Posted on 5/23/2007 7:36:37 PM

NASCAR Betting Odds - Whither Earnhardt Junior

By Joe-John Marley

Finally, a little drama.

The 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season belongs to Hendrick Motorsports. They’ve won eight of 11 races this season, sweeping all five in the Car of Tomorrow, to put a vise-like grip on the futures market. Once again, Hendrick drivers sit atop the odds list for this Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Jimmie Johnson is +230, followed by Jeff Gordon at +365.

Seeing as Johnson and Gordon have split seven victories between them, taking the last four checkered flags on the Cup circuit, it might be tempting to lay a unit on each driver and wait for someone to collect. But where’s the fun in that? The domination of Team Hendrick has been so absolute, the races themselves have become an afterthought.

The real story in NASCAR, as usual, is Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Junior announced earlier this month that he would leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of the season. It was a bombshell. Earlier speculation had him patching things up with his stepmother and team owner Teresa Earnhardt, and gaining majority control over the company his father founded. Instead, Junior will become what some are calling the most sought-after free agent in all of sports.

 

There’s nothing like a little palace intrigue to spice up the betting marketplace. Where will Junior go? There’s a prop for that. The favorite is Richard Childress Racing at –120; the team Junior himself owns, JR Motorsports, is pegged at +600, with everyone else packaged as the field at +350.

RCR is the destination getting the most hype in the press, but last week, they cut a deal with DEI to merge their engine programs. It’s entirely possible Junior will want to stay away from RCR now that they have ties with Teresa. As for driving with his own team, JR Motorsports is a small fish in the NASCAR pond; Earnhardt would have to pour in a lot of dollars to get this team into championship contention.

We do know that Junior wants to stay with Chevrolet, a wise move that also sharply narrows the number of possible destinations. Which brings us back to Hendrick.

With visions of a Dream Team dancing in their heads, NASCAR junkies are clamoring for Rick Hendrick to sign Earnhardt. The team patriarch responded by telling reporters there is no room at the inn for Junior. That’s not necessarily true. Hendrick has the maximum four Cup drivers under contract for 2008, but could easily shift the underperforming Casey Mears to a spot on Ginn Racing (formerly MB2), which uses Hendrick engines.

There are other twists and turns in this saga involving Budweiser sponsorship and the fate of the valuable No. 8 – and the No. 3, for that matter.

When you do your research for this prop, don’t forget to follow the money.

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