After his best performance in a month last Saturday night, Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced recently in a press conference that he is leaving DEI.
The NASCAR�s most popular and most favorite driver said his decision was triggered by his Cup Championship goal, which he said he could not carry out while being with the DEI.
Dale Jr�s relationship with his stepmother Teresa Earnhardt has been more of a bitter conflict. Teresa has been tagged the evil one in the differences between her and Dale Jr. Teresa, who played a crucial role in building the DEI empire and improving the marketing of NASCAR drivers, reportedly wants her own percentage from her son�s earnings. Meanwhile, Dale Jr. was angry with Teresa because the latter did not allow him to take his No. 8 with him to Hendrick.
Perhaps Dale Jr. had seen DEI�s not purchasing its own shaker rig�the �holy grail� of NASCAR technology�as a lack of commitment to performance, in contrast to profit by Teresa. Dale Jr. had sought majority ownership and control to DEI, which might have been quite influential in his decision.
Due to their disagreements, Dale Jr. has earned some criticisms from his fans, aside from defecting to Hendrick Motorsports and becoming Jeff Gordon�s teammate. Also, Dale Jr. is often judged for his failure to win a Cup title despite his 17 career victories, a Daytona 500 win, and two Busch Series championships.
Now that the �Free the 8� battle is over and Dale Jr. has left DEI, some questions linger: who is going to replace Dale Jr. in the DEI #8 car? Will either the replacement or Dale Jr. attain the success they aspire? How will other teams and owners be affected once the new driver of the #8 is revealed? These are the looming issues for 2008 and thereafter.
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