Is Dale Earnhardt, Jr (#88) going to be worth every penny that boy earns through his salary and marketing machine this season? No idea, but I do know that he is part of the best damn team in NASCAR. They might be driving Impalas, but Rick Hendrick owns the Cadillac of NASCAR outfits. Between Junior, three-time defending champ Jimmie Johnson (#48), four-time king Jeff Gordon (#24), and veteran Mark Martin (#5), they are the marquee faces of this sport, and the results in 2009 will once again show why. I predict all will make the Chase, and few would argue that.
It has been nearly eight years since we lost Dale Earnhardt. His son remains the legacy of the legend, while the team he built is just about DOA. DEI merged with Ganassi, put a couple of cars in mothballs, and we know only for sure that Martin Truex Jr (#1) and Juan Pablo Montoya (#42) will be two of their drivers. They are still dickering around as to who will be in the #8 and the #41. Will it matter? I don’t think so, as none will make the Chase. What we do know is that Tony Stewart was right when he said that DEI without Junior is just a museum, as no more cars will be built in the Intimidator’s Taj Mahal anymore.
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