Jr.'s year has gotten off to a good start.

How will the rest of it go?

Just finding it interesting that his team and he are doing so well so far, and the rest of the Hendrick organization seems to be having trouble gettings it footing.

The competition is stiff this year, and Jr. seems to be in the thick of it.

Will it hold for the balance of the season?

have a good day,

schinde

What I found even more interesting yesterday after the race was that Dale Jr seems to be getting frustrated already at finishing in the top 5 at every race.

After the crummy past couple years that he has had and with the way the season is going for his teammates you would think he would be thrilled to be finishing as strong as he is in every race so far.
He just needs to be patient and hang in there.

That is one thing about us racers, we are never satisfied unless we are winning.

I just want to know how long it will take for Jimmie and Jeff to start crying about it...

Oh please Mike! You know you just cant have NASCAR conversation without somone slamming those two. It gets old. Those are two of the nicest guys in the sport, and im sure they are pleased to have Jr as a teamate. I found it interseting that in an interview with jj they were talking about thier struggles and he said they could be happy with top fives all day, and run simaler set ups to the 24 and 88, but they were trying to be more aggresive to win. The ten point buffer in the chase is huge.

They are both cry-babies. My question stands....

Mike

Thats BS they are not. Every time someone doesnt like a driver in cup that is the standard reason why. I watch every race, and seldon do I see them whinning about anything. At least not any worse than any other driver. Everyone hates the guys that win all the time. It happens everywhere you go in racing. Youll see by the end of the season those two guys will be on top.........AGAIN. GO HENDRICK!

Didn't you watch any Jeff Gordon interviews last year when Jimmie was beating him every week? He had the pout lip out and everything!!!

The only race I saw him actually complain was after Martainsville, and that was simply in the heat of a highly contested race (the next week he was apologizing.). During the chase when JJ was beating him it was a shrug and "were doing everything we can, but the 48 is just beating us." To think that they will complain about thier teamate beating them is silly. Every racer wants to win, and this is a chapionship team, but that doesn't mean they dont want to see thier teamate succeed. Saying otherwise is just sour grapes, because those two guys kick everones butts and you hate it!

Don't hate it a bit... I just know when you get your butt whooped week in and week out by a team-mate who isn't supposed to get better equipment than you...It changes people...and makes you say things you would otherwise not say.

Compare some Jeff Gordon interviews from his first championship year to anything from last year. You'll see what I mean. He aint the same guy.

With that said, he's still more diplomatic than most of the other racers any day....so you'll have to be a bit perceptive to see what I'm talking about.

Mike

I am with you on this one Mike.......well mostly.

Actually, I think Jimmie will be the one to throw the biggest fit if things don't start to pick up soon for him. BUT.....they do much of their strong complaining to Rick behind closed doors to get their way, not so much in front of the camera.
Jeff & Jimmie try so hard to be nice on camera and not pout and whine too much but it doesn't always work.

Jeff is a nice guy, Jimmie is a fake! My opinion.

Im wondering how you know this? Complaining behind closed doors? Is this how you imagine things are or is this how you know them to be? Do you know Jimmie Johnson? Than how would you know hes a fake. This kind of this is a bit out of line IN MY OPINION! I apologize if this comes off as rude, but if you are a Gordon or Johnson fan (wich I am not a Johnson fan. I dont dislike him nor do I like him.) you get tired of everyone saying hes a homo, he fake, or all of the other standard Dale Sr fan fodder. It is tiring.

Clearly, I view Sr. as having been a better driver than Jeff Gordon, however, I also feel that Jeff has earned his due in this sport, as do many others. No doubt in my mind that he will be amongst the Cup kings, and deservedly so.

Now, Jimmie, not sure yet. Haven't seen enough of him over the long term as we have Jeff. I reserve judgement on Jimmie until I've seen him take some of the licks/beatings and tough years that Sr. and Jeff, and so many others in the sport have taken, and see that he still has it and will stand tall.

It would have been very interesting to see just how well Jimmie would have withstood Sr. as Jeff did when he entered the sport.

Interesting indeed. What would Jimmie have done with a mirror full of Sr.?

Too bad we will never know.

We all know what Jr. did with Sr. in an IROC race. I think he did a great job of "standing up to daddy" so to speak.

have a good day,

schinde

How could you possibly know this??? Unless you are behind these "closed doors" with them, I just somehow doubt that. No offense Granny, but it is statements like this that start rumors, and bother people. Maybe you read it somewhere, and if so, how does the person writing it know, again, unless they are behind these "doors" also.

If you don't like em, you don't like em. Plain and simple. No need to fabricate.

I'm no Gordon or Johnson fan, but I have MUCH respect for both drivers. I watched Johnson tear up car after car, and crash competitor after competitor on the old ASA circuit. I could NOT believe he ever got a ride with such a team. But this man just won the last 2 Cup titles. How can he be fake????


As far as the actually title of the thread goes..........................the last thing Earnhardt Jr. is, is quiet. All you have to do is turn on your TV, no matter what channel, and you will see him, selling something, FAR from quiet!!!!

I've been waiting for you to weigh in here Ed.

have a good day,

schinde

I knew you were Hippie.

Please note though my brother, I am NOT a Jr. hater, not in the least. I think he is very cool, I do enjoy him hosting "Back in the Day" (LOVE that show!!!) and for the most part, most of the ads he does aren't bad. There are just too many of them for me!!!

I thought my wife said she seen him selling menopause pain relievers on the Lifetime network!!!!

I'm kidding, or am I???

Gotta tell ya Ed,

Midol works wonders on a toothache.

You know, when them little pain buddies are sitting around and telling each other, "alright, in five minutes, we're gonna go up there and just kill that tooth".

Take some Midol and in a few minutes, it's a miracle, the pain is gone!!!!!!

The only bad part of this is when you are out of it, and you have to go to the drug store to get some more. You will likely be so pleased with the results that you will ask the clerk, "Hey, gimme some Midol, and it's for me!"

Although it works, (and women have kept this secret from us men for too long!) I certainly hope he hasn't been hawking certain things, those should be inviolate.

have a good day,

schinde

Well thanks for sharing your secret Hippie!!!

No wonder your so stable, and grounded. And able to keep control of your emotions.

I guess you'll never have to worry with sensitive ni&&les when it's YOUR time of the month!!!!

Please don't tell me you tried this because you seen Jr. selling it!!!!

I'll stick to my Tylenol

Ed, you ever notice that Matt never appears to be bloated? He probably doesn't hurt when he pees, either.

Now we know his secret.

-Maurice

BigEd......

Yes, I did read it.....and heard some clear implications of it on their in-race radio. No fabrication here.

This incident happened last year before the Chase. I don't remember all the specifics but it was during the time that Jimmie was having a little slump and had not won a race in a few weeks. The order was given by Rick to his other drivers that if at all possible they were to help and/or let Jimmie have the win that day. And they did, and he did. Kyle was leading the race up until the last 2 or 3 then he moved over and let Jimmie have it. Jeff was a couple places back and blocking as much as he could.

Kyle was hot about the entire situation. There was some chatter on their radios that got aired on tv before they realized what the talk was about so they cut it off quick and the commentators tried to muddle over it casually then dropped it.

That following week there was more than one article on Nascar.com about the incident and what had happened. When Rick was asked about it he said that it was never an "order" just a standing request that teammates always help each other up until the end but he did not want them to wreck each other. The usual that he always says. But that is not the way that Kyle put it. Even Casey indicated it was an order. It was supposed to be due to a tantrum that Jimmie had thrown to Rick earlier in the week because he was not winning and was concerned about all those extra 10 points for the Chase. It was shortly after that when he started winning races.

Even the next week on Speed TV it was mentioned again, very quickly and briefly, on one of the pre-race shows to try and say that the articles on the websites were confused and Rick did not issue an order.

So no fabrication here......I seen it myself.....heard it myself.....and read the articles my self. Also seen the clips of the interviews talking to Rick and Kyle, well they were more like quick questions. Rick said Kyle must have misunderstood but Kyle was mad.


No, I don't like Jimmie but I would never just bash him or start rumors about him. I am not that kind of person. Even when he wrecks, I am glad he did but I am sitting there hoping he is ok and waiting for that window screen to go down. I also do not like Rick but the same goes there.
I do like Jeff a lot, he is one of my favorite drivers. I like Chad Knaus a lot, he is a great crew chief. Jr is great, he is also one of my favorite drivers.

I will continue to express my opinion, as we need to keep in mind that we all have a right to do.
No offense taken, BigEd. It was probably good you asked, apparently many people either forgot about this or did not catch it in the first place.

I find morphine with a back up of fentynol works well for a toothache.

Well thank you for your explanation Granny, I do appreciate it, and respect your opinion, and candor.

Personally, I feel the team orders thing sucks. I understand it, but I don't like it. When a race is going on, we are lead to believe that it is one man against the field, and that is the way it has always been. I couldn't imagine something like that happening at a local short track. To get to this top rung of the ladder, and then asked to step aside and let a team-mate pass you for a win, well, that is just NOT racing!!!!

After all, it's not like this is F1.

I find it very difficult to believe that a driver would risk his credibility and standing with his teamates by crying to his owner. More likely his owner gave an order that if the 48 or 24 were up front they were to be given the best oportunity to win (and absolutely do not risk taking them out by racing them as hard as you might another driver.) as they were the only two cars that would likely make the chase and thus need the 10 point cusion that is given by NASCAR. This is the problem with the chase format. The divers need to make the playoffs and then need the cushions the wins give them. I dont think JJ was stomping and pissing cuz he wasnt winning as much as the 24. The 24 is co-owner of his car if you remember correctly. I think this scenario is very unlikely. These men are competitors and want to win by there merrits. They dont want to be handed wins by anyone. I know I wouldnt and Id doubt they do.

Actually, I do honestly think that Rick realized immediately that he handled the situation wrong and I am sure he certainly did not intend for it to get out like it did, or at all. And I am sure that there are times he (as all bosses do) has to deal with "hissy" fits but I feel that should be left up to the drivers as to how much they want to help each other. That may have been the one and only time it ever happened with Henricks teams.

Everyone wants to win!

stinkfist...........Jeff being the owner of the #48 is more of a formality than anything else. Nascar rules state that a team owner can only be listed as car owner for 2 cars in a race (which totally makes no sense) so someone else has to be listed as owner on the other 2 cars if you have 4 teams in a race. So officially for the rules, Rick is only listed as owner for 2 of the 4 cars but is the owner of all 4 teams.
That's Nascar for ya!

Although, I do believe in Jeff's case he is actually a 'silent' business partner with Rick for a small percentage. I think I remember Jeff saying that in an interview a year or so ago.

I thought Gordon was owner of the 48 long before that rule was in effect, back when Rousch owned 5 cars.

Still seems like there's a lot of speculatory glue to get from your facts to your conclusions. Which is fine, I mean that's what the Napcar soap opera is all about, I'm just having a hard time following your story.

I'M WITH YOU GAV, I DONT BUY IT, I'M CALLING SHENANIGANS ON THAT STORY.

Jeff owns 25% of the 48 team and he has a stake in Hendrick Motorsports too, im not sure how much though

My sources, who I trust, tell me Jeff owns 25.5% of the 48, as well as 25.5% of Hendrick motorsports. An un-named individual who is thought to be Bruton Smith owns 24% and the Hendrick family owns 50.5% If you think about these figures from a business standpoint, they make perfect sense! Hendrick, being the majority by .5% has no worries of a mutiny or a takeover, while everyone else gets their slice of the multi-million dollar pie! This is all rumor and hearsay, so take it for what it's worth, which ain't much. One thing to remember is that these guys are racers, just like us. Not superheroes! They still put their firesuits on one leg at a time,just like us!

For those who might wonder if Jimmie, or Jeff, or any other driver has ever thrown a "hissy fit", just think back to the one's you have thrown at times associated with this sport we all love and participate in.

That being a given, then the possiblity that Jimmie has done as GrannySharon suggests isn't too far out of the realm of possbilities.

In a sport driven in many ways by emotions, (take a look at some of the threads on this board during the season) I won't discount it.

have a good day,

schinde

As for the fit that Jimmie "supposedly" threw behind closed doors, of course that is hear-say since apparently only one person or only a couple of people know for sure. But my guess is something did go on behind closed doors to make what happened on the track happen. That was real!

In the interview that Jeff was doing and they were talking about his partnership with Hendrick, Jeff did not mentioned percentages. He kept most of the info fairly vague just saying that he was owner of the 48 and that he was a small partner with Rick but he did specifically say he considered himself a "silent" partner. He said he left all the business stuff up to Rick and the others to handle because they were the experts and had been doing a great job at it for years and before he came along.
He also said that he gets consulted about some things and he will give his input then but he is not at all involved in the day-to-day operations. He never mentioned any other partners but he also did not say there weren't others so it is certainly possible. It is a very expensive sport.

I see this on other message boards and often wonder........................How does Junior having a good start turn into a Jeff and Jimmy bash fest. Does a certain fan base have championship envy???

One more thing, if you fill your "hissy fit" full of four letters words, does it make the "hissy fit" more macho???

LOL... good one Scotty! Have a good Easter holiday my friend.

Scotty,

I'm also wondering if using cap's in a post does the same thing?

Happy Easter.

Somehow, I'm guessing Jr. has had his share of hissie's too, but Teresa just made him stand in the corner.

have a good day,

schinde

Its an angry rant if done by anyone other that Gordon or Johnson. Its a hissy fit if done by them. Scotty Chapionship envy is a great explination if you ask me.