Jr. requires from his next team to be allowed to directly influence his future, support for growing his JR Motorsports organization, and winning championships for himself. Dale Jr.
is past having money be the prime mover in his life – it is now about power/control/respect for his destiny and sense of purpose and satisfaction – which apparently were not available at DEI – particularly the respect portion. As he said in his announcement, “we never really got that close” to an agreement with DEI.
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Where can he find the productive and satisfaction mixture he wants? I think it is with Richard Childress Racing. This is not just wishful thinking. Hendrick Motorsports is full up with primo talent. Besides, it would be contrary to Earnhardt Nation’s group-think to have Dale Jr. as a teammate with Jeff Gordon. Some of their heads might explode trying to get their minds’ around that. A Gordon+Jr. pairing on the same team would be seen as traitorous and cost a bunch of his fan base – the biggest in the sport. Joe Gibbs Racing? Not as long as Bud is Jr.’s sponsor – Gibbs does not accept that type of sponsor. The Jr.+Bud business relationship is solid (beer is stronger than blood in Jr.’s case it seems), and there are not that many blue-chip sponsors that can capitalize in the marketplace on his NASCAR standing the way Budweiser can.
Back to RCR. First, they’re Chevrolet-car based, and if you want to win multiple championships over the next 10—15 years of driving, you drive for the big red Bowtie. RCR has revitalized itself in the past two years to be a front running team in Cup. Importantly, they are on an upward trend. They do not have the engineering depth of Hendrick Motorsports (no one does), but they are racers to the bone, which is a powerful attraction for a racer like Jr.
Richard Childress has shown he will make the commitment to bring the resources necessary to win, and Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick would be a good fit for Jr. as teammates. Besides, if Childress eventually put Dale Jr. in a red #3 Budweiser Impala SS, the first few weeks of souvenir sales would finance any future engineering expense required!
As is repeated over and over, it all comes down to people and RCR’s greatest personal asset is Richard Childress. Not to discount Rick Hendrick or Joe Gibbs or any other owner who will make a play for Dale Jr. – but they do not have the long personal history and yes, ultimately, trust that Dale Jr. and he share. They don’t have the same last name, but their bond may be the better for that. Jr. won’t have to have 51 percent of RCR to race there; he’ll get the equivalent in support from a man who supported his father as a racer, friend, and man.
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