So Dale Jr.'s leaving DEI?

[wickedwritah]

(A second attempt to start discussion on this without the flaming of the first.)

Dale Jr. denied it Wednesday night.
http://www.jayski.com/cupnews.htm, first item down.

And thank you, Sxy, for the original contribution.

 

[slappy4428]

be interesting to see how this plays out; if he denies it tonight, what happens at the conference tomorrow?

 

[wickedwritah]

This is the story to which Jayski linked:
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2007/05/09/0510earnhardt.html

From the story:

But Earnhardt, answering questions from fans at an event held by his sponsor, Budweiser, indicated that his plans for JR Motorsports don't include adding two Nextel Cup cars.

He said his main goal in being a team owner is to be able to help young drivers and mechanics advance their careers. His company now fields Busch series, Hooters Pro Cup and Late Model cars.

"I don't want the company to get too big," he said. "I've got about 70 employees now, and I don't want to get too many more."

 

[ogre]

Yahoo! Sports has a story that sounds like it's a done deal. It reads like they have info that maybe only the radio report has. ESPN.com doesnt have much.

 

[bydesign77]

Dammit, who cares about NECKCAR?

oh, sorry...

Since I know so little about NASCAR, Junior isn't Dale and Teresa's son, right? So, him leaving isn't a true family betrayal. Or is this like a Young and the Restless thing.

And just to add fuel to the fire, I don't follow racing, but this story caught my attention.

 

[slappy4428]

Dale's son, not Teresa's

 

[wickedwritah]

Dammit, who cares about NECKCAR?

oh, sorry...

Since I know so little about NASCAR, Junior isn't Dale and Teresa's son, right? So, him leaving isn't a true family betrayal. Or is this like a Young and the Restless thing.

And just to add fuel to the fire, I don't follow racing, but this story caught my attention.

Hi bo... er, bydesign.

No, Junior is one of Dale's kids from a previous marriage.

He only had one kid with Teresa.

 

[Write-brained]

Any chance he's announcing that he's taking over control of DEI?

 

[wickedwritah]

Any chance he's announcing that he's taking over control of DEI?

Announcement is coming at the shop of the team owned by Junior, not DEI.

You'd figure if they were gonna announce a deal, it'd be at DEI's shop.

It will be interesting to see how the whole thing plays out in the next couple weeks. Still don't think it's a done, done deal and plenty of people will leave themselves wiggle room to back out on one end or the other.

 

[bydesign77]

Write, that's what I was thinking... any chance of that happening?

 

[Write-brained]

Is DEI DOA if this deal is DONE?

 

[wickedwritah]

Is DEI DOA if this deal is DONE?

No. There's been rumors DEI is going to merge with Robert Yates, which would allow Yates to pick up Paul Menard's sponsorship.

It all should be interesting.

 

[Write-brained]

Does Jr. have family at JR Motorsports ... a sister or something?

 

[wickedwritah]

His sister is his money-woman.

 

[JBHawkEye]

Is DEI DOA if this deal is DONE?

No. There's been rumors DEI is going to merge with Robert Yates, which would allow Yates to pick up Paul Menard's sponsorship.

It all should be interesting.

They were talking about this on Sirius the other day.

If DEI merges with Yates, do they drive Chevys or Fords?

 

[Hustle]

Without Jr. there, it doesn't much matter. I don't see Menard starring in any Chevy commercials anytime soon.

Yates won't leave Ford. His engine shop has a partnership with Roush and is too important to Ford.

I just took a look through Jayski's team chart, and there's not a whole lot of options out there for drivers after this season. One stands out: Jeff Burton. If the Cingular/AT&T thing comes crashing down, is he going to be out of a job for a lack of sponsorship? Is he DEI material?

 

[D-3 Fan]

Teresa did offer the kids 51% of control of DEI. It's easy for me to say that maybe the kids wanted a hell of a lot more than what they asked for initially, but I can't wait to know his reasons for leaving. JB, I did not hear that about the possibility of Yates and DEI merging.

This will be interesting with respects to the dynamics of NASCAR.

 

[MileHigh]

Charlotte Observer cites sources saying Junior will announce he won't race for DEI next year, but won't say who he will go with.

http://www.charlotte.com/456/story/116203.html

 

[Oz]

Teresa did offer the kids 51% of control of DEI. It's easy for me to say that maybe the kids wanted a hell of a lot more than what they asked for initially, but I can't wait to know his reasons for leaving. JB, I did not hear that about the possibility of Yates and DEI merging.

This will be interesting with respects to the dynamics of NASCAR.

I've read rumors that she offered 51 percent, but never saw anyone state that for sure.

 

[PopeDirkBenedict]

John Menard can't be happy about this since he was using Dale Jr. as his billboard pinup.