Hmmm, when does the four car per team limit go into effect? What does Jr. joining HMS mean for the current four drivers? Will this mean an early end to Casey Mears' employment at Hendrick; will he be the odd man out?

Or, possibly, since DiaperBoy owns part of the 48 team (with Hendrick's wife?) do they just spin that off as a solo operation to make room for Jr.?

I'm actually sort of surprised Jr. didn't go with RCR. Of course, it might be a need to separate himself a bit from his Dad's legacy.

"Hendricks has won 10 of the 15 events held so far this year and I don't think it's good for the sport to make them even more powerful than they are today."

First, no one "made" them more powerful. They will become a stronger team (presumably) because Jr. elected to join Hendrick, and Hendrick was willing to offer Jr. what he wanted.

But yeah, you're right. Congress should swing into action and have hearings on this issue. After all, it's "just not fair" that the rich are getting richer, and the poor just staying poor. Maybe legislation to force Jr. to join Mikey's struggling Toyota operation. Yeah, that's the ticket.

John, I was hoping we could get away from politics for a little while but maybe that's just not possible on a political forum such as this.

Hendrick will be stronger for the addition of Junior, and all I'm saying is that the interest in any form of sport, and especially motorsport is the belief among the viewers that anybody can win on any given Sunday. Hendrick will have three of the top four drivers in the game -- excluding only Tony Stewart -- which will make things a lot tougher on the other cars, discouraging sponsor involvement and interest from the Ford, Dodge and Toyota fans.

Whether you call it planned mediocrity or just competitiveness, NASCAR has always sought to deliver an exciting product to it's viewers and I believe this to be a step in the wrong direction if that is still their goal.

So please dispense with the sarcastic remarks. I'm just an ordinary racing fan who wants a good race, not a procession.

I'm sorry. It wasn't meant to be sarcastic. It was meant to be ridicule.

I don't have enough information about it, but apparently there is a $1 million dollar sponsorship deal for a Nascar team that comes from the budget of Homeland Security and Border Patrol instead of buying trucks or other needed equipment to protect the borders. Anyone here know more about this?

I don't know about $1 million dollars for a NASCAR sponsorship from DHS. I will say I'm sure they have to recruit people for some positions withing DHS, so it may come from that budget - much like the services have to recruit and have budgets for that. Just like the CIA and FBI have to recruit and have budgets for that purpose.

However, last night I was reading a blog post at RedState about the budget and earmarking process and found these items quite disturbing:

Waste, Fraud, and Abuse (up to 41 amendments)

32) Prohibit FEMA funding for dance classes. (up to 4 times)

33) Prohibit FEMA funding for puppet shows. (up to 4 times)

34) Prohibit FEMA funding for bingo games. (up to 4 times)

35) Prohibit FEMA funding for yoga classes. (up to 4 times)

36) Prohibit FEMA funding for art classes. (up to 4 times)

37) Prohibit FEMA funding for theater workshops. (up to 4 times)

38) Prohibit DHS funding for the office of Multimedia

39) Prohibit DHS funding for purchasing Louis Vuitton handbags

40) Prohibit DHS funding to pay parking tickets

41) Prohibit DHS funding to purchase jewelry

42) Prohibit DHS funding to pay bail bonds

43) Prohibit DHS funding to send more than 50 employees to conferences outside the U.S.

44) Prohibit DHS funding to pay for adult entertainment

Now, what do any of those things have to do with DHS/FEMA? And how on earth did they ever get in there to begin with?