Smack: Busch-whacked (cont'd)

Joe Menzer: And Darrell said to us there that he thought Junior would end up at Hendrick -- "because Rick would treat him like a son." Isn't it ironic that Junior ends up leaving DEI to go to Hendrick so he can be treated "like a son?"

Dave Rodman: I always thought Hendrick was the leading option, but I thought they would do it through some kind of satellite deal.

Joe Menzer: And you never got the feeling that it was going to happen at Gibbs. There was the conflict over bringing Bud on board (Joe wasn't going to do it), and J.D. Gibbs seemed very hesitant about starting a fourth team.

Mark Aumann: I really thought Gibbs might have been the best fit. Junior and Tony would have been tremendous together.

Dave Rodman: Both Joe and J.D. Gibbs made it clear from the start why it probably wouldn't work for them.

Joe Menzer: The Gibbs' reservations left me thinking that in the end, Ginn Racing was going to be a player. Turns out, though, that Hendrick is really where Junior wanted to go all along.

Dave Rodman: And if Rick could fit him in, that was the only place for him to go.

Mark Aumann: Yeah, I don't think Ginn's got enough of a reputation to pull in someone like Junior. Those are good cars, but not great ones.

Dave Rodman: Junior would have been in a pressure cooker there, to be the leader, where at Hendrick he can just be a teammate.

Mark Aumann: At Hendrick, Junior basically becomes third banana behind Gordon and Johnson, after being the top dog at DEI. How will that play out, I wonder?

Dave Rodman: If you think about it, Junior never played the role of strutting around like he was the top dog. I think he'll prove at Hendrick that he's the ultimate team player.

Mark Aumann: Perhaps Junior will like the fact that some of the constant attention will be aimed somewhere else.

Dave Rodman: Junior being Junior, he's always going to be under a microscope. And Junior being at Hendrick will only increase the wattage.

Mark Aumann: By the way, Joe -- what's with all that smoke in the air around Charlotte today? Brush fires or fans burning their No. 8 stuff?

Joe Menzer: Are you kidding me? That No. 8 Budweiser stuff might now end up being very valuable. Suddenly it could be old-school collectible stuff.

Mark Aumann: It's still delicious irony that Junior subbed for Kyle after the crash at Texas.

Dave Rodman: Yeah, but pure coincidence.

Joe Menzer: Agreed. And I think what happened was that Kyle was at least listening hard to lots of overtures from others in the garage area, about coming to drive for them if something happened. And where there's smoke, usually a fire follows -- and I'm not talking about No. 8 stuff burning, either.

Mark Aumann: Well, Kyle was stuck as the No. 3 guy on that team.

Dave Rodman: But only an impetuous, borderline fool would not want to learn from two champion teammates -- both of whom are willing teachers.

Mark Aumann: And you have to wonder if he wanted to see what he was worth.

Dave Rodman: But the most troubling aspect is, if you're a KB fan -- there is no place better to be than Hendrick Motorsports -- so if you had a choice, why on earth would you choose to leave? That might be the ultimate immature mistake.

Joe Menzer: He's 22. He's not sure what he wants. But I'll bet he'll be mighty motivated to prove how good a driver he is if he ends up at DEI. (Continued)