Junior and Hendrick: Game on — and so is the pressure

By REID SPENCER

THE SPORTING NEWS NASCAR WIRE SERVICE

No pressure? Who’s kidding whom?

Though Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Wednesday his decision to sign a five-year deal with Hendrick Motorsports brought a sense of relief, and though Junior added that he didn’t feel tremendous pressure to win races and championships at HMS, make no mistake — the pressure’s there.

And it will begin to weigh heavily if Earnhardt doesn’t enjoy immediate success when he begins his career with Hendrick next year.

Forget the love fest and the feel-good stories of burgeoning friendships at Wednesday’s press conference at JR Motorsports in Mooresville, N.C., and distill Earnhardt’s decision to the basics. Earnhardt chose Hendrick for one primary reason — because he believes HMS provides the best opportunity for race wins and championships in the near term.

Now he has to prove it.

As NASCAR’s perennial most popular driver, Earnhardt can lay claim to legions of fans who will fight for their driver at the drop of a hat — and who are willing to part with full cans of Budweiser to express their displeasure at some of Junior’s rivals.

Junior, Gordon
on same team

Those fans are now conflicted. For many, whether fair or not, an Earnhardt supporter equals a Jeff Gordon hater, and now those two exquisite talents will be playing on the same team. To say that the new dynamic at Hendrick Motorsports will be fascinating is to understate the case.

Earnhardt fans already are blogging in droves, talking about getting used to their driver “sleeping with the enemy.” It’s true that NASCAR racing often makes for strange bedfellows, but if Earnhardt doesn’t win early in 2008, fans’ discontent with the “unholy” marriage will accelerate faster than a rocket sled.

Rick Hendrick is under pressure, too — under pressure to deliver a championship to his newest hire. To make room for Earnhardt, Hendrick was willing to part with Kyle Busch, a 22-year-old driver with enormous talent and potential, assuming that age brings a modicum of maturity to his conduct on and off the track.

Busch already has won a race for HMS this year, at Bristol — and he’ll remain an indelible entry in NASCAR’s record book as the first winner in the Car of Tomorrow. But Busch also has worn out his welcome at Hendrick as surely as he has worn out the night shift in the fab shop.

Top three drivers
under contract

With the addition of Earnhardt, Hendrick arguably has under contract the sport’s top three marquee drivers, factoring in all their talent and curb appeal. But the New York Yankees don’t always win the World Series, even when owner George Steinbrenner stuffs their roster with the best baseball talent money can buy.

Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant couldn’t coexist on the same Los Angeles Lakers team for long, despite the titles they won together. So the pressure’s on Hendrick to remain at the pinnacle of NASCAR racing while keeping his stable of superstars happy.

Gordon, Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson may be friends off the track, but they are all driven by the same goal — the Nextel Cup. And there’s only one of those.

From a performance standpoint, Earnhardt couldn’t have made a better choice. Though Junior continues to defend the quality of his equipment at Dale Earnhardt Inc., and though Martin Truex Jr. has done the same with his recent success on the track, DEI doesn’t have the resources of Rick Hendrick. No one else in the NASCAR racing does.

No longer will Earnhardt’s fans be able to say he’s competing at a disadvantage — with half the money and half the personnel of HMS.

This is no more room for excuses, as NASCAR racing enters what may become its most compelling era yet.

Let’s get it on.