Dale Jr. and Bud no more

Today Hendrick Motorsports announced that Jr. will NOT be sponsored by Budweiser in 2008. "We have agreements in place with sponsors for the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, which prevent us from having a relationship with Budweiser,"

It's rumored that Budweiser will sponsor Kasey Kahne. Evernham confirms that they have had talks with Bud, but Budweiser has also talked with other teams. Kahne would fit in well with the demographic. It is also rumored that Bud will end up with one of the Busch brothers. If Kyle goes to DEI, then I think that this is a very likley scenerio.

But who will sponsor Jr.? Rumor has it that it'll be VISA or Pepsi. I don't really care, but I hope it's not Pepsi, I like Jr. but I HATE Pepsi. I guess we'll just have to wait and see now. I just hope that nobody got a Jr. Budweiser tattoo.

Jr. is going to Hendrick!

Deep down I think we all knew it was going to happen, it's the obvious choice for a high-profile free agent who wants to win championships. The way I see it, Jr. going to Hendrick puts his fans in a strange position. Should they still throw things at Jeff Gordon? What is the proper teammate etiquette in that kind of situation? If Jr. goes to the #5 and keeps the sponsor, should they throw cereal boxes at him? I'm sure his fans that hate Jeff Gordon will continue to do so, but now throwing things at Jeff will be completely disrespectful to Jr., more so than it was before anyway.

And what about Jimmie Johnson? Does that mean they have to like him? I mean, is there really much of a reason to hate Jimmie other than he wins every other week? He's annoying, sure, but he's no Jeff Gordon. To me Jimmie was just the guy who the people (mostly Jr. fans) hate because he's Jeff Gordon's teammate from California, but now he's going to be Jr's teammate--from California.

But I also think that any Jr. fan that is really upset and mad at Jr. for moving to Hendrick shouldn't be called his fan. After all, a real fan will support their driver's decision, and realize that it is the best choice for them, even if it doesn't please the fan. It's Jr's career, not Jr's fan's career, so even though we all wish it had been somewhere else I think his fans are going to have to accept the fact that he's on the California team and support his decision. After all, it really was the smart choice.