Dale Earnhardt Junior’s move to Richard Childress Racing is old news - at least to me
MOORESVILLE, NC - APRIL 29: (L-R) Teresa Earnhardt, President and CEO Dale Earnhardt Inc., Dale Earnhardt Jr., co-owner of JR Motorsports and Richard Childress, owner of Childress Racing answer questions after unveiling the #3 Wrangler car that Earnhardt Jr. will drive in the Nationwide race in Daytona later this year, April 29, 2010 in Mooresville, North Carolina. (Photo by Mary Ann Chastain/Getty Images for NASCAR)
I like to think I’m pretty modest, and usually I am, but I’ve got to blow my own horn on this one.
I just got off of nascar.com and what do they have posted on their site from The Sporting News Wire Service? A story about Dale Earnhardt Jr going to RCR next year to drive the #3 Chevy while Kasey Kahne fills in for Junior at Hendrick Motorsports.
Wow ... didn’t see that coming ... no really ... (note sarcasm)
Those of you who are regular readers of this blog will know I’ve been saying that exact same thing for over a month now, and to top it off they are even using the same reasons as I did for Junior to be driving the #3 next year (i.e. “Move to RCR may stimulate collectible, souvenir market”) with the exception of the most recent Joe Gibbs complaint to NASCAR about Kahne racing anywhere else but Hendrick Motor Sports next year.
Here is a complete list of my articles (with quotes) to date about this very topic:
April 29, 2010 - Dale Earnhardt Junior will drive the Wrangler Sponsored #3 Chevy in the Nationwide Series at Daytona in July (read the comments) - “... and its also, I hate to say, about the money from merchandising etc. Have you seen the shirts yet with Dale Sr on the Front and Dale Jr on the back? DEI owns Dale Sr’s likeness, RCR owns the #3 likeness and paint scheme, and Dale Jr owns his own likeness. In order for all of this to work, all three organizations had to be on the same page, and why wouldn’t they be with all the money to be made ...”
April 23, 2010 - Earnhardt Jr One Step Closer To Driving RCR #3 Next Year - “The financial gains by RCR, Hendrick, Dale Jr, DEI, NASCAR, Track Owners, and a handful of other people by Dale Jr’s presence behind the wheel of the #3 car would be tremendous”
and of course the original article that was posted a full 5 weeks before the one at nascar.com:
April 19, 2010 - What I think Rick Hendrick's 2011 Plan For Kasey Kahne Could Be (Could Earnhardt and Kahne Play Musical Cars in 2011?) - "Merchandise sales alone would be in the millions"
I'm certainly glad to see that the "mainstream media" is catching up to what I already figured out and speculated on weeks ago.
