Earnhardt to join Hendrick Motorsports for '08 season (cont'd)

But after meeting him, Hendrick jokingly pulled out a napkin and told Earnhardt he wanted to sign him to a driver's contract.

"Obviously he was a pretty smart businessman. So I thought even if it was a joke, I'd better sign it," Earnhardt said Wednesday.

Years later, when Earnhardt was about to run his first Busch Series race, Hendrick sidled up next to him at the pre-race driver's meeting and reminded him of the pact made on the napkin in Topeka.

"You remember you signed a contract with me, right?" Hendrick said.

"I thought you forgot about that," Junior replied.

"No, I didn't forget about it," Hendrick said. "It's just that I'm scared of your daddy."

As they recounted the story Wednesday, both laughed heartily. Truth be told, despite countless fans who still refuse to believe it, Hendrick actually got along quite nicely with the elder Earnhardt. He even knew and greatly respected Ralph Earnhardt, Junior's grandfather who helped Hendrick get his start in racing.

So arriving at Wednesday's announcement was not nearly as much of a stretch as many believed. Yet Hendrick also had trouble envisioning it when his own son, Ricky, predicted about four years ago that Dale Jr. would one day drive for Hendrick Motorsports.

The plan was for Ricky, who passed away tragically in a plane crash before it could transpire, to eventually become more involved in the Hendrick operation -- and Ricky insisted to his father that one day he would get his good friend Earnhardt to drive for them.

"I was like, 'OK, right. I believe that,'" the elder Hendrick recalled Wednesday. "It was something he had in the back of his mind, and I didn't think it would ever come to pass. But I think it was something [Ricky] always planned because of their relationship and the respect he had for Dale, that that was his goal in life. For me now to see it happen is really special for me."

There are still many smaller -- but nonetheless important -- details to be worked out, including whether or not a deal can be negotiated with DEI to let Earnhardt use the No. 8; and whether or not Hendrick's organization, already sponsor-rich, will be able to absorb another major one in Budweiser, which many assumed would follow Earnhardt wherever he went.

But the bottom line is that Earnhardt has signed the bottom line. The general course of his future has been mapped out, and it is in Hendrick's hands as well as his own. Both men realize that.

"I think I have a good opportunity to succeed and win a lot of races. I believe, honestly and personally, that I will carry a championship on my mantle when I'm all said and done. ... I really do want it," Earnhardt said.

Hendrick, whose teams have won 10 of 14 races this season and have captured six Cup championships since the organization opened its doors in 1984, obviously has the resources to help Earnhardt realize his dream. And the team owner desperately wants to make sure it happens.

"He made the decision to come with us based on our ability to give him what he needs to reach those goals. So that's the competitive side of me that adds pressure, because I want to deliver what he's expecting," Hendrick said. "And because of the magnitude of his space and position in the sport, with his fan base and so forth, the feeling is that everyone is going to anticipate it."

Hendrick added that he believes there will be absolutely no problems with Earnhardt co-existing in a camp that already includes fellow superstars Gordon and Johnson.

"As far as the competition inside the camp, there already is competition here with Jeff and Jimmie running for a championship [this year]. They can be friends and they can be upset when they lose a race, but then they get back together and go again. So I feel like that's going to be the same situation here," Hendrick said. "The pressure is because I want to deliver, and I'm going to do everything I can to make that happen -- because there are going to be a whole lot of people watching."