Eury Jr. to Hendrick After 'Dega; Junior Too?

Now that we've got all of the -- um -- important details out the way, the focus of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s voyage to Hendrick Motorsports has reached a point that matters.

The competitive side. You know -- the side that Dale Earnhardt Jr. actually left Dale Earnhardt Inc. in favor of Hendrick for in the first place?

First off, Earnhardt's current and future crew chief at Hendrick Tony Eury Jr. will be released from his duties at DEI. following the Oct. 7 race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Eury, who has been Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car or crew chief for all but one season since the two broke into the Nextel Cup Series in 2000, will step down after the Oct. 7 race at Talladega Superspeedway.

He will be allowed to take four members of Earnhardt's No. 8 team with him under a deal made by DEI when it agreed to free him contractually to join Earnhardt at HMS in 2008.

According to the article, only one team member has told DEI that they will departing with Eury Jr.

The jump for Eury Jr. will work out nicely as he'll not only get a head start at Hendrick, but Earnhardt Jr. may be in a Hendrick ride following the last October race in Atlanta.

NASCAR has scheduled a Car of Tomorrow test at the track for the following Monday:

The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday that Rick Hendrick is considering asking car owners involved in the forthcoming driver changes to agree to a plan that would let Earnhardt Jr. test in a Hendrick car of tomorrow at Atlanta Motor Speedway next month.

The idea would be for Earnhardt Jr. to test for Hendrick, Kyle Busch to test for Joe Gibbs Racing, J.J. Yeley to test for Hall of Fame Racing and Regan Smith to test in the Dale Earnhardt Jr. car he'll be driving next year.

While the deal does sound pretty fair all around, it seems there might be too many eggs in the basket for it to completely work right.

Don't ya just love silly season?