News / People
Dale Earnhardt Jr. officially signed on Hendrick Motorsports
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has left his late fathers racing team, DEI, and has officially joined Hendrick Motorsports. Rick Hendrick said Earnhardt is replacing driver Kyle Busch. It is unclear what number Earnhardt will drive and who will be the car's sponsor.
Earnhardt reportedly left his father's company because he wanted a team he could win championships with and Hendrick has that history with six championships to its credit.
"It became apparent to me the man I wanted to drive for. He competes with integrity and most importantly, he wins races ... So today, it is with great honor to introduce my new boss for 2008, Mr. Rick Hendrick," said Earnhardt at a news conference.
Throughout Earnhardt’s career he has driven the No 8 Budweiser Chevrolet. There is a chance Busch might sign on with DEI making a trade possible between Hendricks and DEI of Busch’s No. 5 and Earnhardt’s No.8.
"We haven't even began to work around that and see what the options are and opportunities are and that's something we'll work out down the road," said Earnhardt.
Earnhardt fans might be angered because the change to Hendricks will put him as a teammate to Jeff Gordon. Generally Earnhardt fans do not like Gordon. Most recently Earnhardt fans have thrown beer cans at Gordon because of his wins. Gordon’s win at the Talladega Superspeedway placed him in a tie with Dale Earnhardt Sr. on NASCAR’s victory list, something that Earnhardt Sr. fans hated.
"We do have a personal competition. If you want to call it a rivalry, fine. He's fun to race with, and especially if you beat him, it's a good feeling. ... We can both challenge each other to be better race car drivers," Earnhardt commented on he and Gordon being team mates.
"I think that I'll have a good opportunity to succeed and win a lot of races. Personally, I think I will cherish a championship on my mantle when it's all said and done," Earnhardt said.
"I think I can live without it, obviously, but I'll be 90, 95 percent on my goals that I set for myself personally if I can't gather my championship. I really do want it."
Hendrick admits there is some pressure on the team because they signed on some of the most popular men in racing.
"The pressure is because I want to deliver, and I'm going to do everything I can to make that happen, because there's going to be a lot of people watching," Hendrick said.
