Rick Hendrick And Dale, Jr Need To Cut Their Losses And Move On

Let's face it; the 88 bunch are not getting any better. The woes and mistakes continue to pile up race after race. He isn't a threat to win unless it's a plate track. It's obvious he's not going to make the Chase. He and his team are the worst of the Hendrick lot (that includes the 25). And he is no longer the face of the sport.

A move of this magnitude would definitely upset the fans, but they have already been disappointed enough. Sure it would upset the sponsors, but Hendrick Motorsports has plenty of drivers he can disperse the sponsorship to. Sure it would disrupt and distract the other teams at Hendrick, but these guys thrive on adversity so it's not really that big of a deal.

If you look at the flip side, the move does have its share of positives...

This would allow Brad Keselowski to stay with the organization rather than become a free agent. You could keep Tony Eury, Jr on as the crew chief and bring Lance McGrew over as the car chief/engineer. This takes all the blame off of Eury, eases the pressure he has on him and allows him to go out and do his job without Dale, Jr bearing down on him. More importantly it keeps him from being the scapegoat in this debacle.

With Dale, Jr out of a ride he can now focus on the things that everyone in the media says is keeping him from being a championship driver. He can sleep late, have a good time with his buddies on his go-kart track, play on the computer and focus on his restaurant/bar Whiskey River.

When Dale, Jr is ready to hop back in a race car he can switch his inventory at JR Motorsports over to COT bodies and chassis and race as a driver/owner. It's worked for Tony Stewart so surely it can work for him (that is if Dale, Jr can find the talent everyone says he's lost or never had in the first place).

He would have to end his affiliation with Rick Hendrick though. Maybe now everyone can get their wish and he can partner with Richard Childress and finally run the number 3. This would give RCR another team/partner thus allowing them the ability to keep up with the mega teams of Hendrick and Roush.

If all this sounds silly and ridiculous then you are correct; it is silly and ridiculous!! It's borderline crazy; but is it any more ridiculous than watching this driver and this team continue to fall deeper and deeper into despair with nothing being done to prevent it?

Sarcasm aside, it's time to get serious.

It's ironic that Hendrick Motorsports used to be known as All-Star Racing because right now that's what he's assembled. Take the 24, 48, 5, 88,25 and partner them with Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman and you have the sport's version of the Dream Team.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...there aren't enough steering wheels to go around. The problem with this Dream Team format is that one team always ends up being the weaker link. Take all those egos and all that talent and put them at one feeding trough and undoubtedly someone will go hungry. Thus is the case with car 88.

As "tongue and cheek" as all this was made out to be, maybe Hendrick parting ways with Junior (or the other way around) isn't as ridiculous as it sounds. What they have now isn't working. Major changes don't appear to be on the horizon so why not make a bold move and focus solely on what IS working at Hendrick instead of what is NOT working. It might be the only solution for this good thing gone terribly bad.