by richard teague tinynascars@yahoo.com
Yes sir, that’s it for this season, and what a dandy! Right up to the last lap I sat there watching Jimmie Johnson winning his second in a row NA$CAR Nextel Championship. Can he do it again next season? There’s a very good possibility from the way his team has been these past two years. I know I was picking Jeff Gordon to win, and I really wanted it to happen. But the past few races, I think I wanted it more than he did, although not nearly as much as Johnson. If Jimmie has been getting the good stuff for the past few years (as Gordon has too) will there be any left over for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2008? Can there be enough for four teams? If not, who will be bottom hog in that stack of four?
There have been drivers that left teams before, when they felt they weren’t being shared with the way some of the other teammates were. In a four or five car squadron out there on the track each race, I bet it can be tough to share ideas. Each guy wants to win races and to give up his edge may be too hard to do. Don’t blame them for that. An owner doesn’t mind either, just so long as someone from his organization wins. These guys are teammates, but as one owner put it, they all share the pie whether it’s sponsor dollars, technology or anything else. I wonder just how the pie gets cut? Are there bigger pieces for one? Am I way off base here, or are they an army of one all working to the common good of victory lane for all?
Now I mention Jimmie and Junior because they are on the same team and Jr. is the FNG. Like Rick said, he has always wanted him as a driver. With Dale getting the bigger sponsor money (I do believe he might, being the popular driver he is), will he have to share or will he get more stuff that will cause less to go to another teammate? Will Rick see to it that Jr. has all the goodies? Will he cater to him more so than, say, Casey Mears? Casey is a good driver too. How are these four teams going to interact next year? Will there be trophies or troubles at Hendrick Motorsports? This year it was HMS up front in most of the races and everybody was crying the blues about how they seemed to be winning everything, just like they have with Roush Racing in the past.
With next year being an all Car of Tomorrow season, and with the introduction of the car this year, HMS has had the jump on the other teams. Can they continue? Will Junior fall right into the groove with the other teams? This not been a stellar year for him. It was his last with the house that his dad built. Can he turn it around for 2008 as an adopted driver of Rick Hendrick? I and a bunch of fans had truly thought that RCR and Richard Childress would be the team he went to. I was really shocked when he went with Rick. A son following in his father’s foot steps with RCR was the way I just knew it would happen. I wonder just why it didn’t. These questions will be answered next year. I hope they are answered early in the season, so that the rumor mills don’t get started with headlines in the Globe and other supermarket rags like, “Junior & Jeff & Jimmie Are At It Again!”
Now y’all know I got a crystal ball (two of them, in fact), but I lost ’em earlier this year. Well I recently found one and asked it these questions especially: 1) Will Dale Jr. do good with HMS? The only problem is that I want to ask the other one the same question, just to be sure. When I do, if it gives me the same answers, I will share them with all of you. I know I can rely on my balls since they did tell me at the start of the season that either Jimmie or Jeff would win the championship. See, they’re pretty smart. By the way, I forgot to get my Cash Three tickets tonight, but I checked and saw that the numbers I told y’all about didn’t come in, so I will be at the Gate station for lunch Monday getting my ten dollars worth. I sure hope that you remembered what they were and can share in the riches.
The ending of this season is much like in past years. We see a driver retire or step back, as Ricky put it once, but this time there are a couple of guys leaving along with a great owner. Dale, Ricky and Robert have given their notice and plan to walk away with Jarrett, doing the Elliott / Martin deal in a limited amount of races. You know when Bill Elliott retired then ran a few a races then Mark Martin tried to stop altogether only top have Jack get him to stay? It paves the way for others to follow. Jarrett will be very limited in 2008 and Rudd won’t do any, as I understand. Yates is “passing the torch” as he put it to “the next generation” after signing the deal with new partners. Will we see more owners follow Robert as we did drivers with Bill? Can all the new partnerships just give the old owners more time to go fishing and the other things they have missed for the past 20 to 30 years?
Another thing about the season ending is that the 2008 teams are pretty much all lined up with drivers and crews. There ain’t much left of the silly season. Maybe a few ends to tie up. Also, I was reading an article about the end of the Monte Carlo Era in NA$CAR and how many races that body style had won. Now the COT stats will be kept in the record books until the next “New Car of The Future” shows up. I guess you all get to watch football on Sunday now, but not me. I won’t be. I’ll be doing more with my wife for the next couple of months. For me, the months without NA$CAR gets me through a marriage better than the months with NA$CAR.
Here’s the story about my contract with Entertaining U Newspaper. It’s not a very pretty sight. My good friend Will, whom I have I known for forty years, has, in very certain terms, told me that my contract must have a lower salary for me to continue for the next year. In other words he wants to cut my pay for the same amount of columns. I have counter-offered to take the cut as long as I can reduce the number of articles I write for him to bi-weekly, or just once a month. We have until December 31st to come to an accord (no not a Honda). He’s really a nice guy and even a nicer employer and I do kinda understand his position, but we’re not talking big money here, just chicken feed compared to a relief pitcher’s pay with the New York Yankees.
Well I will keep y’all informed as to the progress of our negotiations and keep looking for my other crystal ball so I can tell ya how Dale Jr. will do at HMS with Casey, Jimmie and Jeff. Until next week, y’all got to know by now, if it ain’t NA$CAR, It ain’t s**t!!
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