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Are Rick Hendrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Plotting to Buy the Number 8?Jimmy Johnson will drive to his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Championship this Sunday for Rick Hendrick the most dominant car owner in the history NASCAR. Which leads everyone to question, "Why watch if you know who wins every season?" There have been challengers to Johnson's dominance such as Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. None of them are able to close the deal late in the season like the #48 Lowes team can.

NASCAR for their part has tried everything to make these cars as basic and safe as possible introducing the "Car of Tomorrow" or COT car. The problem was the Hendrick crews, led by Jimmy Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus, learned all the intricacies of setting it up faster than everyone else. Which allowed Johnson to become even more dominant.

After NASCAR noticed how dominant the Lowes team was becoming they stepped up the heat a bit. As the late Bill France use to say, "You keep stinking up my show, I'll keep tearing down your race car." With that age old adage in mind, NASCAR did just that twice this year. They confiscated Johnson's car and brought it to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Charlotte.

Johnson in a story on pilotonline.com by Dustin Long was quoted,""I don't understand why people would have a problem with it,'' he said after his 46th career win, which tied him with Buck Baker for 13th on the all-time wins list. "Everybody tunes in to watch Tiger (Woods) win. Everybody tunes in to watch (Roger) Federer do his thing on certain (tennis) courts. I'm just doing my thing. I think there's a lot of fans out there that are excited to see what this 48 car is doing, and a lot of people are happy and rooting for us to win a fourth.''

Hendrick who owns four full time teams including Johnson's, (the number 24 team driven by four time champion Jeff Gordon who is also part owner of the 48, veteran Mark Martin's number 5 team and Dale Earnhardt Jr.) has drawn the ire of the rabid Dale Jr fans. "Why can't Dale Jr win if all the Hendrick equipment is equal?" Good question. Mark Martin and Kyle Busch thrived with the number 5 team. What is holding back Dale Jr?

Is Dale Jr overrated? Is he less talented than the other three drivers? This being said as NASCAR ponders what to do in regards to the popularity of the sport . NASCAR needs a big off season announcement and rumors have been rampant. From Dale Jr hiring Danica Patrick to drive Junior Motorsports Racing number 88(read here), to Dale Jr and Rick Hendrick partnering up to buy the rights to the number 8 from DEI/Ganassi Racing.

The latter would be a merchandising coup. All those #88 fans that just got rid of their number 8 merchandise and then have to buy new number 8 merchandise. Will the backlash overr come the frenzy of fans lining up to buy Dale Jr swag? Time will tell but you can bet NASCAR will take a page from NASCAR and make sure they stay in the news between now and February.

Are Rick Hendrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Plotting to Buy the Number 8?

Jimmy Johnson will drive to his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Championship this Sunday for Rick Hendrick the most dominant car owner in the history NASCAR. Which leads everyone to question, "Why watch if you know who wins every season?" There have been challengers to Johnson's dominance such as Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. None of them are able to close the deal late in the season like the #48 Lowes team can.

NASCAR for their part has tried everything to make these cars as basic and safe as possible introducing the "Car of Tomorrow" or COT car. The problem was the Hendrick crews, led by Jimmy Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus, learned all the intricacies of setting it up faster than everyone else. Which allowed Johnson to become even more dominant.

After NASCAR noticed how dominant the Lowes team was becoming they stepped up the heat a bit. As the late Bill France use to say, "You keep stinking up my show, I'll keep tearing down your race car." With that age old adage in mind, NASCAR did just that twice this year. They confiscated Johnson's car and brought it to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Charlotte.

Johnson in a story on pilotonline.com by Dustin Long was quoted,""I don't understand why people would have a problem with it,'' he said after his 46th career win, which tied him with Buck Baker for 13th on the all-time wins list. "Everybody tunes in to watch Tiger (Woods) win. Everybody tunes in to watch (Roger) Federer do his thing on certain (tennis) courts. I'm just doing my thing. I think there's a lot of fans out there that are excited to see what this 48 car is doing, and a lot of people are happy and rooting for us to win a fourth.''

Hendrick who owns four full time teams including Johnson's, (the number 24 team driven by four time champion Jeff Gordon who is also part owner of the 48, veteran Mark Martin's number 5 team and Dale Earnhardt Jr.) has drawn the ire of the rabid Dale Jr fans. "Why can't Dale Jr win if all the Hendrick equipment is equal?" Good question. Mark Martin and Kyle Busch thrived with the number 5 team. What is holding back Dale Jr?

Is Dale Jr overrated? Is he less talented than the other three drivers? This being said as NASCAR ponders what to do in regards to the popularity of the sport . NASCAR needs a big off season announcement and rumors have been rampant. From Dale Jr hiring Danica Patrick to drive Junior Motorsports Racing number 88(read here), to Dale Jr and Rick Hendrick partnering up to buy the rights to the number 8 from DEI/Ganassi Racing.

The latter would be a merchandising coup. All those #88 fans that just got rid of their number 8 merchandise and then have to buy new number 8 merchandise. Will the backlash overr come the frenzy of fans lining up to buy Dale Jr swag? Time will tell but you can bet NASCAR will take a page from NASCAR and make sure they stay in the news between now and February.



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