FanHouse Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Rick Hendrick has given his driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Earnhardt's crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., a strong vote of confidence amidst speculation that the cousin tandem should split up after a disappointing start to the season.

"What I want to say is that I am 100 percent behind this group and I have no intentions of making any changes,'' Hendrick said Wednesday during a conference call with the national racing media. "Tony Junior is our guy.''

Dale Earnhardt Jr. may have lost what was his best remaining chance at a Nextel Cup race victory Sunday after blowing his engine with 52 laps to go in the UAW-Ford 500.

But his teammate Martin Truex Jr. and engine program partner Jeff Burton might have lost so much more.

The Dale Earnhardt Inc.-Richard Childress Racing engine partnership had seven cars on track Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway and only two of them finished under full power. Three of them actually finished.

Burton lost his motor off of turn four on lap 92 and 21 laps later Truex blew his coming into the tri-oval.

Burton knows that he can pretty much stick a fork in his title chances.

"Obviously, this about wraps it up for us for the championship. We will keep fighting," Burton said. "We will go next week and strap our boots on and go fight and see what we can make out of it."

Truex now finds himself 300 points out of first in tenth while Burton sits further back -- in 12th with a 331 point deficit.

Kevin Harvick also started engine trouble late in the event. With 44 laps to go, Harvick was sitting on pit road with the hood up, but his crew could do nothing to fixed what ailed his Chevrolet engine. He would finish on seven cylinders in 20th place, some 202 points behind race-winner and point leader Jeff Gordon.

New DEI'er Aric Almirola also finished with a DNF because of his engine.

Only Clint Bowyer and Paul Menard would finish without a hitch in the engine.

The Hendrick Motorsports public relations staff wasted no time Tuesday morning. Could it be because they had Monday off for Labor Day?

Regardless of the reason, Hendrick announced two important pieces to the Dale Earnhardt Jr. puzzle.

First, crew chief Tony Eury Jr. will follow his driver and cousin Dale Earnhardt Jr. from Dale Earnhardt Inc. to Hendrick in 2008 after signing a multi-year deal. And then, Hendrick ended a minor part of the rumors for Dale Jr.'s number next year by naming Casey Mears to the No. 5 Kelloggs Chevrolet, replacing a departing Kyle Busch.

Mears has campaigned the No. 25 for Hendrick in 2007 with moderate success, including a win and a pole.

While Dale Jr. sponsor rumors continue to swirl (and irritate The Charlotte Observer's David Poole), the puzzle seems to be slowing taking shape. According to Junior, all of the major details of his Hendrick Chevy for 2008 have been essentially stamped out, but the team is waiting to announce them for about another month.

It was also interesting to note that Alan Gustafson, Kyle Busch's current crew chief, will assume that role for Mears in 2008, landing Darian Grubb (current No. 25 crew chief) away from the top of a pit box at Hendrick. He will be an "at-track engineer" that will help coordinate the Mears and Earnhardt Jr. programs.

That's kind of like a promotion, right?

Today alone, Teresa Earnhardt has been classified everything from an evil stepmother to that name for a female dog for letting Dale Earnhardt Jr. jump ship and set himself as a free agent.

Could this look like the dumbest thing any NASCAR owner has ever done? To many, yes. But I'll be that guy -- I'll play the devil's advocate. Get the skewers hot, folks.

Teresa Earnhardt was right in letting her demands cause Dale Earnhardt Jr. to move away from Dale Earnhardt Inc.

So who in their right mind would let NASCAR's most popular driver just waltz away? Not many, actually. But Teresa Earnhardt did, and it could turn out OK for what many fans will now consider TEI. Here's why Teresa could have made a decent move:

1) Free Ownership? One of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s key demands was that he get 51% ownership of the company that his father built. And that majority ownership was somehow supposed to be free to him and his sister. Could someone really let what many estimated to be $55 million to $75 million just be given away?

Teresa Earnhardt is sole owner of the company, and it's not a charity. After all, Jack Roush didn't just give half of his racing operation to Fenway. It was a business deal, and that's the way it should have gone down at DEI.

Follow Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s press conference with live blogging updates here at the NASCAR FanHouse. For those just tuning in:

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not drive for DEI in 2008. He is now a free agent.

And Dale Earnhardt Jr. thought he was the most important negotiation that DEI had on its plate.

Lee Spencer would like to beg to differ:

Robert Yates confirmed on Saturday that talks have resumed between Robert Yates Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc. The topic of discussion: The possible sale of RYR to DEI.

This is quite an interesting story on many fronts. Not only is the Dale Jr. contract such a hot-button issue in NASCAR right now, but you also have to look at it from a Ford and Chevrolet standpoint. Remember, the Yates organization currently works with Roush Fenway Racing in the engine department to produce Roush-Yates Ford engines. Robert Yates has long been a Ford guy, and Jack Roush will likely be buried in a Ford Mustang.

[Richie] Gilmore said Chevrolet has already submitted a new offer to DEI, and the company is willing to listen to offers. John Story, a DEI manager, said that three of the four manufacturers have made offers to the company.

Note: Richie Gilmore is the VP of Competition at DEI