Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR's most popular driver, has joined the circuit's most successful race team. Little E made it official today - he's joining Hendrick Motorsports. Earnhardt Jr's announcement today has many ramifications, on and off the track.

Hendrick Motorsports has won 10 of14 NASCAR races this season. Earnhardt Jr. will join 2007 points leader Jeff Gordon, 2006 Nextel Champ Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears to form a "Dream Team" lineup. You've got to think that Hendrick Motorsports will have a legitimate chance to win EVERY race with the stable of drivers they've assembled.

Dale Jr. has spoken of wanting to win championships and leave a legacy. By joining Hendrick Motorsports, who by many people's assessment have equipment far superior to what he raced with for DEI, he'll have an opportunity to win.

What now? Will Dale Jr. still drive the #8 car? Likely not, but he'll see if he can work out some arrangement with DEI to buy the number from them. Will Budweiser follow him to Hendrick as the main sponsor on his car? That answer will come in the weeks ahead. Hendrick Motorsports does have a history with Budweiser as a sponsor in the 1990s with Ricky Craven and Wally Dallenbach Jr. though.

In a related development, Kyle Busch has been released from his contract with Hendrick clearing the way for Junior's arrival. Speculation has Busch possibly signing on with DEI in an unprecedented swap of drivers (Earnhardt Jr. for Busch).

As I wrote yesterday, the effect of Earnhardt Jr.'s signing with Hendrick Motorsports will have an enormous impact on the sales of his merchandise - old and new. There are also multi-million dollar decisions to be made - like who will sponsor Junior's car?

The bottom line though is that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in a much better position to win races today by signing with Hendrick Motorsports than he was when the season started and found himself wondering about his future with DEI. Chances are he'll win a lot more races with Hendrick and that will equate to even more money and potential sponsorship opportunities for Hendrick and for Little E personally.