MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Hendrick Motorsports has accumulated six NASCAR Nextel Cup championships during the past decade and an ever-growing list of victories this season.
But when one of NASCAR’s elite race teams added Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to its stable, which also includes four-time series champion Jeff Gordon and defending title holder Jimmie Johnson, this past week, observers started to speculate that Hendrick Motorsports became more than simply a racing dynasty.
With NASCAR’s most popular driver on board, Hendrick Motorsports, which has won 10 of 15 races this season without Earnhardt, Jr. in the fold, may have become a juggernaut with unmatched sponsorship and marketing dollars to help propel it to new heights.
“When you have multi-car teams, you try to get — my job is to get the best talent out there,” said Rick Hendrick at the announcement Wednesday at Earnhardt’s JR Motorsports headquarters. “You know, I want to protect the brand. I want to protect Junior's image and who he is, but I want to give him the best stuff. And he's going to have to beat those guys anyway. They are going to have to beat him anyway, no matter if he's with our team or somewhere else.  Once again, on the race track, it's kind of everybody for themselves. My job is to give them the best equipment to get that done.”
By choosing Hendrick over several other Chevrolet-backed teams, Earnhardt’s desire to join a competitive organization that will better offer him the chance to win his first Nextel Cup championship was met. Earnhardt put that goal at the top of his wish list when announced his availability a month ago after disagreements with Teresa Earnhardt, his stepmother and president of DEI, with whom his relationship was already strained, over control and the direction of DEI.
In order to sign Earnhardt, Jr. to the five-year agreement, Hendrick announced that Kyle Busch will not return to the No. 5 Carquest/Kellogg’s race car for 2008. Busch, 22, now takes Earnhardt, Jr.’s place as NASCAR’s most desired “free agent.”
Earnhardt, Jr., a 17-time winner in Nextel Cup with DEI, said the onus for gaining a title is on him.
“I feel some pressure,” he said. “But I hope it ain’t that hard to get me into victory lane...“I feel pretty comfortable. I think once I get into the testing mode and all those things during the off-season, there won’t be really any questions marks for me or any kind of pressure. I think I’ll be anticipating it so much, I don’t think the pressure is going to get to me.”
Earnhardt, Jr. said his family’s longtime relationship with Hendrick and Hendrick’s late son, Ricky, also played a major role in his decision to join forces with Hendrick. Hendrick and Earnhardt, Jr’s grandfather, Robert Gee, Sr., worked together when Hendrick first got into the sport in the early 1980s.
Dale Earnhardt, Sr. also occasionally drove for Hendrick during those early days, and the two remained friends throughout the elder Earnhardt’s career.
“When it comes down to it, Rick is a good businessman, but when it comes to his friends or the people who are his employees, he cares about them and takes care of them,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “That was definitely a deciding factor for me.”

“When it comes down to it, Rick is a good businessman, but when it comes to his friends or the people who are his employees, he cares about them and takes care of them,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “That was definitely a deciding factor for me.”

With Earnhardt, Jr., who has been voted by the fans as NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver for four-straight years, Hendrick now has three of the top-four sellers of merchandise in his camp.
If anything, Hendrick said that adds pressure to his job — which he sees as helping Earnhardt, Jr. collect his long-awaited title.
“I take a lot of pleasure into trying to win championships for a lot of different people, but this one has got a special place in my heart because Ricky told me that this was going to happen one day, so this is kind of bringing that to life,” Hendrick said. “It’s hard to say how special this is, how thrilled I am and how much pressure I feel right now.”
Since the announcement, public reaction to the decision has been mixed among members of the Earnhardt, Jr. nation, many of whom have always seen Hendrick Motorsports as an “evil empire” of sorts and have demonstrated open contempt for Earnhardt, Jr.’s new teammates, particularly Jeff Gordon.
“I think the fans will make up their minds and somehow come to terms with whatever decision we have made,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “I feel like once we get on the race track and have some success, we’ll be able to give them what they deserve... I want to get them on their feet more often than I do. I’m trying to make these decisions not only for me, but to make that happen. So, I think they will find a lot of things to get excited about in the future.”