Rick Hendrick Motorsports shocked the press this morning when they announced that they have fired Dale Earnhardt Junior and signed Oprah Winfrey to drive the Amp Energy  #88 car in 2010.

This comes as a shock to Junior Nation and the timing is certainly suspect.  Team Hendrick will win a Nascar Championship this weekend in Homestead – with either Jimmie Johnson or Mark Martin bringing home the trophy.   So why would they make this announcement now?

Yesterday housewives all over America cried into their Snuggies as Oprah announced she was leaving her syndicated TV Show for new opportunities.  Rumors were starting to fly in the garage and Hendrick wanted to stay in front of the story.

Winfrey said she is excited for this new challenge.  “While I have not driven a car in over twenty years – there are many days that I will lower the divider in the limo and just watch what my chauffeur is doing;  you know – how he works those pedals and stuff.”

When asked why he would make such a bold decision Rick Hendrick said it was no different than any other decision he makes as a team owner.  “The bottom line is that it comes down to winning – and I honestly feel that Oprah has a better shot at making the Chase next year than Dale.   We had to spend a lot to get out of his contract, but next year when I have all 4 of my cars in the Chase it will have been money well spent.”

Announcements about Crew Chiefs will be made next week  but all indications are that Tony Eury Jr will be returning to the top of the #88 pit box.

We tried to reach out to Dale Jr’s camp and our calls were not returned.   But since we made all this up – why would they?