DEI starts looking for replacement for Dale Earnhardt, Jr
Quote selected text Published May 21st, 2007 in NASCAR News
Dale Earnhardt Inc. is working on finding a replacement to Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the No. 8 Nextel Cup car.
“It’s hard to say how far along we are,” DEI executive board member John Story said Saturday prior to the Nextel All-Star Challenge. “We’ve had a lot of interest. We’ve obviously made a few phone calls ourselves. We’ve had a lot of unsolicited phone calls from some top athletes that are interested in it, but clearly I can’t discuss any names.”
DEI currently has two relatively young drivers in its stable in second-year Martin Truex Jr. and rookie Paul Menard.
“We don’t have a template in mind for a driver other than we need a winner,” Story said. “We need another driver to complement our group, somebody that is capable of winning championships, winning races.
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They arent going to find themselves another Dale Jr. that is fro sure.
DEI finding someone to win a championship haha YEAH RIGHT they just let 90% of the talent they had go ou the door..good luck theresa only way ur going is DOWN
maybe they will find some one that can actually when a championship now we all Junior couldnt do it
Yeah, finding another Dale Jr. is never going to happen, but if they want championships they need to get better cars for their drivers. If they think that someone as talented as Dale Jr. isn’t able to win in those cars, what makes them think that someone else can.
They may find another driver, but definetly not one like Dale Jr.
I can’t wait until Jr. goes to either RCR or JGR and gets his hands on a couple of championships. IS he ever going to win 7??? Hell no, but he has the talent to win a few. It wasn’t a fluke how he killed in the Busch series and did well shortly after his father passed. Look at the “champioship contenders” that did nothing in the Busch series. The talent pool is too depleted to say Jr can’t win a cha,pionship.
I think they should get some talent from the truck series. maybe someone that isnt reali well known but does have expirience in heavy cars/trucks n at tracks that the cup cars go 2 maybe some1 like matt crafton he doesnt have the wins but he is a very consistant driver and could benefit from a discent organization like DEI. or they could also get a veteran such as kenny wallace. Yes he does already have a contract with furniture row racing but hey money can buy him outta it. It wasnt too long ago he did a race or 2 for roush wen kurt busch got nixed from the team wit 3 races 2 go n he did get 1 top ten outta the n he was doing good until motors went sour. But he has talent and proves it by gettin top 20 finishes with a very underfunded team.
I pity the driver that goes into that number 8 car because that number is Jr’s in the fans minds right now. Sure after a couple of years people will move on, but for a while it will be tough to sell that merchandise. I wonder if they’ve talked to Truex about moving into the 8 since that was his Busch number anyway. Plus he is popular with fans and a friend of Jr’s so that would be the easiest transition I think of anybody into the 8. Then again Truex may not want that responsibility and just might want to do his own thing with the 1 car.
“somebody that is capable of winning championships, winning races.” So they dont think Dale Jr is that guy huh?
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three names we might see out there, busch series has no one that is a real talent, the rookie crop except for montoya blows, i say greg biffle, ryan newman, ward burton are going to be the top 3 on peoples list…
I agree with Audrey. How do they know their driver is or isn’t capable of winning if the car can’t last through the race? I think those comments by John Story were rude and uncalled for.
In my opinion Dale Jr is a decent driver at best. I doubt he will be winning any championships where ever he goes. I know im wrong to the Jr. Nation but I dont think better equipment is going to help him. I think when he first came into the sport he was so over hyped (and still is) and looked upon as the next coming of The King and The Man in Black. I really dont think he will be a champion, if he is I will make a full apology to the Jr. Nation
Agreed. jr COULD have won championships if their energy was put into racing, rather than marketing. see thats the thing. he rarely won and was HUGELY popular. what made them think that he wouldn’t become MORE popular if they ACTUALLY gave him a chance to win, ie better cars, engines, etc. winning races begets popularity and merchandise sales. DEI is the epitome of Back-assward thinking.
Mike,
I have to agree with you on that, Jr is a decent driver but I don’t see him winning more than a championship.
He is over hyped and that’s the way he is going to be. He’s a great guy in person and on the track, but he’s no King or Sr.
I can see him winning more races at a different racing team, just not championships.
That is my opinion so you can take it or leave it. if you don’t like it, oh well.
-Chris
Being popular and being a championship contender are two very different things. Dale is a marketing machine and not really a upper level driver.
I never met Jr. and have nothing against him. I have heard hes a great guy, but I honestly cant see him winning championships. I’m sure he might win more races but at this point there is too many drivers who over shadow him in driving and championship ability even if they lack popularity points. But popularity doesn’t win you championships.
Not a Jr. fan but he is a descent driver to say the least… I don’t see him winning a championship anytime soon but that time will come soon hopefully.. the main thing is that he needs to stay consistant.. he seems to not do well with that as I see it.. could be that he doesn’t have a descent car most weekends but when he switches to a more consistent team we will see how consistent he is.. at the time being hes just a average driver to me.
Replace Dale Jr.? Right. Good luck with that!
they wont do too good wit merchandise anymore. it true that dei is behind wit their r&d. if jr goes to a team like rcr or possibly jgr i think hell do better but i dunno if hell win a championship or not. time will only tell.
I agree with your Brian!!!
There is no one who can replace Jr. I believe Jr. will start winning races again once he makes the move. I can’t imagine the stress he is under at the moment and that for sure could have an effect on his driving - not to mention getting into a better car. I think Theresa should release the #8 car to Jr. It doesn’t make sense for anyone else to drive that car. Or I should say have that #. Number 8 completes number 3… It’s the other half to the #3… I think it would almost be bad luck for someone else to drive that car… No one will be able to have as much notoriaty in that car… I wish she would be smart with at least one thing!!
DEI doesnt need Jr to sell merchandise she is still making a killing off Sr.’s merchandise.
IOh but D.E.I. does need Jr. Without Jr. D.e.i. will go down the toilet. And I am not a jr. fan at all! But everybody knows that Jr. is what kept D.E.I. alive.
there’s NO template for another JR!!
Theresa is a foolish foolish owner/manager!
Its funny, after DEI’s talks with RYR they seem to be going down the same road. If Senior’s name wasn’t on the company logo I think we’d forget about them very soon.
No one will ever fill the shoes of Dale Jr. in that red #8..no need to even look. Just free the 8 and let him continue with another team. DEI has only begun to see how much Jr. contributed to the business.