Jayski is reporting via ESPN.com, Hendrick Motorsports is working on contract extension for NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Team owner Rick Hendrick confirmed the talks.
Earnhardt Jr just completed the third year in a five-year deal that runs through the 2012 Sprint Cup season. Hendrick was quoted as saying:
We’re looking at extending [the contract]. I really like him. I think the world of him. I know he can do it. We just have to get the right combination in, and I think we’re going to have it. I hope we get to race together until he retires … until I retire. I’ll retire first.
Earnhardt Jr said:
The only person that can truly help me get where I need to go starts with me, then it goes to Rick, Steve [Letarte] and those guys in your inner circle every week and in your corner every week. My biggest problem, I think, is my confidence.
The news of contract talks comes after HMS announced that Earnhardt Jr will be paired with crew chief Steve Letarte next season. In a three-crew-chief swap, Earnhardt Jr gets Letarte from Jeff Gordon; Gordon gets Alan Gustafson from Mark Martin; and Martin gets Lance McGrew from Earnhardt Jr.
As part of the restructuring, the No. 88 team will move to the shop with the five-time championship team of Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus. Gordon will move to the shop with Martin.
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[...] Dale Earnhardt Jr with Hendrick Motorsports for the next three to five years. This deal has been in the works for six months. Hendrick, however, doesn’t know when an announcement will be made. Earnhardt Jr is said [...]