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Posted on 06/13/2007 3:28:09 PM PDT by glock rocks
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This thread is dedicated to the memory of 68-69 Tonkin Gulf Yatch Club...
Rest in peace Brian.
Thank you for your service, and your friendship.
Well thanks for thinking of me :) Yesterday was an exceptionally busy day for me, writing up transcripts, taking screencaps and posting them to IP and the Pitboard. I even posted it here, but no one read it, except for Steve I got one other comment of course which was that I made a mistake. :) LOL How could I expect anything else from FR posting police. I’m not sure if anyone has typed up a live news conference but it ain’t easy.
Jr’s been posting various videos for us, and Kelley as well...I don’t know where they find the time. And, BELIEVE IT OR NOT we have been joining JJ and Gordon boards to reciprocate the welcome they came to give us. Things are not what the media would like everyone to think. Most of us are extrememly happy about this move because we’re sick and tired of not having a car provided that can win.
Finally Larry Mac gets something right..........
Larry McReynolds: I firmly believe that Dale Earnhardt Jr. could drive for anybody on the circuit. As much as it appears that people are not big fans of Kurt Busch, if Kurt fielded a Nextel Cup car and Earnhardt drove it, Dale Jr. would still be just as popular as he is. “Junior Nation” will always be there and continue to grow, no matter his owner, type of car, number or sponsor. Whether he’s making a pass for the lead, 10th or 30th, his fans just about rip down the grandstands. It’s just his following and level of popularity that he has attained.
Bingo!
I'm guessing they move Casey to the 5 and put Bud back on the 25.
How about this? I have to run now, spent way too much time on the computer since yesterday.
Someone obviously forgot to tell Truex he doesn't have a car to contend or win with.
The radio Wall Street Report by the Wall Street Journal said it appears Budweiser and Junior are going to part company.
But right after saying that they interviewed some expert saying they should stick together. “Dale, Jr. is a brand in himself, alone accounting for 30% of NASCAR merchandise sales.”
I'd like to see them, got any links?
Yep hang on I will be back
Until then here’s a good article.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. — There are no comparisons in the history of NASCAR. Nothing even close. And there are few in all of sports.
But gathering perhaps 80 percent of all the star power in an entire sports league onto one team — Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson for 2008 — was not necessarily Rick Hendrick’s motive.
This was more a rescue.
Hendrick didn’t acquire Earnhardt in the George Steinbrenner sense. He saw a friend — a closer one than many realized about Earnhardt and Hendrick before they officially joined forces Wednesday — miserable in an untenable situation. And he came to help.
snipped~~
Taken from his mother at age 6 to be raised by nannies, military school, a largely absentee (and always hard-bitten) father and (nominally) his stepmother, Earnhardt rarely experienced the simple human kindness shown him as a kid by a rival team owner, Hendrick.
For example, when Earnhardt was 15 and traveling as an apprentice with one of Hendrick’s drivers, Hendrick wrote out a “contract” on a restaurant napkin and Dale Jr. signed it. Just fun stuff like that.
From there, “I used to daydream about driving for Rick,” Earnhardt said, even though Hendrick fielded cars for Gordon, the polished prodigy his father’s fans loved to hate.
That napkin contract was not worth the $100 million-plus that Hendrick easily is expected to pay Earnhardt, and whole businesses such as car dealerships Hendrick plans to give him, over the next five years now that they’re playing for real.
It turns out that when Earnhardt rocked the NASCAR nation on May 10 by announcing he was breaking off negotiations with his stepmother and leaving his family’s Dale Earnhardt Inc. team, there was a reason his voice wasn’t quivering and his hands weren’t shaking and “I didn’t struggle with that.”
He knew Rick Hendrick had his back. No matter what. Even if he couldn’t come to terms with other teams.
“As a last resort, Rick would have supplied cars and engines for a team run out of here,” Junior said in the building occupied by JR Motorsports, the Busch series team he owns.
But Kyle Busch, wooed by enormous offers from various teams not nearly as established as Hendrick, decided to take a hike at the end of this season, and “that opened the door for me,” Earnhardt said.
So how would the old man, “the Intimidator,” feel about Junior driving for Hendrick?
“He’d probably be a little bit jealous, to be honest with you,” Earnhardt said to the mass news conference.
Later, in a break room in the building, Earnhardt’s eyes teared and his voice cracked as he said, “When we get to Daytona next February, if he were around, I know he would be jealous.”
It would be like Ted Williams watching his son open a season with the Yankees.
http://www.infieldparking.com/DaleJr
Click on the video, when he’s done there are some more that will show below. Just mouse over them and they give you a title. The Father’s Day tribute is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The Dan Hill song at the end of that is a real tear jerker.
www.InfieldParking.com/XMRadio
XM radio on NOW.
Per Nascar Now and I’ve seen this in an article today also.
Busch didn’t know about this until Monday.
So far he’s going to Yates, Penske, DEI, Gibbs. :)
Steve, I hope you went to the track today...Jr was testing there. He’s now in the air for Michigan.
What They Said and What They Meant
06/14/07
Unless you live in a cave (or stuck in Atlanta airport for nine hours - like I was on Friday) you’ve heard that Dale Junior’s pick for a new team is Hendrick Motorsports.
What they said and what they meant.
Dale Junior and Rick Hendrick joke about a contract written on a napkin when Dale was 15 years old. Years later Mr. Hendrick brings it up to Junior again and explains why he never forgot about it.
Rick Hendrick: …”I didn’t forget it. I was just scared of your daddy. I wasn’t going to try to enforce it.”
What he meant,
“I was scared of your daddy.”
Dale Junior: (on winning a championship) “I just wanted to pay my bills, and once I got past that, everything else was a bonus. I was…living with Kerry and his kids jumping over the couch back and forth, and I would have to lock myself in the room just to get some peace and quiet.”
What he meant was,
“I’m never having children.”
It seems the Hendrick stable opened up because Kyle Busch is headed to DEI. Will he be the new #8?
Rick Hendrick: (on Kyle Busch leaving) …”He’s got so much opportunity.”
What he meant was,
“Kyle who?”
Rick Hendrick:”On the Kyle situation again, Kyle is a young guy and a very talented guy.”
What he meant was,
“Woo-hoo! I got Dale Junior!”
Dale Junior: “I’d like to be #8, but, you know, we have to obviously talk to Teresa about that.”
What he meant was,
“Please, please, please give me back the #8! Think of all those fans with #8 tattoos!”
Rick Hendrick: (on DEI) “As far as swapping the 5 (number) for the 8, if they wanted to talk about that, sure, we’d be open to that.”
What he meant was,
“I don’t care as long as Budweiser is draped across the hood.”
Really, what’s the difference between 8 and 5?
Only 3. Spooky, isn’t it?
On a sentimental note:
Dale Junior may have found the older, strong, male influence that should help him concentrate on his future gains and less on his major loss. One needs a father figure and one needs a son to guide. Everything happens for a reason.
http://www.splashandgo.com/BAsRaceObservations.html
Thanks!
I’m watching them now.
Jr. is smile’n from ear ta ear!!
Everyone who knows him says they haven’t seen him smile this much in a long time.
Here’s Kelley’s note..........
What a great day!
Published by bosslady June 13th, 2007
Today is a monumental day for Dale and myself along with all of our employees at JR Motorsports. We are so relieved to have this decision behind us and announce that in 2008, Dale will drive for Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports. Rick is an outstanding person and has been a friend to us for a long time. I haven’t seen Dale smile so much in a while. I was just reviewing pictures on the internet of the press conference and I can see the pure joy on his face during the whole thing. There is still much to work out relating to our sponsors and car number, but as dale said “it will be cool”. I know with his hand in the design, it definitely will. We sincerely appreciate all your support as we continue to work out what 2008 will look like, the total picture. I know there are people on the fence of whether to support dale or not, but remember the reasons you like Dale and stay true to those reasons. If you like his for his person, then you will continue to like him because that’s not going to change. If you liked him because he drove for DEI, then continue to support DEI, it’s OK….we want you to support Dale for his authenticity and the fact he’s real. What you see is what you get. If you are oK with that, we are ok with that. Of course, there are those that will choose their own direction and have negative things to say and that’s OK too…its America and we are all entitled to our opinion. Just be true to yourself. The sport needs all of the fans whether they are Jimmy Johnson fans, Kurt Busch fans or Tony Stewart fans…it takes us all. Differences and opinions are what makes the world turn.
For those of you that continue to support Dale Jr, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’m sure that he will continue to give you what you are looking for in his honesty and integrity and definitely something to cheer for on the race track. I’m looking forward to a fun ride for many years to come.
I’ll write more later….it’s overwhelming right now to put it all down!
Kelley
Ya think?
What was the deadline for production of diecast cars?
Guess we’ll know the sponsor and car number by then.
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Buy a ticket.
Become one with the Nascar Nation.
Be happy!
:)
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