The driver with the huge fan base is joining the team with the crowded trophy case. Together, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Hendrick Motorsports are creating a power that will dominate all aspects of NASCAR for the next five to seven years.

Nobody in the sport is more popular than Earnhardt. No driver has greater crossover appeal to a mainstream audience. Earnhardt is the face of NASCAR, even if that face hasn’t shown up in Victory Lane lately.

Meanwhile, no team in Nextel Cup racing is having greater success than Hendrick Motorsports. Hendrick drivers have won 10 of the 14 races this season and six of the past 12 series championships, including Jimmie Johnson last year. The organization is home to four-time champ (and current points leader) Jeff Gordon, who recently passed the revered Dale Earnhardt Sr. on NASCAR’s all-time victory list.

This is like the pairing of the head cheerleader with the star athlete. Miss Popular and Mr. BMOC. Separately, they are forces to be reckoned with, each in a different way. Together, they are nearly unstoppable.

Until they inevitably come to hate each other and break up, that is.

When lights this bright shine so closely together, something eventually burns out. But it will probably be awhile before that happens in this case.

Gordon is about to turn 36, and he is having one of the best seasons of his stellar career. Johnson, 31, and Earnhardt, 32, both are entering their prime years as drivers. This will be NASCAR’s version of the ’27 Yankees. A Murderer’s Row of racers capable of winning anytime, anywhere.

Don’t believe the hype? Well, consider that in 2004, Gordon, Johnson and Earnhardt combined to win more than half the Nextel Cup races that season (19 of 36). Or that every member of the trio has finished in the top-six of the point standings three of the past four years. Or that they each won the Daytona 500 in consecutive years from 2004 to 2006.

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If team owner Rick Hendrick could somehow add Tony Stewart to his stable, he would arguably have the four best (and possibly most popular) drivers of the 21^st century. As it is, three out of four is not bad.

Even though Earnhardt has struggled recently, his fan appeal has never waned. Money and sponsors will follow him wherever he goes. What he needs now is for his on-track performance to justify the off-track attention.

Enter Hendrick, who has the money and personnel and massive organization to turn Earnhardt into a champion. And if you think Earnhardt is popular now, imagine what would happen if he actually became the Nextel Cup champ. The sponsorship offers would come pouring in, which, in turn, would mean more money for Hendrick.

So Earnhardt gets better, the team gets stronger, and everybody gets richer. Including NASCAR.

Such an arrangement actually could be good for Nextel Cup racing. Sports needs its bullies, the teams that often are the biggest and baddest. Think Yankees, Lakers and Cowboys.

Those teams have a loyal legion of fans, and an equal number of haters. So whenever they are having good seasons, overall interest in the sport increases. When they’re not, America yawns through the Spurs vs. Cavs.

The new-and-improved Hendrick Motorsports can reach that level. They would be viewed as the race team with all the money and all the stars and, to some, an unfair competitive advantage. Half the fans would cheer for Earnhardt, Gordon or Johnson. The other half would become ABHers (Anybody But Hendrick).

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