- NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick has reassigned three of his drivers.
- Only the Jimmie Johnson-Chad Knaus combo will remain in place in 2011.
- Johnson was the only Hendrick driver to win a Sprint Cup Series race in 2010.
CONCORD, North Carolina — One of his teams is the most dominant in NASCAR history, but for Rick Hendrick, the performance of the rest of his four-car Sprint Cup Series entry is not up to par. So, practically before the celebration for Jimmie Johnson's record-extending fifth straight Cup Series title was underway, a massive overhaul for the rest of the Hendrick operation was in the works.
The combo of Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus will remain intact, but even that No. 48 Chevrolet got a minor makeover late in the season, with its over-the-wall pit crew being replaced by the men from Jeff Gordon's No. 24 in the middle of the 34th race of the 36-race season.
Also, the 48 will have a new "roommate" in the shop it previously shared with the 24. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and his No. 88 will take up residence in that building, with Gordon's former crew, led by Steve Letarte, preparing the cars Earnhardt will drive.
Meanwhile, in the other building on the Hendrick complex, Gordon will align with the squad led by Alan Gustafson, who previously prepped the No. 5 cars of Mark Martin. Martin switches to the crew that tended Earnhardt, Jr.'s cars last season, with Lance McGrew as the crew chief.
Earnhardt suffered through his second consecutive winless season. He has only one victory in 2008, since joining the Hendrick team. Martin, after scoring five wins last year, also went winless in 2010.
Gordon made the 12-driver Chase for the Cup playoff, but the four-time champion has won only one race in the past three seasons. He last visited victory lane on April 5, 2009, at Texas Motor Speedway.
It was at that track on November 7 that Gordon's pit crew, after the 24 was knocked out of the race by a crash, was sent to Johnson's pit, where they replaced the No. 48 team members. After that race, Hendrick called a meeting of his organization, and the makeover of the four teams began to take shape.
The changes were announced last week.
Inside Line says: Johnson's singular domination of NASCAR racing has created a dilemma for the competition, for NASCAR and even for Hendrick Motorsports itself. — David Green, Correspondent
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