Answered questions equal more questions for Junior

As we headed to Dallas for the grand unveiling of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s new life, a couple of thoughts kept banging off the top of the fuselage.

Now that Junior has what he says he wanted, which is a chance to win races and championships, will it work out that way? If it does, that's great. He made the right move to the right team at the right time in his life, and it paid off.

But what if it doesn't? Not to hose down Junior's parade before it even gets started, but the risks are tangible. How patient will Junior Nation be if he starts slow? They're already hopped up because Junior "turned his coat" and went over to Hendrick in the first place. A slow start means that he made the wrong choice, at least in the short run, and there's hardly any long run among fans any more.

Dale Jr. to No. 88

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By informal tally, approximately 90 percent of the Official NASCAR Members Club's 60,000-plus members cheer for Junior, Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart. There's a chunk of Kahne fans, too, but the vast majority is soaked up in three drivers. Depending on the venue, you can go blind in a sea of red, blue or orange.

For the most part, the Junior delegates in the ONMC have been calm about the change, preferring to think that now that their man is freed of unpleasant family entanglements, he has license to start chasing his father's hard-won fame in earnest without dealing with his ghost every time he turns around. We'll see about that, but for now, the focus is on getting the new deal right for Daytona -- and the Christmas season.

There isn't any question about what sort of impact he is going to have on Hendrick Motorsports and the NASCAR fan in general.

On Tuesday, Earnhardt unveiled a candy bar, Big Mo', a takeoff of his hometown (Mooresville, N.C.) and his group of friends known as the Dirty Mo' Posse. The last time there was a candy bar named for an athlete, it was Reggie Jackson of the (hated) New York Yankees.

Wednesday, the sponsorship announcement to end all sponsorship announcements tied up the competition side. Right alongside comes new licensed merchandise from JR Motorsports, just in time for the end of the season and the holidays.

That's Phase 1 of The Rollout ... licensed merchandise from wall to wall and sea to shining sea. Mel Brooks' movie SpaceBalls covered this: Dale the T-shirt, Dale the Placemat, Dale the action figure with the kung-fu grip ... you get the idea.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, you understand. It's why he left DEI, or at least one of the reasons. There are worker bees among the 700 or so employees at HMS that do nothing but think about products and licensing, and the Big Kahuna of such things in NASCAR just signed on the dotted line.

The point of all this is, as the questions we had in May are answered one by one, all they do is lead to more questions. How will he do? Is he a world-beater or just a good driver? How is he going to fit in at Hendrick? How will Tony Eury Jr. fit in at Hendrick? Who invented liquid soap and why?

As the cover comes off the No. 88 Chevrolet and nice things are said about Pepsico, our Nation's Finest and the ever-increasing energy needs of NASCAR fans, there will be more questions yet.

Until the car rolls out onto Daytona's pavement in February, it will be speculation, innuendo and surmise. When he drops the hammer for the first time in anger, there will still be questions.

Wednesday in Dallas, some things were answered. Let's just be happy with that for a while, all right? There's plenty of time to bandy this about on Dale the cell phone.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.