In order to have a successful team, one must have a good owner.  One that can provide the chance to win races and championships.  For Rick Hendrick, that is his creed.

After winning four championships between 1995 and 1998, he was the most dominant team owner this past decade, winning five of the ten championships handed out.  Now, as the next decade is set to begin, he is looking to again etch his name in the NASCAR history books by going for another Sprint Cup.

Let’s look at the stable that Hendrick will bring in for the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

JIMMIE JOHNSON

What hasn’t been said about this man?  He and the entire No. 48 team are on a level that few drivers could only imagine reaching.  He has never finished below fifth in the point standings.  He nearly won the title in his rookie season.  Now, he is the four-time reigning champion.

But it is not just the titles that make him an elite driver.  He has won the major races in the sport.  He has a Daytona 500 trophy and won the Coca-Cola 600 three straight years.  There are very few drivers that can say they have those trophies in their case.

Coming into 2010, the bulls eye is even bigger on Johnson.  Some fans hate the fact that he is the champion again, and he knows that.  But, little by little, his fan base has grown and there are more people in the stands hoping to see his car take the victory.  Johnson once again will have a strong year.  If he does not win an incredible fifth-straight title, you can be sure he will be right there in the thick of the battle.

JEFF GORDON

It definitely appears as if the teacher is now following the student because the last four seasons, Jeff Gordon has been the guy chasing Johnson in the Hendrick organization.  He has four titles himself, but his last came in 2001.  Since then, he has been overshadowed by the man he brought into the fold of Sprint Cup racing.

That’s not to say his stats have been bad.  He has 24 victories since Johnson has joined the team, but since Johnson’s four straight titles, Gordon has only two multi-win seasons.

The 2009 season was a strong rebound from a team that went winless in 2008.  They started completely fresh at the beginning of the year with a new look and new attitude.  That jump-started a tremendous season for the No. 24 DuPont team.  Gordon ended his winless streak with a victory at, of all places, Texas.  He led the points for part of the season and eventually finished third, making the Chase for the fourth-straight year.

It is expected that this team will be right back in the hunt for the title.  The “Drive For Five” will be back on in 2010.

MARK MARTIN

This was definitely the feel-good driver of last season.  No matter what driver the fans cheered for, they all loved seeing Mark Martin running up front and contending for both wins and the championship.  As the season continued, more people began rooting for the No. 5.

Mark Martin had a season he could only dream of.  Five victories, finishes second in the points, and it was his first full-time season in two years.  Martin felt like a reborn driver in the Hendrick field.  He had not seen success like that since his final season at Roush in 2006.

Martin will return to the fold in 2010, this time with a new sponsor, GoDaddy.com, but with the same crew he nearly won the title with.  Crew chief Alan Gustafson once again will make the calls on the pit box and it will be guaranteed that both Johnson and Gordon will be looking at their senior teammate.

Martin may be turning 51 next year, but he doesn’t drive like his age.  If anyone has the opportunity to knock Johnson from the championship stranglehold he currently has, it is Martin.

DALE EARNHARDT JR.

And then there’s the No. 88.  The three drivers previously mentioned swept the Chase standings, finishing 1-2-3.  Then, the Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet of NASCAR’s most-popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr, finishes a lowly 25th.  Why such a difference?

It’s easy, if it could happen it did.  Driver errors, crew errors, accidents, engines, transmissions, fuel mileage, bad calls, and so much more.  The season was a disaster for this team.

Since making the move from the family team to the NASCAR powerhouse, Earnhardt has not exactly boosted his resume and statistics.  In two years, he only has one victory, excluding his wins in the Bud Shootout and Gatorade Dual last season.  That’s not to say his move was a blunder or bust, but he has not produced the big numbers that were expected when he left his father’s race team.

However, the entire team did look more consistent at the end of the season, running better and had a lot more confidence.  Things outside their control kept them from good finishes, but it could be seen the No. 88 was making strides.

The 2010 season will be critical for this entire team.  They not only need a to rebound for the nation of fans that follow them, but also for themselves.  Expectations are high, not only by media outlets and the bosses, but by every crew member that wears the colors of Amp Energy and the National Guard.

This entire team is loaded with the best talent in NASCAR.  They are and have been the best team in the sport.  In order for anyone to win the 2010 championship, they must dethrone the dominant Hendrick organization.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at 4:15 pm and is filed under Most Recommended, News Headlines, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.