by Darrell Waltrip

Comment

Forget the personal relationships and all of the other things. Dale Jr. has been saying for quite some time now that the organization just wasn't getting the results. Their cars weren't performing, and the teams weren't doing what they needed to be successful. With the strong runs that Martin Truex Jr.'s car has had recently, it justifies Dale Jr.'s frustration.

Junior knew that they had the potential to run up front, but they just weren't getting it done. His departure has really motivated everybody at DEI to step it up and make their cars better. They've done it. Obviously, Martin has been awesome the last few weeks, and Junior hasn't been bad. Once they realized that he was out of there, it was a wake-up call. That's why you're seeing the kind of results you're seeing. Both cars ran well at Michigan, and Martin almost won again.

A lot of people have e-mailed, called and stopped me on the street to say, "How did you know that Junior was going to Hendrick?" Folks, just stop and think about it. When Dale Jr. announced that he was going to leave DEI, he and I talked for quite some time about what he was going to do. At that point, he hadn't made up his mind and really didn't know what he was going to do. He just knew he was leaving DEI, and we talked about a lot of different scenarios.

He asked me how I felt about driving the No. 3 car. As a fan, I thought the racing world would be right if Dale Jr. got in that car and drove it for Childress. Then, he explained to me why he didn't feel good about it and how it was his dad's car, number and legacy. He didn't want to go back and relive it all. I can understand why he feels that way.

If he had gotten behind the wheel of the black No. 3, he would have been living in the shadows of someone as great as Dale Sr., and he would have been compared to him all the time. People would have said, "Well, Dale Jr. doesn't drive the car like Dale Sr. did." Or "Well, Dale Jr. never won a championship in the No. 3 car."

Then, it just became a matter of him asking what I thought he should do. I told him that if I could do a deal with anybody, I would do a deal with Rick Hendrick. He said, "Yeah, I just don't know if that's going to be possible." I said, "Well, take my advice if you can. Cale Yarborough advised me back in '81 to drive for Junior Johnson, and I did. That's the best advice anybody ever gave me. If there's any way possible, I'm advising you to drive for Rick Hendrick."

It's not like I had a crystal ball or inside information. I knew where Dale Jr. stood, and I knew how he felt. I knew that Hendrick Motorsports was the right place for him. I'm glad they were able to work it out. As far as his sponsors and his number go, anything with an 8 is going to work. And I think that's his opinion, too. He has said 81, and I said 08. And who knows? Maybe Teresa will feel charitable and work out something with Hendrick Motorsports so they can keep the 8 number. That would be special to Dale Jr. because that's his number, and he would like it a lot. Out of the goodness of her heart, I'd like to see Teresa do that for him.

People keep speculating about the sponsor, and again, I have no inside information. But I do think that there are a number of really good potential sponsors, not that Budweiser hasn't been good to Dale Jr. And Dale Jr. has been good to Budweiser. I just believe that he wants to wipe the slate clean and start with a clean sheet of paper, and he'll do that by finding another sponsor, instead of Budweiser. That's what they're thinking about doing.

I just love his sister Kelley. She's been by his side the whole time. My sister Carolyn has stuck by me through thick and thin. When I didn't have enough money to pay my bills, she helped me manage my money, keep me out of debt and keep me out of trouble. She gave me a lot of good advice through the years so I love my sister Carolyn just like Junior loves Kelley. When their parents sent Junior to military school, he was lonely, and he wasn't getting along too well. What did Kelley do? She went down there and stood by him. She's been standing by him and standing with him ever since. It's great to have a sister that loves and cares about you. I'm really proud of the way Kelley has worked through this whole situation so I tip my hat to her.

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Oh, by the way

People keep wanting to know where Kyle Busch is going to go. I think he may go to Ginn Racing or Haas/CNC Racing. I really feel like he'll go to a team that's affiliated with Hendrick Motorsports. Rick may be trying to find a ride that's still sort of in the family. I know for a fact that Rick thinks a lot of Kyle. They've just had some real issues with his attitude and some problems that they just can't seem to get corrected. But it's not for a lack of effort on Rick's part.

I don't think Rick is just going to dump on him and kick him out the door. I think he's going to try to help him land where he can get some more experience, get a handle on his attitude and get a handle on his temper. You'll hear a lot about that kid because he can win races anywhere he goes. He's just got to learn how to control his emotions. At 22 years of age, it's a pretty daunting task, but he'll figure it out.

It reminds me of something Robert Gee, Dale Jr.'s grandfather, always said when somebody would get mad, fly off the handle and storm around. Robert would ask, "What's wrong with you, boy? Did you lose your temper?" Of course whoever it was would say, "Yeah." Robert would reply, "Well, I'm here to help you find it." Kyle needs somebody to help him find his temper because tempered he's going to be a whale of a driver. He's got a great future ahead of him and a lot of years to get it right. I'm sure he will.