Post by ۞Quaalude™۞ on Jun 13, 2007 9:15:06 GMT -5
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Earnhardt and Gordon. Names best recognized as rivals, certainly not friends.
Best buddies they may never be, but NASCAR's two biggest stars would certainly learn to get along if joined under one roof at Hendrick Motorsports.
It's an Earnhardt fan's worst nightmare. Yet all signs indicated it will happen when Junior announces his 2008 plans during a Wednesday morning news conference.
Multiple sources told The Associated Press that Earnhardt will join Rick Hendrick's elite organization, ending the most frenzied free agency in NASCAR history. The half-dozen people familiar with the negotiations spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because Earnhardt had yet to announce his plans.
Earnhardt has been searching for a top level team since announcing May 10 he'll leave his late father's company at the end of the season. NASCAR's most popular driver wants to win championships -- something he's never come close to doing after seven full seasons at DEI -- and Hendrick is the place to do it. The team has won six championships since 1995, and currently fields cars for four-time champion Jeff Gordon, defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Casey Mears. With all four drivers under contract, Hendrick told The Associated Press last month he had ``no room at the inn'' for Earnhardt.
But there were rumblings late Monday that Busch, who is under contract through 2008, has asked to be released from his contract. Asked if that was true, Hendrick spokesman Jesse Essex said, ``We don't comment on contractual issues.''
Busch was testing in Milwaukee on Tuesday and not available to comment.
It's unclear why the 22-year-old Busch would want to leave Hendrick, the most dominant team in NASCAR with 10 wins through 14 points races this season. He signed with the team before he turned 18, and has four career Cup victories and a spot in last year's Chase for the championship to show for it.
He's got a win this year and is currently 10th in the standings, currently in contention for another berth in the Chase. But he's also wrecked a bunch of cars in both the Nextel Cup and Busch Series, and Busch upset his team at Texas in April when he left the track without telling anyone after an accident.
His crew patched up the car, but with no driver to take it back on the track, asked Earnhardt to finish the race in the No. 5 Chevrolet. It created rampant speculation that Earnhardt was headed to Hendrick, and the rumor only intensified following his decision to leave DEI.
There's been three clear front-runners -- Hendrick, Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing -- in the bid to sign Earnhardt and one long shot in Ginn Racing.
The late Dale Earnhardt won six of his seven championships at RCR, and Gibbs has won three of the past six titles. Bobby Ginn, in his first full season as a NASCAR team owner, has transformed a midlevel team into a contender, but has no championships at his organization.
Childress, Gibbs and Ginn expressed interest in signing Earnhardt, but Childress never seemed to aggressively pursue Junior. He traded phone messages with Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, who is handling the negotiations for her brother, and has been vacationing out of the country for the last week. Gibbs officials have been tightlipped about their contact with Earnhardt, but have made it clear they won't accept Budweiser, his longtime sponsor, because of conflicts with their family values image. Then came word that Toyota is courting Gibbs, which is in the final year of its contract with General Motors. A possible manufacturer switch would certainly eliminate Gibbs from contention.
Gibbs, reached Tuesday through his other job as coach of the Washington Redskins, declined comment. An assistant for team president J.D. Gibbs said he was away all week.
Ginn officials, who have been ardent about their interest in Earnhardt, said Tuesday they are not involved in his announcement.
That leaves Hendrick, who previously told AP the only interest he had in Earnhardt was an offer he had made to assist with cars and motors if the driver wanted to field his own team out of JR Motorsports. But, a week after saying he had no room for Earnhardt, Hendrick refused to answer any questions when AP asked if he'd changed his mind.
NASCAR will only permit car owners to field four teams beginning in 2009, so Hendrick first had to find a spot on his roster to add Earnhardt. Busch asking out of his deal would create an opening, but it's no guarantee Earnhardt will end up in the No. 5.
It's possible he could drive the No. 25 that Mears currently pilots, with Mears moving into the No. 5 opening. Budweiser, which is willing to follow Earnhardt to his new team, sponsored the No. 25 for Hendrick during the 1990s.
Hendrick also has longtime ties to Earnhardt's family. He fielded a car in 1983 for the elder Earnhardt, who drove it to a Busch Series win at Lowe's Motor Speedway. That entry was co-owned by Robert Gee, who is Junior's maternal grandfather.
Joining Hendrick's stable could anger Earnhardt's rabid fan base because it will team him with Gordon, the one driver ``The Red Army'' generally despises. Earnhardt fans have thrown beer cans at Gordon following several of his recent wins, most notably victory No. 76, which came in April at Talladega Superspeedway and tied Gordon with the elder Earnhardt on NASCAR's career victory list.
Earnhardt condemned the behavior, and urged his fans to throw toilet paper instead of beer cans -- to no avail. QC
Updated on Wednesday, Jun 13, 2007 2:56 am EDT
sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=ap-nascar--earnhardtfuture&prov=ap&type=lgns
Best buddies they may never be, but NASCAR's two biggest stars would certainly learn to get along if joined under one roof at Hendrick Motorsports.
It's an Earnhardt fan's worst nightmare. Yet all signs indicated it will happen when Junior announces his 2008 plans during a Wednesday morning news conference.
Multiple sources told The Associated Press that Earnhardt will join Rick Hendrick's elite organization, ending the most frenzied free agency in NASCAR history. The half-dozen people familiar with the negotiations spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because Earnhardt had yet to announce his plans.
Earnhardt has been searching for a top level team since announcing May 10 he'll leave his late father's company at the end of the season. NASCAR's most popular driver wants to win championships -- something he's never come close to doing after seven full seasons at DEI -- and Hendrick is the place to do it. The team has won six championships since 1995, and currently fields cars for four-time champion Jeff Gordon, defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Casey Mears. With all four drivers under contract, Hendrick told The Associated Press last month he had ``no room at the inn'' for Earnhardt.
But there were rumblings late Monday that Busch, who is under contract through 2008, has asked to be released from his contract. Asked if that was true, Hendrick spokesman Jesse Essex said, ``We don't comment on contractual issues.''
Busch was testing in Milwaukee on Tuesday and not available to comment.
It's unclear why the 22-year-old Busch would want to leave Hendrick, the most dominant team in NASCAR with 10 wins through 14 points races this season. He signed with the team before he turned 18, and has four career Cup victories and a spot in last year's Chase for the championship to show for it.
He's got a win this year and is currently 10th in the standings, currently in contention for another berth in the Chase. But he's also wrecked a bunch of cars in both the Nextel Cup and Busch Series, and Busch upset his team at Texas in April when he left the track without telling anyone after an accident.
His crew patched up the car, but with no driver to take it back on the track, asked Earnhardt to finish the race in the No. 5 Chevrolet. It created rampant speculation that Earnhardt was headed to Hendrick, and the rumor only intensified following his decision to leave DEI.
There's been three clear front-runners -- Hendrick, Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing -- in the bid to sign Earnhardt and one long shot in Ginn Racing.
The late Dale Earnhardt won six of his seven championships at RCR, and Gibbs has won three of the past six titles. Bobby Ginn, in his first full season as a NASCAR team owner, has transformed a midlevel team into a contender, but has no championships at his organization.
Childress, Gibbs and Ginn expressed interest in signing Earnhardt, but Childress never seemed to aggressively pursue Junior. He traded phone messages with Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, who is handling the negotiations for her brother, and has been vacationing out of the country for the last week. Gibbs officials have been tightlipped about their contact with Earnhardt, but have made it clear they won't accept Budweiser, his longtime sponsor, because of conflicts with their family values image. Then came word that Toyota is courting Gibbs, which is in the final year of its contract with General Motors. A possible manufacturer switch would certainly eliminate Gibbs from contention.
Gibbs, reached Tuesday through his other job as coach of the Washington Redskins, declined comment. An assistant for team president J.D. Gibbs said he was away all week.
Ginn officials, who have been ardent about their interest in Earnhardt, said Tuesday they are not involved in his announcement.
That leaves Hendrick, who previously told AP the only interest he had in Earnhardt was an offer he had made to assist with cars and motors if the driver wanted to field his own team out of JR Motorsports. But, a week after saying he had no room for Earnhardt, Hendrick refused to answer any questions when AP asked if he'd changed his mind.
NASCAR will only permit car owners to field four teams beginning in 2009, so Hendrick first had to find a spot on his roster to add Earnhardt. Busch asking out of his deal would create an opening, but it's no guarantee Earnhardt will end up in the No. 5.
It's possible he could drive the No. 25 that Mears currently pilots, with Mears moving into the No. 5 opening. Budweiser, which is willing to follow Earnhardt to his new team, sponsored the No. 25 for Hendrick during the 1990s.
Hendrick also has longtime ties to Earnhardt's family. He fielded a car in 1983 for the elder Earnhardt, who drove it to a Busch Series win at Lowe's Motor Speedway. That entry was co-owned by Robert Gee, who is Junior's maternal grandfather.
Joining Hendrick's stable could anger Earnhardt's rabid fan base because it will team him with Gordon, the one driver ``The Red Army'' generally despises. Earnhardt fans have thrown beer cans at Gordon following several of his recent wins, most notably victory No. 76, which came in April at Talladega Superspeedway and tied Gordon with the elder Earnhardt on NASCAR's career victory list.
Earnhardt condemned the behavior, and urged his fans to throw toilet paper instead of beer cans -- to no avail. QC
Updated on Wednesday, Jun 13, 2007 2:56 am EDT
sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=ap-nascar--earnhardtfuture&prov=ap&type=lgns