We have all seen it before.....actually its the perfect script for a blockbuster movie. Old (at 42) #3 hits the wall at Daytona in a seemingly innocous run-of-the-mill NASCAR fender-bender but the results are tragic DALE EARNHARDT IS DEAD A young Dale Jr. is shouldered with the burden of following a legend.....as Dale Sr. was the most feared and cunning driver in the circuit.....and Dale Jr. has never even come close to being a shadow of his dad. The "Vampire Widow"......the new Mrs. Earnhardt Sr......inherits a goldmine and takes control of its operations while Jr. languishes in a spotlight in the public eye as his sister and him huddle together and focus their hate and dissilussionment on the Vampire Widow's newfound windfall wealth and "outsidenness". Ergo.....Jr.....whose ego doesn't fit inside the state of North Carolina...and his sis.....announce he's leaving his fathers' former company as a free agent-driver.....looking for bids on his services. Brilliant or stupid.....Dale Jr. will ride the wave and make loads more money while the Vampire Widow will be forever seen as the villain. But.........I can tell you one thing......Jr will never ever be like Dad.....but does anyone reallly care in this marketing phenomenom? 8)
Deadbeat Owner Loses Star Driver and Then Some Posted May 10th 2007 5:45PM by tallglassofmilk Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., DEI, Sponsors Ok... deadbeat owner, as dubbed by Kevin Harvick, might be a little harsh, but I couldn't bring myself to call Teresa Earnhardt the wicked step-witch. She's probably already having a bad day. DEI's failed negotiations with Dale Earnhardt Jr. could eventually go down in the history books as one of the worst business--and personal--decisions in the history of NASCAR. After all, this isn't TEI we're talking about ... or at least it wasn't until now. Will the company Dale Earnhardt left behind go on without his son behind the wheel? As DEI's own Max Siegel put it today, only time will tell. But it doesn't take much time to realize what's been lost: Personality Most noticeable in the short run will be the loss of personality--that of the larger-than-life Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR's fan favorite four years running. The very public personality that Teresa Earnhardt called attention to in the Wall Street Journal article late last year in what may have been the beginning of the end of the working relationship between DEI and Earnhardt Jr. the driver. Sponsors Money puts cars on the track. Siegel put his cards on the table today: "We have to figure out a way not to become solely reliant on our sponsorship revenue to survive as a team." Is that even possible? DEI is going to take a huge hit to their bottom line when they lose the influx of Budweiser money, which I think everyone knows is a reality. Hard to tell at this early stage how much more money will follow Junior out the door. Talent Martin Truex Jr. - He stays put--for now--and has another year on his contract ... with ways to get out if he wants. Do his loyalties lie with mentor Dale Earnhardt Jr., who brought him in, or with the company that's been paying his salary the past few years? Find out more tonight--Truex will be a guest on a special hour-long edition of "NASCAR Now." Paul Menard - I assume DEI is stuck with him as long as John Menard is willing to keep dumping his money into his son's dream and his girlfriend's (?) team. By now, just 6 hours after Junior's press conference, I'm sure teams are lining up to negotiate. How many drivers of Junior's caliber do you think are beating down the door at DEI to replace him? NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Is a Free Agent LIVE BLOG: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Press Conference It's the End of the World as We Know It
.. <t>one thing i know is that Dale Sr became legendary by doing things his own way. Maybe its time for Jr to spread his wings and make his own name?</t>
Teresa Earnhardt was nothing more than a trophy wife and I stress the word WAS. Teresa will forever be known as the one that let Jr get away. I look for DEI to be run into the ground within the next 10 years.
:idea: I do not follow auto racing, but this story seems interesting. Several of you, like Tom and Gonzo, are former auto racers and several others know a lot about this story. Could you please explain this story in more detail for those of us who only follow the sport casually? Thanks. .........JO'Co
Good for junior, his dad made his name by being his own man and if his stepmother wasn't going to let him do it then he did what he had to do...strike out on his own. I'd bet in 5 years he'll be better off and she'll be worse off. I'm not so sure though that, if he can't take #8 with him, that he should revive the #3 car. I am sure that Budweiser will follow him, just like UPS followed Dale Jarrett.
Richard Childress's teams owns the license to #3. If Junior signs with him then he could drive the 3. But I don't really think Junior wants that number until he wins a championship.
DEI hit with big fines, Junior docked 100 points By David Newton ESPN.com CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- For a change, crew chief Tony Eury Jr. and not driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. is making big news. Earnhardt Jr. Eury on Tuesday was fined $100,000 and suspended for six weeks after NASCAR discovered the rear wing mounts on the famous No. 8 were illegal before Sunday's Nextel Cup race at Darlington Raceway. Also, Earnhardt's team was docked 100 championship points to drop him from 12th to 14th in the standings and Dale Earnhardt Inc. owner Teresa Earnhardt was docked 100 owners' points. Dale Earnhardt Inc. will appeal, team president Max Siegel told The Associated Press. "We are not disputing the ruling," Siegel said. "But we are appealing the severity of the penalty because the penalty itself is not spelled out in the rule book." Eury was allowed to replace the mounts before the race and Earnhardt was allowed to keep his 21st starting position. He finished eighth. The penalty was another sign that NASCAR will not tolerate cheating. Crew chiefs Kenny Francis [Kasey Kahne] and Robbie Reiser [Matt Kenseth] were fined $50,000 and suspended for four races each after failing post-qualifying inspection at Daytona. Their drivers were docked 50 points each. Michael Waltrip was docked 100 points and his crew chief and competition director suspended indefinitely after an illegal substance was discovered in Waltrip's car prior to qualifying for the Daytona 500. The penalties against Earnhardt's team were the first major infractions passed out involving the Car of Tomorrow. NASCAR confiscated the wing mounts on Saturday before the race was postponed until Sunday due to rain. Eury called it an "interpretation." "It was a bad deal," he said after the race. "It was a part that got put on there that shouldn't have. We've done a lot of offseason testing for NASCAR. There's been three different styles of brackets on there and it just happened to be one of those old-style brackets." Eury said the brackets were the same ones that weren't discovered during pre- or post-qualifying inspections. "It fit all of their templates," he said. "It just had a problem when you put [the angle] to where you should have." Eury said he tried to explain how to fix the problem to series director John Darby and that it was not done on purpose. Earnhardt, who on Thursday became the most famous free agent in NASCAR history when he announced this would be his last season for DEI, offered to pay the fine. "Whatever he needs me to do," Earnhardt said. "I don't really know what he was trying to accomplish there. We still ran all right with the stock positions." David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.
As we had already two losers on each side of this soap opera....the sky is crashing rapidly on both the Vampire Widow and the Heir Apparent. Those penalty points will cost both sides huge monies in lost revenue and sponshorhsip dropoffs. The adage of sometimes its better to stay together in a bad partnership than an unknown breakup for other pastures. What a movie sript !!!!