Jr Schedules News Conference

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muggle not

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http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2007/06/11/scene_daily854.html
SCENEDAILY - 12:40PM ET TUESDAY JUNE 12, 2007 -

JR Motorsports has scheduled a press conference at its shop in Mooresville, N.C., fueling speculation that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will announe his future employer.
Earnhardt Jr. Is leaving the team his father founded, Dale Earnhardt Inc., at the end of the 2007 season.
NASCAR's most popular driver has said he will remain with Chevrolet, with Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing widely believed to be the leading candidates to land Earnhardt Jr. in past weeks. Officials with Ginn Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing each said their teams were not involved in the news conference while a spokesperson for Richard Childress Racing said the team owner is out of the country on a hunting trip and that he is not expected to be back in the country tomorrow. A Hendrick Motorsports spokesman had no comment.
A call to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s spokesman was not immediately returned.
Speed has announced plans to air the news conference live at 11 a.m. EDT.
 
Update:

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/nascar/nextel/38004/
CUP: Earnhardt Press Conference Wednesday
Written by: Tom Jensen
Mooresville, N.C. – 6/12/2007

Junior: ready to set the stage for 2008?
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday at 11 a.m. at his JR Motorsports race shop in Mooresville, N.C. At that time, he will announce his 2008 plans, team spokesman Mike Davis confirmed.

After this season, Earnhardt will leave Dale Earnhardt, Inc., the only team he has driven for in his Nextel Cup career. Earnhardt announced last month he was splitting with DEI, largely because of strong personality differences with his team owner and stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt.

Earnhardt has made it clear that he would only drive for a Chevrolet team, one capable of winning championships. That has led to speculation he would move to either Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing or Richard Childress Racing, all of whom have won championships already. Ginn Racing has also been mentioned as a longshot.

Although team owner Rick Hendrick recently described the situation at Hendrick Motorsports as having “no room at the inn” due to already having four fully-sponsored teams, Hendrick’s name has emerged as a frontrunner in the Earnhardt sweepstakes, either with Earnhardt joining Hendrick or Hendrick providing support to a JR Motorsports entry.

A Hendrick spokesman contacted by SPEED said in an e-mail Tuesday morning, “We’re not going to comment on anything at this time.” Representatives from Gibbs, RCR and Ginn said they are not involved in tomorrow’s press conference.

Joe Gibbs Racing President J.D. Gibbs has repeatedly said he would welcome Earnhardt, but not his longtime primary sponsor, Budweiser, who has a longterm personal services contract with the driver.

The recent announcement that RCR & DEI are merging their engine departments indicated to many observers that is unlikely Earnhardt will sign with RCR, the team where his father won six of his seven championships.

Stay tuned to SpeedTV.com for much more on this developing story.

SPEED will broadcast the press conference live, with pre-press conference live updates beginning at 10 a.m. At 11 a.m. ET, John Roberts will host a special live edition of The SPEED Report, with Bob Dillner on site in Mooresville, N.C. The press conference is expected to last one hour.

At 7 p.m. ET, SPEED will present a special half-hour edition of The SPEED Report to summarize the day’s events.
 
And Kyle showed such promise. I hope he will continue to improve at what ever team he ends up.
 
Professur said:
Quick, someone throw together a poll. Who's he gonna race for. Gibbs, RCR, Ginn, MWR, or even JR motorsports?
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You want a poll? I'll give you a poll...

normal_bikesafetyquiz.jpg
 
Earnhardt to Unveil Plans at Conference
Updated 1:40 PM ET June 12, 2007


By JENNA FRYER

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Dale Earnhardt Jr. has decided where he will drive next season, and all signs point to Hendrick Motorsports.

NASCAR's most popular driver called a Wednesday news conference at his race shop, JR Motorsports, and spokesman Mike Davis said it was to announce his plans for 2008 and beyond.

It's the same site where Junior announced May 10 he would leave DEI and enter the free-agent market.

That move ignited a whirlwind of recruiting rarely scene in NASCAR, and there's been nonstop talk regarding where Earnhardt would end up. He's made shop visits and met with various car owners while he trying to make a decision.

His sister, Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, is handling his negotiations and has maintained their first choice was to keep Earnhardt in a Chevrolet. She has said the majority of her conversations have been with NASCAR's top Chevy teams.

Hendrick is the best in NASCAR right now, with 10 wins through the first 15 points races this season.

Speculation grew Monday night that Earnhardt was close to a deal with Hendrick, but officials declined comment Tuesday. Elledge did not respond to messages from The Associated Press.

Rick Hendrick currently has four drivers under contract, and told the AP last month "there was no room at the inn" for Earnhardt. NASCAR rules permit a car owner to field four Nextel Cup teams.

But multiple sources _ speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because Earnhardt's plans have not been announced _ said Hendrick officials have been working for nearly three weeks to figure out how to bring the star driver into the fold. One scenario could put Earnhardt into the No. 5 car that Kyle Busch currently drives.

Busch is under contract through 2008, and Hendrick has said he wanted to sign the 22-year-old driver to an extension. But there are rumblings Busch has asked to be released from his contract.

Asked if that was true, Hendrick spokesman Jesse Essex said, "We don't comment on contractual issues."

Busch was testing in Milwaukee on Tuesday and not available to comment.

It's still possible Earnhardt could end up at Richard Childress Racing, where his father won six of his seven championships, or Joe Gibbs Racing. But Childress is out of the country, and the assistant to Gibbs president J.D. Gibbs said Gibbs is away all week.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 
yea word is kyle wants out of the car....maybe they'll switch rides?
 
Magnethead said:
yea word is kyle wants out of the car....maybe they'll switch rides?
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Kyle for Lil'E. Well I suppose the downgrade in talent would be overshadowed by the uptick in merchandise sales and fan support.

Then again some Lil'E fans may s--- and go blind if this comes about.
 
barelypure said:
Kyle for Lil'E. Well I suppose the downgrade in talent would be overshadowed by the uptick in merchandise sales and fan support.

Then again some Lil'E fans may s--- and go blind if this comes about.
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downgrade in talent how?

last i checked Jr had more wins than little Busch and 2 Bush Championships.
 
not quite so. It would be the best choice for Junior, as any other foray would mean he wouldn't be in the top 35, and he'd probably have to pay teresa a good chunk for them owner points. At hendrick, Jr can use the 5's points, and kyle can use the 8's points at DEI. nobody loses, and everybody except hendrick saves money.
 
This Buds For Me said:
downgrade in talent how?

last i checked Jr had more wins than little Busch and 2 Bush Championships.
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That's right. He has 2 Busch Championships. He has a Kurt Busch and a Kyle Busch Championship.

Speculation now is Mears to the 5 and Lil'E to the 25. If anyone can turn around the 25 curse maybe it's Lil'E.

Then again if he can't conquer the curse nothing is really lost... :p
 
I didn't realize that it was Hendrick who helped Kelly Earnhardt to get the right doctor for her condition. This was all before Lil'E announced he was leaving.
And, I had forgotten that Budweiser used to be with Hendrick.
Interesting...
 
This Buds For Me said:
downgrade in talent how?

last i checked Jr had more wins than little Busch and 2 Bush Championships.
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Yep i don't agree that this a downgrade in talent, Busch is good but not mature enough to even finish out a race....ummm one that Jr. happened to finish for him. Busch in my opinion isn't ready to be a champion, the timing is right for Jr. to win. One problem though is that you have 2 other guys there that have quite a few championships between them. I'm not sure that this is really the best fit for Jr., but i'm sure he knows a lot more than we do about the situation. Good luck to him ...no matter where he ends up. I would love to see him get a Cup Championship one day. He is a stand up guy, an old school guy , who represents the sport the way it should be represented.
 
I like the possibilities. Jr is the clear winner and Kyle can now deal with Teresa. It will be interesting to see what happens with the crews.
 
muggle not said:
I like the possibilities. Jr is the clear winner and Kyle can now deal with Teresa. It will be interesting to see what happens with the crews.
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Rememeber this purely specualation at this point, we could be thrown a curve ball tomorrow.
 
Mopardh9 said:
Rememeber this purely specualation at this point, we could be thrown a curve ball tomorrow.
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You are correct. it is really hard to be sure on what happens, but i do believe we will see jr at HMS.
 
Since it has been reported that Kyle wants out of his contract has anyone ever thought maybe he is the driver RCR is going to add with the 4th car that Jeff Burton said they were going to add?
 
tkj24 said:
Since it has been reported that Kyle wants out of his contract has anyone ever thought maybe he is the driver RCR is going to add with the 4th car that Jeff Burton said they were going to add?
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Not going to happen, no way Harvick or Burton would put up with him. i see him going to Ginn as the "star".
 
Mopardh9 said:
Not going to happen, no way Harvick or Burton would put up with him. i see him going to Ginn as the "star".
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Good call. Id buy that.

Sterling Marlin already said that he doesnt want to be full-time next year.

Busch in the #14 next year?

Martin/Marlin/Smith to share the #01 next year?
 
barelypure said:
You want a poll? I'll give you a poll...yes...no
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Gosh, I just love that picture, but I made myself remove it from my reply. I just wanted to say that it reminded me very much of one day way back in 1970. I won't say any more but ohhhhhh! :)
 
Well I hope you did the right thing. Or was there a shotgun involved?
 
All I have to say is that I wasn't blind sided by this at all. A little over three weeks ago JR. had a meeting at Hendricks shop. I didn't get any details just that the shop basically closed down for the day. As well, at Pocono..Johnson and JR got into each other just a tad. Jr started apologizing prefusely over the radio and saying make sure he knows I'm sorry about that. The guy next to me said the Johnson was apologizing prefusely as well. Jr NEVER does that and I don't listen to Johnson so I don't know about him either. This was just before Johnson went to the garage. I was talking to this nice Johnson fan beside me and we talked about the exchange and we both agreed it was awful fishy!!
The other thing that doesn't surprise me besides the fact the Earnhardts and the Hendricks have some history there as well Budweiser and Hendricks has history; is that Earnhardt Sr. and Gordon had a pretty darn good relationship. Gordon learned a lot from the man during his early years of racing.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this. By all means Jr deserves to compete competively and become a champion. However, I'm not sure how his fans are going to take him being team mates with Johnson and Gordon. I don't even know how I am going to take to it! LOL
Who knows, its only speculation until tomorrow at 11. Hopefully, we'll at least find out where JR. and hopefully bush will be going next year! Personally, I kind of hope Bush goes to DEI..Teresa deserves to have to put up with him after all this.
 
Well, folks.........just a matter of a good nights sleep and the suspense will be over. LOL
 
Sleep? Sleep? Who can sleep thinking that HMS may have a lineup of Gordon, Dale jr, Johnson, amd Casey. I am really looking forward to watching the news conference at 11:00 am. Heck, I may turn the TV on now and wait. :D :beerbang:
 
Dalejr's#1Fan said:
All I have to say is that I wasn't blind sided by this at all. A little over three weeks ago JR. had a meeting at Hendricks shop. I didn't get any details just that the shop basically closed down for the day. As well, at Pocono..Johnson and JR got into each other just a tad. Jr started apologizing prefusely over the radio and saying make sure he knows I'm sorry about that. The guy next to me said the Johnson was apologizing prefusely as well. Jr NEVER does that and I don't listen to Johnson so I don't know about him either. This was just before Johnson went to the garage. I was talking to this nice Johnson fan beside me and we talked about the exchange and we both agreed it was awful fishy!!
The other thing that doesn't surprise me besides the fact the Earnhardts and the Hendricks have some history there as well Budweiser and Hendricks has history; is that Earnhardt Sr. and Gordon had a pretty darn good relationship. Gordon learned a lot from the man during his early years of racing.
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this. By all means Jr deserves to compete competively and become a champion. However, I'm not sure how his fans are going to take him being team mates with Johnson and Gordon. I don't even know how I am going to take to it! LOL
Who knows, its only speculation until tomorrow at 11. Hopefully, we'll at least find out where JR. and hopefully bush will be going next year! Personally, I kind of hope Bush goes to DEI..Teresa deserves to have to put up with him after all this.
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Those are very good points especially the one about Gordon. I can't help but think maybe Gordon had a little to do with this.
 
All I know is JR has a news conference scheduled tomorrow concerning 2008.
For all anyone knows it could be an announcement that he intends to start a second busch series team in 2008. The media sure have earned their money today.
:beerbang: :beerbang: :beerbang:
 
It could also be to announce that he - Earnhardt - will assume 51% control of HMS AND drive the #24.

I might as well throw my hat in the ring to be named minister in charge of stating the obvious and also say that we'll find out at the press conference :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
I figured there would at least be some Jr fans on here this morning. Figured they were up and at it waiting on the big press conference. Guess everyone is still sleeping.
 
tkj24 said:
I figured there would at least be some Jr fans on here this morning. Figured they were up and at it waiting on the big press conference. Guess everyone is still sleeping.
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Go over to the Fox Sports Nascar chat, man pretty funny stuff. Got a good laugh this morning at the comments the Jr fans had for the Jr haters and vice versa. General consensus the way i figure it is Jr. will just be that much more popular. Ahh Jr. driving a Hendrick car owned by Jeff Gordon, now that would be pure irony in its' best form. Now all that would make that scene even better would be an in car of a ride along of Jr and Johnson showing Jr explaining to Johnson how to drive on a plate track. Yeh i know you Johnson guys hate it when i pick on him, but i just had to, couldn't resist!:beerbang:
 
Mopardh9 said:
Go over to the Fox Sports Nascar chat, man pretty funny stuff. Got a good laugh this morning at the comments the Jr fans had for the Jr haters and vice versa. General consensus the way i figure it is Jr. will just be that much more popular. Ahh Jr. driving a Hendrick car owned by Jeff Gordon, now that would be pure irony in its' best form. Now all that would make that scene even better would be an in car of a ride along of Jr and Johnson showing Jr explaining to Johnson how to drive on a plate track. Yeh i know you Johnson guys hate it when i pick on him, but i just had to, couldn't resist!:beerbang:
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Thanks M9 I think I will go over there. Man that would be funny if they listed Jeff Gordon as the owner. LOL
 
tkj24 said:
I figured there would at least be some Jr fans on here this morning. Figured they were up and at it waiting on the big press conference. Guess everyone is still sleeping.
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Why on Earth should I get up before dawn? I'm retired. :D

I figure the world will keep turning no matter what Dale says. ;)
 
Remind me again who it was that got Rick Hendrick his very first win in Nascar?

And no it wasn't Bodine...
 
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