Dale Earnhardt Junior is moving to Hendrick motor sports.  This sounds like a case of the rich getting richer, but if you look at it closely, you might think otherwise.

Junior will be taking over the #5 Kellogg's car driven by Kyle Bush, who most likely will move to DEI.  That's the third car in the Hendrick garage behind Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson.  There is no indication at this point whether or not Bud is coming with Junior to Hendrick. One thing we do know is that this is going to tell us once and for all what kind of driver Junior is.

For the past couple of years, Earnhardt has struggled at DEI.  He says, among other things, that the management is to blame.  He doesn't like the engines.  He's fought with his pit chiefs and has been through a few of them before re-hiring his cousin, Tony Eury, Jr.  He's fought with Theresa over control of the company and other issues, making it even more stressful on him and her. So now, at Hendrick, a well managed company that is currently dominating the sport, we'll see just how well Junior performs.

It's win/win for Hendrick.  It's not like he needs Junior to win a Nextel cup, Jeff and Jimmy can do that just fine.  But it does put Junior in the position of either putting up or shutting up.  My guess is that Junior picked Hendrick because he would not be the big car in the garage, that having Gordon and Johnson ahead of him was just what he wanted.  Let's face it: Junior will never come close to the success his Dad had and that's fine by Junior.  He wants to do better, but I honestly believe as long as he qualifies for the chase every year, he'll be fine.  Plus, at Hendrick, he'll just be a driver and won't have to deal with the politics of having to run the company.

Again, just guessing, this is a three to  five year relationship until Junior is confident he can own his own team. I think he wants to learn what they do at Hendrick to make them such a dominant team and then use those lessons at JR Racing.  Junior will drive for Hendrick, but what I think he really wants is his own team in the next few years.

The biggest loser in the sweepstakes is Joe Gibbs racing, which took a tough (although admirable) stand on a Bud sponsorship.  Getting Earnhardt in their garage would have meant either a fourth Gibbs team or the jettisoning of the ineffective J.J. Yaley in the 18 car.  And, it would have given Gibbs a hedge against a total Tony Stewart meltdown.  But it was not to be.  So now, three of NASCAR's biggest names, Gordon, Johnson and Junior will toil under the same roof. 

There is one other question that begs to be answered: Will the Earnhardt fans that despise Jeff Gordon warm up to him now that Junior is his teammate?   Stay tuned, this ought to be an interesting story.

Lightning Round

• The only game not shown on MLB extra innings last night was the Sox vs. the Phillies.  And that's okay by me considering how bad the Sox were last night and considering how scared Butkus D. Dogg gets when I start yelling at the TV.  The Phillies have lost more games than any team in baseball history, but the Sox appear to be immune to that fact.  It is painfully obvious that the Sox have one element right now that keeps them in ballgames: Starting pitching.  When that element breaks down, it gets ugly in a hurry.  Again, to dredge up the Bobby Knight quote, if you are a Sox fan you might as well lay back and enjoy it because the only light at the end of the tunnel is the season finale against Detroit.  This season, as Hawk would say, is OVAH.  Here's some brilliant analysis about what went wrong by our friends at "The Bards Room."  I'm pretty much done whipping these boys.  Nothing left to whip. The same two teams Wednesday in a businessman's special at high noon,
• Valet Parking, $10.  King cut of Prime Rib with all the fixings, $85.  Pissing off a washed up singer from the seventies, PRICELESS.
  
• Memo to Jim Hendry: If you have any hope of getting back in the race in the NL Comedy Central, Michael Barrett must go NOW.  And not because he got in a fight.  Because he is the poorest excuse for a Cub catcher since Todd Hundley.
• As depressing as it is to be a Sox fan this morning, it is even more so to be a Brewer fan.  No telling who the idiot on the local talk station wants fired today.
• Hey, Rex.  If I were you, I'd be studying a playbook, not hanging out in bars.  And who the hell dresses you anyway?  Yes, that's our quarterback ladies and gentlemen. 
  
• Da Coach is still not happy with Dave Duerson and the NFLPA.
• In his short time in America, Ichiro has learned something we Americans have known for years: We'd rather punch ourselves in the face than go to Cleveland.  Good thing he doesn't have to go to Indiana.  He'd be whipping out a Samurai sword.
  
• Pacman Jones has given up his appeal and said he will spend the next year trying to improve his life.  Translation: If I don't straighten up right now, that prosecutor in Las Vegas is going to turn me into Paris Hilton.
• Here's an all-time musical baseball team.  The dude goes a little deep though.
• The Dodgers are happy that Russell Martin is finally getting some love in the all-star voting.  How could he not win?  Mike Piazza is in the American League this year.
• A great read from Dennis Dodd.  This is why we love him so.
• In China, there are over a billion people with a hundred last names.  Can you imagine calling information in China and asking for the phone number for Mr. Chung?  "Which one sir? There are 934,678 Chungs listed."
• This just in: Former Pakistani cricket coach Bob Woolmer is still dead and died of embarrassment.
• Hillary isn't pandering, is she? Dé la bienvenida a mis amigos. Vote por mí y le prometo que puede guardar a toda sus amigos y familia aquí. Con tal que se coloquen para votar. ¡Libere el tacos para cada uno! Y se cerciora de usted conseguir un whack en el pinata de Barack Obama.
• The Decider almost caused an international incident when he thought his watched was picked.  It was in his suit all the time.  How exactly did this guy get elected twice anyway?
• If you have never watched "Rescue Me" on FX, the fourth season begins tonight.  It's an awesome show.
• Mr Wizard, the man who blinded kids with science on TV is dead.  Thank goodness Alton Brown is still alive and kicking.
• CBS head honcho Leslie Moonvies says Dan Rather's shots at Katie Couric were sexist.  No they weren't, Les.  They were petty and envious, but not sexist.  If Katie Couric were Bob Schieffer, you couldn't even use that word.
• The air force considered building a "gay bomb" which, when dropped on the enemy, would make them drop their guns have sex with each other.  Who's running  the air force these days, General Buck Turgidson?
• Apparently, the Fins lead the world in cheap gas.  And, not the kind that fuels their cars.
• This is a map of the United States re-written to show which foreign county's DNP is closest to that of a given state.  Here in Wisconsin, we are the equivalent of South Africa, which is ironic since Miller, Milwaukee's biggest brewer, is owned by South African interests.
• Try this in your basement sometime: