"I had no plans for this year, so I'd probably be sitting on the couch right now if this deal with NAPA did not come together. First, NAPA announced it would cease its sponsorship with Michael Waltrip Racing in the fallout of a race manipulation scandal at Richmond. It just so happened that the Earnhardts have deep ties with NAPA, and it just so happened that Dale Earnhardt Jr., who drives for Rick Hendrick, co-owns a Nationwide Series team -- and it just so happens that Elliott is a Hendrick developmental driver … get the picture? "I'm sure that we were one of probably 30 teams that sent a note to (NAPA) after what they experienced (at Richmond) as they were looking at what they were going to do in the sport," team co-owner Kelley Earnhardt Miller said before the season started. More...