Earnhardt, Jr to decide on new team in next 30 days
Quote selected text Published May 25th, 2007 in NASCAR News
Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants to solidify his future in very short order. Earnhardt’s sister and chief negotiator, Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, told ESPN.com Friday that they hope to finalize Earnhardt’s future professional address within the next 30 days and then solidify sponsorship details before announcing his decision to the public sometime in late July.
Elledge said Earnhardt has “visited a few race shops and had a few meetings alongside myself, with team owners” in the weeks since he announced he would leave the company his father founded, Dale Earnhardt Inc., at season’s end.
Elledge said she has personally spoken with “about seven” existing Nextel Cup teams and “about 10 investment groups who are on the verge of starting teams or buying a team.”
Elledge also said Junior remains focused on aligning with a competitive Chevrolet organization currently fielding cars in the Nextel Cup Series.
- Teresa Earnhardt questions Dale Earnhardt, Jr’s commitment to team, racing
- Earnhardt, Jr waiting a week or two to plan future
- Teresa Earnhardt stands by criticism of Dale Earnhardt, Jr in Wall Street Journal
- Dale Earnhardt, Jr announces he is leaving DEI at the end of the season
- Earnhardt, Jr RCR or Hendrick Racing bound?
Hey, you guys (autoracingsport.com) had something here about investors for Jr’s own team….its gone. what gives?
Hi JOM,
We are following and collecting some information on Dale Jr that we just received in the last hour that will lead to a story. Stay tuned…
I think jrs gonna have to make his own team ,sometimes if you want things done right you got to do it yourself,its a shame he didnt have a stake in DEI ,still would like to see him the # 3 car.
He is going to race the #3, people! Read between the lines. He’s already decided to go to RCR! they were talking way befor he decided to tell D.E.I. It’s been in the works for a year now!!
no he isnt going to RCR because RCR and DEI have teamed up
to build engines so there wouldnt be any diffrence hes going
to gibbs
He can’t go to Gibbs with an alcohol sponsor.
He said it doesnt matter about the RCR/DEI merger. and Gibbs said it would be hard to take him. He is going to RCR its more about management he is concerned with. more so than engines.
all im saying is dei was gonna give him 51 % ownership for 55 million bucks ,that means he was gonna pay them.Now it seems to me for 50 millon dollars i could put together a winning tem ,right?Plus jr callls the shots ,no one to answer to, i dont care who he drives for as long as its not toyota, or dodge,or ford ,hell he should try F-1 cars,ha ha
i am 90% sure he is going to RCR. and not running the #3.. he said himself that he doesnt want to run it. that maybe when he was in his 50’s closer to retirement, he would like to run for a couple of years…
He is going to race the #3, people! Read between the lines. He’s already decided to go to RCR! they were talking way befor he decided to tell D.E.I. It’s been in the works for a year now!!
Who has the crystal ball today…..
I agree with jake on the rcr deal with D E I . I read that too. I heard rumor that bud was going to sponser the busch car and he was picking up a visa sponsor. Anyone else hear more on sponsors?
Putting a team together and trying to drive is to tough. If he wants to win and he does ,movement will be to a well organized , funded , established team. GOing it alone , well starting fresh would be career suicide. How many guys quit playing for the chicago bears and buy a team ……….? 0
Maybe when he is done racing or almost he could do it. Not now. My question is will D E I sell him the number 8. Will he let Bud go if it meant going to Joe Gibbs racing. or another team that doesnt like alcohol. And when and where do we have the bond fire for Ms Theresas racing gear.
Elledge also said Junior remains focused on aligning with a competitive Chevrolet organization currently fielding cars in the Nextel Cup Series.
JR might go to rcr, but he will not drive the #3. Visa has said they are interested in Jr, that would be a great fit with gibbs racing. I do not care where he goes as long as he has the best cars.
he can’t go to gibbs. Gibbs does not allow booze sponso9rs. He’s going to RCR!!
DEI engines alone are NOT good enough. RCR engines alone are pretty consistent and combing them will make them BETTER than what Junior has now. Plus they’ve been talking about merging engines longer than before Junior made his announcment. And he will NOT drive the 3 because he already stated he does not feel comfortable driving his father’s car. However I do believe he will land at RCR. Gibbs is too concerned about his teams “good image” and are really letting a huge catch go if they don’t fight to add Junior. And if not RCR, I say Ginn Racing will try their hardest to pick him up. No other eye catcher is really left except those two.
Rick Hendrick needs to drop Kyle Busch and bring in Dale, Jr. Kyle Busch will never grow up or appreciate anything as long as he is coddled on Team Hendrick. It would also be interesting to see where the Gordon/Jr fan rivalry would go. Whether Jr goes to Hendrick or not, Kyle needs to go.
…RCR would be probably the BEST decision
for lots of reasons, but the decison is DALE JR’s
I dunno who got the crystal ball today, but y’all might
want to check it for a crack!
If budweiser doesnt stay with Jr. and Junior picks up visa as a sponsor I think it will be an 95% chance of Joe Gibbs Racing…….Think about it he said he wants to win championships and who has won the most championships in that past 7 years? Joe Gibbs Racing (with 2 different drivers).
Rick does not need to drop kyle just to bring on Dale. Hendrick doesn’t want DaleJr.
Hendrick has made a critical error in judgement, I think.
How has Rick made a critical error?
Kyle is doing way better than Jr.
Doesn’t anyone remember what it was
like when you were 22? We thought we
knew it all. I’m sure Kyle’s not the first driver
to behave that way. He’s already started to
mature. Give him 5 years, and he’ll be better
behaved. Personally, I like his attitude, though.
And man, can that kid drive!!!?
Your all wrong it will be Ginn Racing, he would have the best of both worlds an owner that stands behind you and Hendrick power.
I want him to go to Ginn. He’ll be able to race other kinds of cars
again, which he hasn’t been able to do since the sports car fire at
Infineon, he’ll have good engines, an open-minded team owner who’s
not afraid to throw around money to get things done, no association
with Theresa [[like he would at RCR]], and a good teammate in Mark
Martin. I was opposed to the idea originally because it’s a newer
team, but I’ve been convinced.
Critical error because Casey Mears will never do a damn thing. Busch, Jimmie, Gordon… That’s a good team. Get rid of Mears.
Mears is just having a bad 1st year. He will over come his bad luck next season. If anyone needs to be fired from Hendrick it should be Busch! He’s a CHODE!!!
Busch’s talent is undeniable even if he is a douche bag. Its about the racing.
It may be Mears’ first year at Hendrick, but its not his first year in Cup. Regardless of luck he has never shown one single ounce of ability. I don’t care if he has been driving for questionalbe teams, he drives for Hendrick now. That is only the case because of his father’s name. He consistently makes poor decisions, doesnt understand the cars and is scared to take risks. That’s a lame duck to me. Mears is wasting everyone’s time.
hahahahaha. Well, looky there… I’m extremely happy for Casey Mears, but I stand by everything I’ve ever said about him. Crew chief won this as much as anybody, but I can’t knock the driver for doing his part. He’s in a Hendrick car, this is what he should do, but I still think I could out drive Mears under pressure. He is a lame duck.