this season.

For Junior to move to any other team, he would have had a crutch.

Can't win at RCR? That's OK, they struggled for several years and haven't won a title since daddy did.

Can't win at Gibbs? That's OK, that 18 car hasn't been the same since Bobby Labonte was champ.

Can't win at Ginn? That's OK, they have plenty of money but are still new at spending it.

Can't win at Haas? That's OK, they've never won a Cup race.

Can't win at Hendrick? What's wrong?

Earnhardt carried a magnificent burden while at DEI as the only driver there consistent enough to win on a week-to-week basis. That was always the case, or at least until he announced he was leaving. That's when Martin Truex Jr. suddenly became the driver everyone expected him to be.

As third man on the totem pole at Hendrick (yes, he's third), he is no longer the standard bearer and that's bad for him -- especially when the top two drivers at the team have combined for eight victories in the 14 races this year.

Now Junior carries an even bigger burden and one of the greatest risks of his career. He must live up to the expectations that Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have established at Hendrick. In far worse equipment, Junior has failed to do so. So with the same equipment, if he can't get it done, he risks being exposed as simply (gasp) a mediocre driver with a truckload of fans.

• Josh Pate, NASCAR.COM