Dale Earnhardt, Jr wants majority stake in DEI
Quote selected text Published February 8th, 2007 in NASCAR News
Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t mince words on Thursday when asked what it would take to get him to re-sign with the Nextel Cup organization his father built. “I want majority ownership, basically,” Earnhardt Jr. said for the first time during media day at Daytona International Speedway. As in more than 50%? “Absolutely,” Earnhardt Jr. said emphatically.
Earnhardt Jr.’s contract with Dale Earnhardt Inc. expires at the end of the 2007 season. Negotiation on a new deal began in the middle of 2006, with ownership of the company a major sticking point. Asked if stepmother Teresa Earnhardt, who inherited sole ownership of the company when Dale Earnhardt was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, was willing to budge, Earnhardt Jr. said, “We’ll see.”
Earnhardt Jr. and his sister, Kelley, met with Max Siegel, DEI’s new president of Global Operations, on Wednesday along with director of motorsports Richie Gilmore. Earnhardt Jr. said it was more of a get-to-know-you meeting with Siegel than a contract negotiation, but added Siegel could expedite the process he initially hoped would be concluded by April or May. “He’s a great guy to talk to and a great guy to work with,” Earnhardt Jr. said of Siegel.
“He’s going to speed things up. He’s going to improve negotiations and help those things make it a little bit easier.” Not in the meeting was Teresa, who has been asked to step aside in negotiations because of her somewhat tumultuous relationship with Earnhardt Jr.
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I think that JR will be gone after this season. He will take the chance to drive for rcr and make a real name for himself. I wish he would just say he is leaving and get it over with already. Teresa has already made it apperent that she wants all the control of the company so they just need to part ways and get on with this season.
Did anyone see Jr on ESPN Nascar Now today? Was it just me, or did he look tired and resigned…almost as if to say ‘I know I’m gone…I just want this to be over’ kinda look.
Again, if he leaves, what does that team really have??
I 100% agree, Adam. He’s definitely gone… just wish he’d say so since it’s so obvious.
Jr’s about to put that dumb bitch in her place. We’ll see exactly what it means to be owner of DEI without Dale Jr next year. It aint gonna mean shit.
Theresa should realize that JR is DEI…..I think his father would
“turn over in his grave” if he knew what she is doing. Fans love Jr
and they will “stand by him”….I am not saying that she should give
it all to him…(Dale, Sr was her husband and you could tell she
loved him) but she should sit down and give Jr 51%…heck…if JR
walks….where is she going to be? It is sad to think that DEI may
not be associated with JR anymore….wake up Theresa….the fans
love JR..I don’t care who Jr. Drives for, he is GREAT! I think at
first when Dale, Sr. drove…he was in his shadow…but now, JR
has his own identity..and he is loved!! Jeff Gordon and Kyle
Petty, I commend you both for your comments on JR….(not that
I pull for either of you) but it is nice for the fans to know
that you do have hearts!!!! The pain of loosing his Dad was
hard enough and he deals with that everyday…but to loose what
Dale Sr built for his children to be part of…well, that
is the saddest part of all this.
It is rightfully his company! She doesnt even come to the races!
I THINK…………..DEI should be split among the kids of Dale sr. but i think theresa wants to the company to go to here and Dale’s lil girl Taylor just like theresa wanted Taylor to drive the number 3 car not to long ago …..tipicle step mom she wants her kids to have everything and not the husbands first kids well i hope next season Dale jr goes to RCR ans expand JR.motorsports into the Nextalcup and be jlike his dad
I totally agree w/ Jr. Ever since Day 1, he has been f***ed over by Teresa and all her BS politics. Iff they want him to continue w/ DEI, they need to treat him like the franchise driver he is. I hope Jr. leaves that franchise and starts his own. Then when DEI goes bankrupt, he can buy them out and merge the 2. Teresa can burn in hell for all I care.
It’s sad that DEI will basically have nothing w/o Jr there - but Sr. will have his
name remembered more as a driver than as a car owner. DEI will be gone bhy 2010 with
out Jr. there. He is a cash cow as well as a talented driver - is she blind? Maybe
if she attended a race she would see that he is worth hanging on to. Personally, I
think he should go to rcr and get the respect that he deserves, and not even have
to worry about what Teresa does.