The National Guard will end its NASCAR sponsorship of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team and driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. following the 2014 season, according to a statement posted on the organization's website. The move is part of an overall budget cutback of the Guard's sports sponsorship program, which also includes funding for IndyCar driver Graham Rahal. Earnhardt Jr. has carried National Guard sponsorship since moving to Hendrick Motorsports in 2008. "Significantly constrained resources and the likelihood of further reductions in the future call for more innovative and cost-effective ways of doing business," Maj. Gen. Judd H. Lyons, acting director of the Army National Guard, said in the statement. More...