The following is a transcript from Thursday’s news conference, in which Nextel Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced his plans to drive for a new team in 2008:
MIKE DAVIS (Moderator): Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming. My name is Mike Davis. I am the Communications Director here at JR Motorsports. [...]

Statement from Tony Ponturo, Vice President, Global Media and Sports Marketing, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Regarding Dale Earnhardt Jr’s decision to leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of the 2007 Nextel Cup season:
“Budweiser, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Inc. have enjoyed a great relationship since 1999. Dale Jr., and his father before him, have been [...]

In response to today’s announcement by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., that he will be leaving DEI, Teresa Earnhardt, CEO of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. issued the following statement.

In an announcement Thursday morning, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stated that he will leave the company founded by his late father at the end of the year in a shake-up certain to ignite a bidding war for NASCAR’s most popular driver.
He told Dale Earnhardt Inc. on Thursday that he had decided to make the switch to [...]

Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s biggest star, has been in contract negotiations with his current employer, Dale Earnhardt Inc., and is asking for 51% ownership of the team. But the location of the press conference, at JR Motorsports, which Earnhardt Jr. owns separately from DEI, indicates his future plans might not include DEI.

Haier America (pronounced Hi-er), a division of the Chinese-owned Haier Group, has joined the Ginn Racing team of sponsors. A leading manufacturer of home appliances and consumer electronics, Haier will sponsor Joe Nemechek’s Ginn Racing entry in Saturday night’s Nextel Cup race in Darlington S.C.