Earnhardt and Hendrick come from the same place (cont'd)

It all began with Robert Gee. The man who would later become Earnhardt's maternal grandfather was one of the best fabricators of his era, and hailed from the same South Hill community that produced Hendrick. It was Gee who helped Hendrick get into racing, who co-owned the car driven by the elder Earnhardt that scored Hendrick's first NASCAR win in a Busch race at Charlotte in 1983, who worked for Hendrick for 11 years until his death in October of 1994. When Gee suffered a stroke, it was Hendrick who helped him find medical care.

"He was really proud of his employment and his involvement at Hendrick," Earnhardt said of his grandfather. "That was always apparent to me as his grandson. When I would go to his shop, I could see the pride he took in where he worked and what his job was and everything."

There are plenty of links between Hendrick and Earnhardt's father, who tested Hendrick's first Cup car and was pursued by the fledgling team owner before joining with the more established Richard Childress Racing organization. Earnhardt Jr., who employs uncles Jimmy and Robert Gee Jr. at JR Motorsports, feels his mother's side of the family never gets enough credit for making him who he is. That's not the case with Hendrick, who looks at Earnhardt Jr. and sees his granddaddy's face.

"I can look at Robert Gee Jr., or Jimmy Gee, or Dale Jr., and all I see is Robert Gee. They're the spitting image of him. I go back and look and pictures from when we did things together, and I have to say, I owe Robert a lot," Hendrick said.

"You think back to coming to Charlotte, and Robert and I having a dirt car together, and then a Busch car and Senior winning the race in it. Senior and I tried to get together a couple of times, and I don't blame him for not coming to me when he went to Childress, because Childress was an established guy and I wasn't. But having a friendship there and all of the things that transpired through Robert, I've got pictures of me sitting in Robert's lap. When Robert had a stroke, Kelley was a little girl, and I got him a doctor and stayed with him. I never thought that one day we'd be doing this together."

Now Kelley, Earnhardt's manager, works directly with Hendrick. There are so many things yet to be determined -- whether Earnhardt will drive the No. 8, which he'd like to obtain from DEI; whether Budweiser will follow; what combination of current Hendrick sponsors will appear on Junior's 2008 car. But there's no questioning the pure happiness Earnhardt felt Wednesday, as evidenced by a beaming smile bigger than any he's worn in Victory Lane. And there's no questioning the level of comfort and trust between Earnhardt and his new boss, a stark contrast to his rocky relationship with stepmother Teresa Earnhardt at DEI.

"I've heard half a dozen stories about him, when someone's ill, whether it's Benny Parsons or a person at his business or a family member of an employee or whatever, they're flying people all across the country trying to get the best crews and doctors to that person," said Earnhardt, who witnessed it first-hand when Kelley battled benign pancreatic tumors. "He does those kinds of things all the time, and I find that kind of fascinating that he has the ability to take time out of what he's doing in his busy life to do those kinds of things for other people. You want to be around people like that."

Since announcing his impending split from DEI, Earnhardt has had no shortage of suitors. During the past month, he's visited shops and met with team owners such as Childress and Joe Gibbs. The money, the cars and the technology, he said, were the same across the board. What made the difference to Earnhardt was his personal relationship with Hendrick, who's become a confidante, advisor, and friend to the driver in the six and half years since his father was killed.

"It's a huge heart he has," Earnhardt said. "I want that to rub off on me a little bit."

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.