A NEW DAWN: Dale Earnhardt will follow his own career path in 2008. - Photo by: K. Ma/NYAR

June 21, 2007 - When Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced his separation with DEI in May, he quickly (and naturally) became the biggest free agent in recent NASCAR history. While many Earnhardt fans wanted him to join RCR to continue his dad's legacy with the number 3 Chevrolet, Earnhardt joined Rick Hendrick's organization instead. In 2008, Earnhardt will start his new career with the most successful team in the past decade - Hendrick Motorsports.

It was probably the most sensible choice for Junior. Hendrick has produced two NASCAR champions of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, and has been winning races consistently since the 90s. In 2007, the team continues to dominate, winning 10 out of 15 races (Gordon 4; Johnson 4; Kyle Busch 1 and Casey Mears 1.) More importantly, the team excelled in all Car of Tomorrow (CoT) races. While other Junior suitors such as Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing have had long history of success, the opportunity for Earnhardt to join Hendrick was simply too good to pass up.

The question is, did Earnhardt get his 9-lap test drive at Texas Motor Speedway after Kyle Busch walked away from his damaged car? Was it a tell tale sign? After wrecking his car on the track (ironically with Earnhardt on Lap 253 in the Samsung 500,) Busch left the race track prematurely as his crew continued to repair his #5 Chevy. While every point is important in NASCAR standings, the #5 crew offered Earnhardt to take the car back on the track to collect some points, not for himself, but for Busch. Amazingly, Earnhardt did.

"Junior didn't hesitate and agreed, and it was a very sportsmanlike gesture," Busch's crew chief Alan Gustafson said. "It says a lot about Dale and the kind of person he is."

What's goes around, comes around.

And soon after Kyle Busch decided to part company with Hendrick in 2008, knowing that he might be able to step out of Gordon's and Johnson's shadow as the number one driver somewhere.

In the end, it was all good for everyone. The next burning questions are, will Theresa Earnhardt release the #8 to Junior, and will Budweiser sponsor Earnhardt again at Hendrick?

According to insiders, it's unlikely that Junior will race the #8 car next year. The Budweiser sponsorship is in jeopardy as well. Perhaps Pepsi might want to have a full-time presence in the Nextel... Sprint Cup.

JEFF GORDON A friend or a foe? - Photo by: K. Ma/NYAR

So who's gonna be Jay-Z's driver?

Of course, Earnhardt will need to compete with Gordon and Johnson just like Busch did. Though, NASCAR is no F1 so they will race individually, and Earnhardt is Earnhardt it should be a fair game for everyone, perhaps fourth driver Mears is the exception.

"They are going to race each other," team owner Rick Hendrick said during Earnhardt's press conference. "We've seen it with our cars this year with Jimmie and Jeff at Martinsville. When you have multi-car teams, my job is to get the best talent out there. I want to protect the brand and protect Junior's image. Once it gets on the race track, it's everybody for themselves."

It is a win-win situation for Junior, who wants to create his own legacy instead of changing what his dad had. And perhaps lay down the ground work for his own team JR Motorsports.

So, Gordon is going to be Earnhardt's teammate. It'd be interesting to see if Earnhardt fans throw Budweiser (or Pepsi) cans at Gordon after his race victories.