November 3, 2008
By Matthew Pizzolato
Matthew Pizzolato
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Although Dale Earnhardt Jr’s first year at Hendrick Motorsports proved a good season, it certainly wasn’t great. Earnhardt didn’t win the championship he and his legion of fans expected.
Expectations were high after he won the Budwiser Shootout and the 125 qualifier for the Daytona 500, his first two races of the season, which prompted former champion and current television analyst Darrell Waltrip to predict that not only would Earnhardt win the 500, but five “more” races as well this season.
At Michigan, he broke his 71 race winless streak, eventually qualifying for the Chase, but now with his Hendrick teammate, Jimmie Johnson, en route to his third straight title, Earnhardt seems relegated to the back burner of Hendrick Motorsports.
The biggest criticism against the 88 team this year is that they were unable to finish races. Several times, Earnhardt ran up front during the early part of the race and faded toward the end. Still, he managed to stay in the top 10 of the point standings for most of the season.
After suffering a streak of bad luck in recent weeks, where he was eliminated at Talladega in the closing laps through no fault of his own and pretty much eliminated from championship contention, Earnhardt posted a strong second place finish at Martinsville.
"It's does feel great finishing like this," Earnhardt was quoted as saying in a Joe Menzer article for Nascar.com. "We have had such bad luck the last six weeks and tore up so many racecars.”
One of the things Earnhardt prided himself on earlier in the year was that he was able to finish races consistently in the top 10. His only win so far this year came as a result of a fuel strategy gamble by his crew chief Tony Eury Jr. Now, the 88 team must be content with finishing the season out on a positive note to prepare for next year.
However, with the formation of the Hendrick Super Team looming on the horizon for the 2009 season when Mark Martin joins the Hendrick stable, questions arise as to when Earnhardt will win the championship that currently eludes him.
Certainly every effort will be made by Hendrick Motorsports for each of their drivers to win the title next year.
“We have three guys capable of winning the championship so you don’t want to hurt that,” Hendrick said in a Nascar Illustrated article by Jay Pfeifer. “You don’t want any of those teams to sacrifice for this team. But what you’re trying to weigh is if you can bring in another championship contender.”
The first car ever fielded by the Hendrick organization was the 05 car, and Mark Martin will certainly be a sentimental favorite for the championship next season, especially since he had finished second in the points standings four times without ever winning a title.
Hendrick Executive Vice President and General Manager Marshall Carlson said in the Pfeifer article, “If you look at our wall in the team center, there is a symbol for every win we’ve ever had — the very first one came with the No. 5 car. There’s a lot of emotion in the organization for the success of that team.”
Rick Hendrick has certainly built a Super Team with any of his drivers capable of winning next year’s championship, but will his resources be stretched a bit too thin? And how long will it be before Earnhardt wins his first title?
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