A Few Things in the News...
First of all, the most popular news for sure in the NASCAR world is in regards to Dale Jr. and his much anticipated move to Hendrick Motorsports. This week it was announced that Tony Eury Jr. will be jumping ship at DEI as well and moving over to the yet-to-be-numbered team of Dale Jr.’s! This is very exciting for me because I have a lot of faith in Tony Jr. and also in his pairing with Junebug. Some people think it has bad news written all over it but I think these are a misinformed bunch that don’t know this unique driver/crew chief relationship as well as I do (some are also jealous Michael Waltrip fans who wanted Tony Jr. to come to MWR…like there was ever a chance of that happening!). Yes, Junior and Tony Jr. fight. They yell at each other. They’ve also known each other since they were little kids and are like brothers. They were also in a rather hostile environment called Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Having Tony Jr. will likely make Junior feel comfortable at HMS outright because it will be a familiarity. On the other hand, I’m a little apprehensive about it because I don’t know how either will adapt to Hendrick cars, which according to Casey Mears drive very differently than what he was used to (this is supposing that there will be as much of a parallel between his situation and Junior’s, of course). The learning curve could be shortened with Tony Jr. or it could be lengthened, depending on how quickly Tony Jr. gets a handle on the cars. But in general I’m happy with it. Tony Jr. wanted out of DEI and wanted to be with his cousin.
Some less thrilling news was that Casey will now be driving the 5 car in 2008, not the 25. Selfishly, this is frustrating because he hasn’t had a number for more than a year since he was in the 41! Fans like identity with their driver and seemingly every time Casey gets one it gets taken away the next season. Emotionally, I’m disappointed because he won his first Cup race with this number and it also has personal meaning to him because of his father. I’m a little annoyed that Casey didn’t have much of a choice since the 5 was Rick’s first number, but Junior has his pick of whatever number he wants. Alan Gustafson will be Casey’s crew chief and I’m a little sad about that because Casey gets along very well with Darian Grubb and I’m not happy to see him put to another position. To top it all off, it’s looking like National Guard will be on Junior’s car, while Kellogg’s and Carquest will be on Casey’s (and sorry, but I’m not wearing a hat with Tony the Tiger on it!!). This leads to some fear that Casey is now the least important driver at HMS. But there is also some excitement because the 5 team is a great bunch, so I’m hoping Casey will gel with them and kick some ass.
Lastly is some news that I’m 50-50 on: Todd Kluever is a free agent and will not be back with Roush in 2008. Half of me is bouncing off the walls with happiness because quite frankly Roush has treated Todd like crap. Does he not see that Greg Biffle is running about the same in that 3M #16 as Todd? I think Todd is more talented than his results show and deserves a better team owner. But I’m also terrified that he’ll fall off the radar; a team won’t be interested in him and he’ll go the route of Brandon Whitt and disappear. So if you’re some team looking for a talented, good-looking young driver and you have somehow stumbled upon this blog, pick Todd Kluever!!
Having Tony Jr. will likely make Junior feel comfortable at HMS outright because it will be a familiarity. On the other hand, I’m a little apprehensive about it because I don’t know how either will adapt to Hendrick cars, which according to Casey Mears drive very differently than what he was used to (this is supposing that there will be as much of a parallel between his situation and Junior’s, of course). The learning curve could be shortened with Tony Jr. or it could be lengthened, depending on how quickly Tony Jr. gets a handle on the cars. But in general I’m happy with it. Tony Jr. wanted out of DEI and wanted to be with his cousin.
Some less thrilling news was that Casey will now be driving the 5 car in 2008, not the 25. Selfishly, this is frustrating because he hasn’t had a number for more than a year since he was in the 41! Fans like identity with their driver and seemingly every time Casey gets one it gets taken away the next season. Emotionally, I’m disappointed because he won his first Cup race with this number and it also has personal meaning to him because of his father. I’m a little annoyed that Casey didn’t have much of a choice since the 5 was Rick’s first number, but Junior has his pick of whatever number he wants. Alan Gustafson will be Casey’s crew chief and I’m a little sad about that because Casey gets along very well with Darian Grubb and I’m not happy to see him put to another position. To top it all off, it’s looking like National Guard will be on Junior’s car, while Kellogg’s and Carquest will be on Casey’s (and sorry, but I’m not wearing a hat with Tony the Tiger on it!!). This leads to some fear that Casey is now the least important driver at HMS. But there is also some excitement because the 5 team is a great bunch, so I’m hoping Casey will gel with them and kick some ass.
Lastly is some news that I’m 50-50 on: Todd Kluever is a free agent and will not be back with Roush in 2008. Half of me is bouncing off the walls with happiness because quite frankly Roush has treated Todd like crap. Does he not see that Greg Biffle is running about the same in that 3M #16 as Todd? I think Todd is more talented than his results show and deserves a better team owner. But I’m also terrified that he’ll fall off the radar; a team won’t be interested in him and he’ll go the route of Brandon Whitt and disappear. So if you’re some team looking for a talented, good-looking young driver and you have somehow stumbled upon this blog, pick Todd Kluever!!
