Hendrick Offers To Purchase Number 8
By Jim
@jayperiod (870)
United States
June 23, 2007 4:42pm CST
Rick Hendrick made it official this weekend. He has contacted DEI to let them know he wants to buy the number 8 for Dale. Now comes the negotiation process.
It's obvious that everyone on planet Earth wants Junior to stay in the number 8. Teresa would be a fool to keep the number, from a PR standpoint. But, how much can she get for it?
Also, with Junior's announcement that he's singed a long-term deal with Sony, how far can it be away that they announce Bud for the sponsor of his car at HMS?
3 responses
@bgreen8 (266)
• United States
29 Jun 07
I read that Hendrick will not be able to buy the number 8 for Dale Jr. NASCAR owns the numbers and licenses them to the teams. Here is the article: http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/6960276
It really sucks that he can't keep the number 8, but I think it will be good to see a change. After all, the number doesn't get the wins...it's the driver that gets the wins.
@jayperiod (870)
• United States
1 Jul 07
Keep in mind that NASCAR can do what NASCAR wants to do. And, NASCAR will do what's in the best interest of NASCAR. If that means letting the most popular driver keep his number, they may just let something be worked out.
Example:
If a team changes the number on it's car, they loose the old number. NASCAR is letting RCR keep the number three until they want to use it again. Effectively, they have retired the number three. NASCAR doesn't retire numbers.
Again, they'll do what they want to do. At this point, they are just letting the parties involved know not to get carried away.
@bgreen8 (266)
• United States
1 Jul 07
Wow, thanks for the long explaination. I know that NASCAR will do what they want, when they want, to whoever they want. I was just posting the article link to back up what you had stated. Thanks again and keep up the awesome work of keeping everyone informed of NASCAR's latest news.
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
23 Jun 07
I had not heard about this yet...very interesting.
From a PR standpoint I agree that Teresa would be a fool to keep the number BUT can she afford to give it up easily? If she was willing to give Junior such a hard time during their negotiations I wouldn't put it past her to make it really hard on Hendrick to buy the number 8.
As for Bud, I think it's really only a formality. I can't imagine them giving up Junior just because he's switched teams, especially since he's going to a better one. The announcement will come, it's just a matter of protecting their interests with DEI AND Junior for the time being.
1 person likes this
@jayperiod (870)
• United States
23 Jun 07
It's my understanding that their (Bud) agreement is with Junior, not necessarily DEI. It may be with both, but either way, they have some sort of agreement with Junior for next year. It may just be endorsement.
I think the real problem with Bud moving to HMS is what will Rick do with his sponsors there? He has a long term agreement with all his sponsors. I ultimately believe a swap will occur between DEI and HMS on sponsors. Especially since DEI is the leading contender for Kyle Busch.
@bda_rock (135)
• Bermuda
24 Jun 07
I didn't think a number made the man... Teresa will probably put a good price tag on it, but how much do you think HMS will pay??? I say that he should take the number 5, and in a year you will forget that he had the number 8 on his door...
