Tuesday, January 15, 2008 10:02 AM EST

For the past few years I have wondered whether or not Dale Earnhardt Jr. would ever win a Sprint Cup.

Before his father died, I would have said yes to that question because I know he would have had the best equipment possible.

Since that time, I think Dale Earnhardt Inc. has tried to nickle and dime their way through the series and win whatever they could with as little as they could.

Now I am not going to sit here and bash Teresa, but let's be honest, DEI has been anything but competitive over the last couple of seasons.

Since we are being honest, we all know had DEI been putting its best efforts on the track, Junior probably wouldn't have left.

That being said, it is time for Dale Jr. to put up or shut up!

There will be no equipment issues at Hendrick Motorsports.

He will have the best equipment available and the company will do whatever it takes to give him a chance to win week in and week out.

Now it all comes down to driving.

Can Dale Jr. drive his way to a championship?

I would like to think that he can.

We have seen him win races with equipment that quite frankly wasn't as good as others had.

As the years have gone by, Junior has begun to learn what it takes to drive an ill-handling race car to the front of the field.

In the early stages of his career he would only win when the car unloaded fast off the hauler and was better than everyone elses'.

The pressure to be just like his father may have hurt his chances to win a title a couple of times in the recent past.

He seems to be shaking that off and the move away from DEI to Hendrick was another step toward getting out from under that shadow.

It will never completely be gone, but a new team, a new sponsor and a new number will make it a little bit easier to produce.

His biggest concern now is how does he beat teammates Jeff Gordon, a four-time champion and Jimmie Johnson, the two-time defending champion.

At least we know that he will be on a level playing field with Gordon and Johnson this season, not to mention the rest of the Sprint Cup field.

We will finally get to see just how much talent Dale Earnhardt Jr. really has behind the wheel.

We will finally get to see if he can live up to the Earnhardt name.

There will be no more excuses to be made about motors and equipment.

The cars he will drive in 2008 and beyond will have a legitimate shot at winning each race.

Now it will all come down to the driver behind the wheel and his crew.

I can't wait to see what happens this season.

Let's get those motors running and hit the high banks of Daytona.

Scott Novak is sports Editor of Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com