However, on Sunday’s airing of “The LTN Hour” radio show, I offered up a few suggestions for what happens now in this saga. Keep in mind that these are only predictions. Nothing has been set in stone.

First, let’s leave Dale Earnhardt, Jr. alone. What I find more interesting is what will happen to DEI now that their driver is gone. Personally, I would say that next year you will see Greg Biffle in the number 8 car at DEI. Roush Racing needs to cut one of their teams anyway, and they’ve had sponsorship trouble for Biffle’s car. It makes the most sense to cut ties with Biffle and send him to DEI where he’d be the marquee driver over there. There is no doubt that he would go back to his winning ways and maybe even win a championship for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Biffle seems to have lost a step or two, and I think it is because he is no longer the number one guy at Roush Racing. When he was in the Craftsman Truck Series, Biffle dominated, winning races and a championship. He then moved up to the Busch Series. By this time, he was still the hot commodity at Roush in the Busch Series, and again he won races and a championship. When he made the move to Winston Cup racing in 2003, there were two drivers at the top of Roush’s list: Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin. In fact, in Biffle’s rookie year, Kenseth won the Winston Cup Championship.

With Mark Martin being gone, Biffle still isn’t the top driver at Roush Racing. That spot belongs to Matt Kenseth. With a move over to DEI, I think Biffle would be happier at a team that would build around him and his needs as a driver, and there is no doubt that Greg Biffle would find his way back to Victory Lane.

That brings the question in as to where Dale Jr. will end up. He most likely will not end up at Gibbs. This was also a topic of interest on the show Sunday, because Joe Gibbs is a religious fanatic. At JGR, they have organized prayer lists; there is even a guy set aside to pray specifically for shock absorbers. No way on God’s green Earth would Joe Gibbs allow an alcohol sponsor onto his team, and no way would Budweiser part ways with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. I know all you Stewart and Hamlin and Yeley fans out there want to see Junior come to Gibbs Racing, but it just can’t happen without money or integrity being lost.

I would say that if Bobby Ginn can’t sign Dale, Jr. to his team, then Ginn Racing would be smart to merge with DEI. Bobby Ginn has a lot of money, and some say that a merger won’t happen either. But, Ginn didn’t get his money by poor decisions. He knows that as much money he has now, that it would be guaranteed to double with the Earnhardt name connected to his. What I don’t understand is how anyone can figure Ginn Racing to be a “top team”. Folks, they have one decent driver signed to a part-time ride, that being Mark Martin. Other than that, they have a kid who has yet to prove himself, they have a has-been in the 14 car, and a never-was in the 13 car. What a strong team! Maybe the “G” in Ginn stands for “Geriatric”. By the way, speaking of the 14 car, it is good to see Kenny Wallace qualified in the top ten for Darlington!