Earnhardt Jr. Will Leave DEI

springparrot · Post by **springparrot** » May 10, 2007 11:37 am

http://www.click2houston.com/sports/132 ... 0205102007

WOW

ToplessRideFL · Post by **ToplessRideFL** » May 10, 2007 11:41 am

and DEI will merge with someone else in the future I bet

OceanCityGirl · Post by **OceanCityGirl** » May 10, 2007 11:59 am

Wow. Having been a long-term fan of sr. and then jr. it's a sad day. I figured there'd be trouble if Theresa didn't go along with the request, and since she has young kids I figured she might not. Maybe his announcement will cause her to reconsider. I'm guessing the question to be asked should have been what would sr. want in this situation.

flipflopgirl · Post by **flipflopgirl** » May 10, 2007 12:00 pm

WOW!!!!!!!

Dezdmona · Post by **Dezdmona** » May 10, 2007 12:13 pm

Heard earlier this morning.

I've been following the story closely.
Teresa is a selfish *itch, IMHO

I bet Sr. is rolling over in his grave.

I have no doubt that he (Sr.) would have gifted shares of that Company to Jr. as part of his inheritance as he got older, but the wicked step-witch wanted Jr. to buy it outright as if he was any other random individual.

Even being willing to sell 51% of the shares to Jr. (as he demanded), she was unwilling to give up control of the Company (as a 51% shareholder of any company would have)....part of her contingency was that he would only be a Member of the Board, but that the Board would be able to override any decision he would make in spite of his majority ownership stake.

What a crock.

All she cares about is $ and her biological daughter, she doesn't seem to realize that Jr. is as much a cash cow as Sr. was...(while Sr. "licensing" will always make $, NASCAR moves on.)

He may not be able to take the Number 8 with him, but you can bet your 6-pack that Budweiser will follow him where ever he goes.
(Right now, I'm thinking Childress, could be Hendricks, but I doubt it.
I'm sure he'll keep building his own team, but don't think he'll go there just yet as a driver.)

phjrsaunt · Post by **phjrsaunt** » May 10, 2007 12:15 pm

I'm not even a NASCAR fan, but this story seems to have "drama" written all over it.

Dezdmona · Post by **Dezdmona** » May 10, 2007 12:24 pm

I feel really bad for Jr.

Dale, Sr. created this DEI partly as a vehicle for Jr.
I'm sure the decision to leave was heartwrenching.

Jr's comments from his press conference this morning can be found here:
http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlin ... index.html

"My father's vision ... if he was still here I think we would be in a different place right now."

OceanCityGirl · Post by **OceanCityGirl** » May 10, 2007 12:53 pm

Dezdmona wrote:Heard earlier this morning.

I've been following the story closely.
Teresa is a selfish *itch, IMHO

I bet Sr. is rolling over in his grave.

I have no doubt that he (Sr.) would have gifted shares of that Company to Jr. as part of his inheritance as he got older, but the wicked step-witch wanted Jr. to buy it outright as if he was any other random individual.

Even being willing to sell 51% of the shares to Jr. (as he demanded), she was unwilling to give up control of the Company (as a 51% shareholder of any company would have)....part of her contingency was that he would only be a Member of the Board, but that the Board would be able to override any decision he would make in spite of his majority ownership stake.

What a crock.

All she cares about is $ and her biological daughter, she doesn't seem to realize that Jr. is as much a cash cow as Sr. was...(while Sr. "licensing" will always make $, NASCAR moves on.)

He may not be able to take the Number 8 with him, but you can bet your 6-pack that Budweiser will follow him where ever he goes.
(Right now, I'm thinking Childress, could be Hendricks, but I doubt it.
I'm sure he'll keep building his own team, but don't think he'll go there just yet as a driver.)

Absolutely agree on this. I guess I was just being reluctant to say it. She lost her husband and wants to maintain some power. But given some of the crap she's allowed to license you can see the whole money thing. In the end it seems to come down to protecting everything for her kids while squeezing out the kids from the first marriage. In the end, no matter what her kids do they'll never be a Jr. with their dad's first and last name. You could see how proud sr. was of jr. and like other's have said, that's why DEI was formed.
I think although wrenching, the best thing for jr is to break free from the control he is under there. He will be able to negotiate some more control of his career and probably flourish. And without his name DEI will suffer. The fans will follow jr. for sure.

Dezdmona · Post by **Dezdmona** » May 10, 2007 1:13 pm

Thanks OCG...I didn't mean to come off so hard, but that woman really get's under my skin.

I know that Teresa has made some good decisions, and she helped Sr. a lot on the business side of racing.
She just doesn't understand "racing" or "family".

I have a step-child and I would never cut her out of my life or her inheritance from her father & me like this woman has.

Jr. said something about ...it may take 20 years for him to have the role in the Company that his father envisioned (when Teresa dies?)
...I have to wonder how it will shake out between ALL four of Dale's children; not just Dale, Jr. and Teresa's daughter (Taylor). (There's Kerry & Kelley, too)

PJ · Post by PJ » May 10, 2007 2:32 pm

I'm not completely surprised by this; honestly I was surprised he resigned a contract with DEI the last time around, because there wererumors then of Teresa selling the company to John Menard. To respond to one comment up above, Dale and Teresa's daughter Taylor isn't a kid anymore, she is 18 I believe, so Teresa isn't doing anything to save money for support of a younger child. She has always been about stricly business and cares more about the company bottom line than competition. Unfortunately as long as that is her mindset, DEI will be a 2nd tier race team.

Bud has already released a statement saying that they have an existing agreement with JR Motorsports (Junior's own personal company) that says Dale Jr will be a Bud representive - which I would take signals that Bud will go where Junior goes.

I hate that he loses the number 8 - I don't see DEI giving it up, and NASCAR won't just take it from them - because it was his grandfather's number and Sr's too for a while.

I'd love to see him end up with Childress or Gibbs. If he goes to RCR, I could see him driving maybe the 33 car there if Childress still has the rights to that car number. If he goes to Gibbs, that could be a new powerhouse, with Tony and Hamlin.

If he ends up at Hendrick (doubtful, since there are already 4 drivers there) I think I'll have to find a new favorite driver, only because in my book Rick Hendrick is a dishonest person, and I could never be a fan of anyone in his organization.

SharkOnLand · Post by **SharkOnLand** » May 10, 2007 3:33 pm

I think where ever he ends up, he'll be driving a number 3 car. It's been long enough since Sr has passed, somebody's gonna end up driving a number 3 sooner or later, might as well be Jr.

PJ · Post by PJ » May 10, 2007 3:49 pm

SharkOnLand wrote:I think where ever he ends up, he'll be driving a number 3 car. It's been long enough since Sr has passed, somebody's gonna end up driving a number 3 sooner or later, might as well be Jr.

We'll see. Childress still has the rights to the number, at least as far as I know, so whether he would agree to let it go to another owner if Jr. wanted it is to be seen. Honestly I'm not sure if Jr. wants to use the number yet, in some of hs statements, even in the last couple of days, he has said he would want to wait to drive the 3 closer to the end of his career.

Dezdmona · Post by **Dezdmona** » May 10, 2007 3:57 pm

PJ wrote: To respond to one comment up above, Dale and Teresa's daughter Taylor isn't a kid anymore, she is 18 I believe, so Teresa isn't doing anything to save money for support of a younger child.

I didn't mean to imply it had anything to do with "child support".
Obviously the Earnhardt's (or Teresa) aren't hurting for money.

It's about greed.

OceanCityGirl · Post by **OceanCityGirl** » May 10, 2007 4:11 pm

not child support, it's about being a mother but to the extreme. She's looking out for her family legacy which is only natural. But she's doing it in spite of the children from the previous mothers, who are also DE's kids. And she's forgetting that father built the team for his sons, perhaps given the sport, more so then the daughters. There's room for everybody but the family member who is putting his life on the line every week should have a greater say in the race team decisions. The reason Theresa worked well with her husband is she brought in financial/business sense while he had the practical knowledge. As husband and wife they could argue those things out and probably meet in the middle. If the financial person holds all the cards it will hurt the team.

PJ · Post by PJ » May 10, 2007 4:14 pm

Dezdmona wrote:
PJ wrote: To respond to one comment up above, Dale and Teresa's daughter Taylor isn't a kid anymore, she is 18 I believe, so Teresa isn't doing anything to save money for support of a younger child.
I didn't mean to imply it had anything to do with "child support".
Obviously the Earnhardt's (or Teresa) aren't hurting for money.

It's about greed.

Sorry Dez, wasn't responding to your comment. i was responding to OceanCityGirl saying:

I figured there'd be trouble if Theresa didn't go along with the request, and since she has young kids I figured she might not.

Taylor's not a kid anymore, she's a grown woman and could, if she wanted, get a job or go on to college (which she may be doing).

DEI should be equally divided between the family - Teresa have 20% and Dale Jr, Kelley, Kerry and Taylor each have 20%. The biggest reason Jr. wanted 51% and controlling interest is because Teresa apparently doesn't know or care about performance on the track, and he was unwilling to run just as a top 10 to top 15 driver in the races and point standings.

Dezdmona · Post by **Dezdmona** » May 10, 2007 4:18 pm

PJ wrote:Teresa apparently doesn't know or care about performance on the track, and he was unwilling to run just as a top 10 to top 15 driver in the races and point standings.

I totally agree.

PackPhanGirl · Post by **PackPhanGirl** » May 10, 2007 4:33 pm

Dezdmona wrote:Heard earlier this morning.

I've been following the story closely.
Teresa is a selfish *itch, IMHO

I bet Sr. is rolling over in his grave.

I have no doubt that he (Sr.) would have gifted shares of that Company to Jr. as part of his inheritance as he got older, but the wicked step-witch wanted Jr. to buy it outright as if he was any other random individual.

Even being willing to sell 51% of the shares to Jr. (as he demanded), she was unwilling to give up control of the Company (as a 51% shareholder of any company would have)....part of her contingency was that he would only be a Member of the Board, but that the Board would be able to override any decision he would make in spite of his majority ownership stake.

What a crock.

All she cares about is $ and her biological daughter, she doesn't seem to realize that Jr. is as much a cash cow as Sr. was...(while Sr. "licensing" will always make $, NASCAR moves on.)

He may not be able to take the Number 8 with him, but you can bet your 6-pack that Budweiser will follow him where ever he goes.
(Right now, I'm thinking Childress, could be Hendricks, but I doubt it.
I'm sure he'll keep building his own team, but don't think he'll go there just yet as a driver.)

Absolutely 100% could not agree more!! What goes around comes around...

Cubbie Bear · Post by **Cubbie Bear** » May 10, 2007 4:36 pm

irishcajunphan · Post by **irishcajunphan** » May 10, 2007 5:11 pm

PJ wrote:
SharkOnLand wrote:I think where ever he ends up, he'll be driving a number 3 car. It's been long enough since Sr has passed, somebody's gonna end up driving a number 3 sooner or later, might as well be Jr.
We'll see. Childress still has the rights to the number, at least as far as I know, so whether he would agree to let it go to another owner if Jr. wanted it is to be seen. Honestly I'm not sure if Jr. wants to use the number yet, in some of hs statements, even in the last couple of days, he has said he would want to wait to drive the 3 closer to the end of his career.

Junior said that he didn't know if he wants to drive the three car. He wants to be his own man and not live in his dad's shadow which he'd be doing if he jumped into the three car. It has been suggested that RCR and DEI could swap the rights to the three for the rights to the eight. That would make a whole lot of Junior fans with a whole lot of 8 stuff and tattoos happy.

SharkOnLand · Post by **SharkOnLand** » May 10, 2007 5:17 pm

I guess I would see it more as honoring his dad, rather than "living in his shadow". It would be more fitting to see him in the #3 after what stepmom did to him with the DEI crap. Just my opinion.