Has the addition of Dale Jr to Hendrick brought the team down a notch?

Question

They say they got behind on the cars but I"m not buying that. They were too good with their wins last year to be this bad this season. 3 wins for the entire team all on strategy. Has Jr. brought them down this far or is there a lack of chemistry on the team that they had before? I know you ppl will say 3,4,10th, and 20 something in points but compared to last year thats not as good and then factor in that they are not winning this season and doing worse as of late. I think there is no more chemistry there since Jr has came along and Hendrick has gave him the spotlight, what do you think?

Answer 1

yes !!!

Answer 2

He didn't bring the team down.  He is running better this year than Busch did last year.  Jr being there doesn't have anything to do with the chemistry on Johnson or Gordons teams either.  Those guys are in a seperate shop and each crew chief can setup his car as he sees fit for his driver.

Answer 3

I think Hendrick last year was all geared towards a championship - which they won. Maybe all their time and effort was towards 2007, and they didn't really prepare for 2008 very well.  

Answer 4

i won't say any of what you think "you people" will say, other than i do believe that the 24 and 48 teams did get behind as they were the only two battling for the championship for the last part of the year. if you remember, they didn't even take part in the COT test at atlanta where drivers were allowed to even drive in the cars that were built by their new teams. kyle ran in the 18 and junior in the 88 even though they were still with their old teams. jeff and jimmie skipped this to focus on practice and testing for the remaining chase races.

i also still firmly believe that at least chad and jimmie have not only been catching up, but they have also been playing possum and sandbagging a bit through the first half of the year. notice how often everybody said hms was through and that they sucked, etc, yet their big three were always firmly in the top 12? and now, as the chase draws near, the 48 is gaining momentum big time, just like he did last year. they have both stated that they spend much of their time simply preparing for the chase tracks, and experimenting throughout the year at similar tracks. if the experiment works, great. if it doesn't, chad would always pull some oddball strategy out and get them a top-15 or top-10 finish somehow.

i don't think dale jr. has any influence whatsoever on the 24 and 48 teams. he was on a different agenda - to show that he could win in the best equipment available, and was thus always pushing for the win each race through the first half of the year. jimmie and jeff just laid back and hung out in the top ten or so in the points, as they knew they'd get in (although jeff is becoming questionable), and they didn't want to show all they've got until the time is right. and that they will.

Answer 5

I don't think it's Junior bringing the team down... I think it's the fact that they were smug and lazy after last year.  Last year, they DOMINATED the COT races, with Rowdy winning the very first one... so Rick thought he could rest on his laurels, because the top teams in the other manufacturers (Roush Fenway, GEM, and at the time, MWR) were way behind on the learning curve.  However, Hendrick did not anticipate JGR's speedy adaptation to Toyota equipment, or Roush's uncanny ability to catch up in a flash.  Now, Hendrick has to play catchup, and KLEG (The Law Offices of Knaus, Letarte, Eury, and Gustafson) is under a LOT of pressure.  They're playing with setups and pit/fuel strategy like they were bottle rockets, and, in most cases, they've shot their reports right in their hands.  Expect Hendrick to work EXTREMELY hard this off-season.  I mean, the only saying goes... "Fool me once, shame on you... fool me twice, shame on me!)

PS: I think Junior has good chemistry with Johnson and Gordon, more so than Rowdy with Smoke and Hammerhead.  I think Casey Mears is a non-issue, he's odd-man out.

Answer 6

I think Dale Jr. is a decent racer.

He has lots of fans, and everyone loves him, but he's nothing special.

He's won one race due to rain, he always seems to crash or hit the wall.

You always have to remember Dale Sr., Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon are HUGE shoes to fill.  So for the most part, he's doing okay this season with HMS

Answer 7

Yeah he has brought Hendrick down a notch by being 4th in the points after 23 races with a win, 7 top 5's, 12 top 10's, a win in the Bud shootout and Gatorade dual and and average start of 9th and average finish of 12.5................Yeah, he is really killing the team!!!

Answer 8

watch the next 13 races and see how down they are

Answer 9

No I don;t believe he has brought the team down.

Answer 10

Dale Jr brought himself down by selling out to the dark side, and the dark side has been brought down in turn. Where's Yoda when we need him?

Answer 11

Just so you know HMS has 4 teams in cup.

Juniors team doesn't affect the other three teams.

They're responsible for their own driver.

Obviously your just trying to dump on Junior.

Very poor insight on your part.

My answer: "No" The addition of Junior to HMS has not brought any team down a notch.

Answer 12

I don't see how Jr. being there is a detriment. As far as spotlight goes, the 24 and 48 didn't run good last year because people were watching them. Those teams ran good because they had something figured out that the other teams didn't. They don't have that this year, not only have the other teams caught up, but JGR has found something that puts them far ahead of the rest. If JR. had signed with JGR instead, and Smoke and Denny were winning every race coming and going, would you credit JR. for his contribution? It's just easy to put JR. in the cross-hairs and let him have it. Heck for that matter, if the 24 and 48 were running away with it again this year, would you let Jr. have some love, or would you say it was because they are just that good?

Answer 13

To be honest, I believe Jeff's performance this year is because of his baby daughter and wife.

I know I left work early alot and complained about working weekends when my first child was under 4 years old!

Just a thought. These people are human and are already, obviously successful.

Maybe that's why Jr. is leading them this year! Again, just a thought.  

Answer 14

i think they are just behind. Toyota had a lot to prove this year so they spent a lot of time on there car. and last year roush was behind in the COT cars. and spent a lot more time getting there car right. i think hms thought they would have a better car then other teams did. sense they dominated the cot races last year. don't think jr has any thing to do with it

Answer 15

If Jimmie and Jeff can't adapt to a new team mate then they're obviously not true champions. They won championships before, they can do it again. Kyle only won one race last year and then when Jr. takes his spot he wins one race and gets all this hate. The only thing stopping Jeff from performing is himself, and the only thing stopping Jimmie from winning is absolutely nothing. As I recall he won the Brickyard 400 just a few weeks ago.  

Answer 16

Overall,no.The COT has delt some problems this year that several teams are having problems with (tires and chassies set ups for one comes to mind).

But to the casual fan or the non Junior fan or non Hendrick fan then the answer is yes.

But  overall no.

Answer 17

I don't think so, and it's not because I'm a Dale Jr. fan.  I think the COT is messing with everyone a little bit.  I know that the Hendrick boys will be back and dominating next year again.

Answer 18

yeah, hendricks has never dealt with  hillbillies before .