Hendrick drivers ready to welcome Junior to team

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Jimmie Johnson cut through all the idle talk Friday and got to the crux of what it's really going to mean for Hendrick Motorsports to have Dale Earnhardt Jr. on board as a Nextel Cup driver beginning next season.

"I think maybe at Talladega, after the race is over, our racecars won't get beat up now with all the beer cans flying over the fence," Johnson said Friday at Michigan International Speedway, where he and the other Cup drivers, including Earnhardt, were preparing for Sunday's Citizens Bank 400.

Jeff Gordon, another one of Junior's new teammates-to-be once the 2008 season commences, wasn't so sure about that.

"It doesn't mean that I expect people to not continue to boo me. I expect them to boo me in full force," Gordon said. "But it's going to be pretty cool to see him out there in the type of equipment I think we're capable of giving him."

Earnhardt made the announcement last Wednesday that he would be joining the Hendrick organization at the end of this season, roughly five weeks after he announced that he definitely would be leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc., the team he currently drives for and will continue to drive for through the rest of the 2007 season.

To make room for Earnhardt, team owner Rick Hendrick and driver Kyle Busch announced that they would part ways at end of this season -- freeing Busch to sign with another team of his choice and leaving the Hendrick driving stable for '08 and beyond to be filled by Gordon, Johnson, Earnhardt and Casey Mears.

Mears candidly admitted Friday that he carries, by far, the lowest profile and the least glamorous resume of the Hendrick drivers. But he added that he does not foresee any problems with that; in fact, he insisted that it will be a plus, as he plans to milk the veterans for every nugget of knowledge they are willing to provide.

"I think it will be fine. I think they are superstars on the outside, but all really good quality people on the inside," Mears said. "When you get back to the truck and you're just talking, it's just people. We've all hung out together.

"I think it's going to take a little time. Everything takes time to gel and understand each other. But the fact that we all know each other and are friends is going to make it easier." (Continued)