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The reason Owens gives is performance. Last year at this time, Junior was 14th in points. This year, he's 11th. Wins (1 last year vs. 1 this year), top 5s (5 vs. 6) and top 10s (8 vs. 8) are about the same. So, too, is average finish (18th vs. 15.2).

What Owens misses - and why I haven't panicked yet - is that Junior has become the king of the 12th-place finish. In 20 races this season, Junior has 14 top 15 finishes (vs. 11 at this point last year). Of those, six finishes were between 11th and 15th (vs. three last year).

On top of that - sorry to be so stat geeky, but I'm on a roll - Junior only has three finishes of 30th or worse this season, and two of them came in the past two weeks. Last year, he had six in 20 races.

And: Junior's average finish of 15.2 is ninth among Cup regulars. (Boris Said and Paul Menard don't count.)

In other words, Junior has been nice and consistent. He usually runs toward the front (8 to 15 or so), and his good days have outweighed his bad. Yeah, DEI engines sometimes seem to be on par with the one Fred Flintstone had in his ride. And, no, this doesn't look like a championship team, at least not this season. (Maybe next?) But the 8 team's goal was to make the chase. If they can remember what they were doing in weeks 1-18, I think they're in.

But since Owens raises the question (and it's a good one), should Junior ever consider leaving the 8 and DEI? Is the grass really that greener in Childress Country? Could he be the guy to rebuild, say, Yates or Petty or some other down-on-its-luck team?