[TomSportsHack]

The sad thing was that it may have been as simple as a few races back when Junior took the #5 for some makeup laps after Busch had left the track "not knowing the condition of his wrecked car".

Do you think Kyle Busch winds up in the #8 now? I don't see it. Kyle may end up with his brother at Penske since they are rumored to by fielding another car next year with Mobile 1 as their sponsor. Truex Jr. becomes the top driver there now and Paul Menard takes up Juniors space, while no one drives the #8. Like you said, that team is way behind.

Is this a good move for Junior though considering how loyal fans are and how most Junior fans hate Hendricks and Gordon/Johnson? Will Junior be labeled a sellout?

One wonders if that was a test drive from Junior's point of view.

Not sure where Kyle ends up. I'd say the 8 crew hates Kyle, but that's not a stretch --- nearly everybody in the garage area (other than Kurt and ... uhhhh ... I'll think of somebody else eventually) can't stand Baby Busch.

Junior would be better off leaving Tony Eury Jr. behind, but given the bad blood currently running between the Eurys and DEI management I just don't know what will happen there. I do think Alan Gustafson is a better race-day crew chief than Tony Jr.

Anybody who labels Junior a sell-out needs to look at the business history between Dale Sr. and Jeff Gordon. Off-track, the relationship was quite cordial --- they formed the motorsports apparel brand Chase Authentics together and had other mutual business interests.