August 23, 2007
By Rebecca Gladden

Rebecca Gladden

Make no mistake about it, race fans. Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s rift with team owner and stepmother Teresa Earnhardt is as deep as the Grand Canyon and twice as wide.

And it has little to do with car performance or competitiveness on the race track.

What it does pertain to are issues of control, fairness, and intimate family conflicts that date back over 24 years.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was an 8-year-old little boy when his father Dale Earnhardt Sr. married the former Teresa Houston in 1982.

Now a 32-year-old man, Earnhardt Jr. has come to realize that it's time to make a clean break from all-things-Teresa - not just professionally, but personally as well.

Junior took a giant step in that direction earlier this year with the shocking announcement that he was leaving DEI, the company his father founded before his death in the 2001 Daytona 500. And not just leaving, but signing with longtime rival Hendrick Motorsports for 2008 and beyond.

The move pairs Junior with Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Casey Mears as unlikely Cup series teammates next year.

But there was still unfinished business after the team decision was made - namely, whether Earnhardt Jr. could take the Budweiser sponsorship and his trademark No. 8 with him to his new team.

A few weeks ago, we learned that Budweiser would not make the move with Junior next year. While it's still uncertain which team will garner the lucrative beer sponsorship, Kasey Kahne of Evernham Motorsports is rumored to be the front runner.

Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr. released a statement this week that he would not, in fact, be permitted to take the 8 with him to HMS after negotiations with DEI over control of the number reached an impasse.

While disappointing to both Junior and his fans, Earnhardt stated that the handwriting was on the wall all along. "I knew that this was the way it was going to be," he said. "I just didn't have the guts to tell my fans because they were holding out and hoping it would work out. I just didn't have the guts to tell them that it was a waste of time hoping that it would happen."

Earnhardt Jr. said that while sincere efforts were made by his negotiators to transfer the No. 8 to his new ride at HMS, Teresa Earnhardt's demands were, in his words, "Just ridiculous kinds of requests."

Among other things, Ms. Earnhardt was seeking a share of licensing revenue and the return of the number to DEI when Junior was done with it - the latter a request which Earnhardt Jr. would have agreed to. "We just wanted the number," he said. "I was willing to give the number back when I was done driving. I wouldn't have any use for it personally."

Still, Junior acknowledged that the No. 8 has special significance to him because of the family tradition associated with it. "It meant that much to her, but I feel like it is an Earnhardt tradition because my grandfather and my dad [used] it a little bit, too. I'm using it right now, and I figured that we would be able to keep using it. But unfortunately we're not going to be able to."

While his disappointment is understandable, Junior attempted to put a positive spin on the situation: "We're starting with such a clean page next year anyways. Maybe it's for the best. Maybe it's sort of a blessing in disguise to really make that kind of clean break, because when I walked away from DEI, I wanted no ties whatsoever, and if I was to get the 8 and allow Teresa to still have control over it, I would still have to deal with it. That is not what I wanted. I have to let it go."

Let "it" go. Not just the number, but the whole awkward, strained relationship between team owner and driver, between stepmother and stepson - once a child, now a man.

With a new team owner, a new sponsor, and now a new car number (probably the 81 to make it easier for the tattoo bearers), Earnhardt Jr. has finally severed the biggest ties that existed between himself and Teresa, both personally and professionally.

And that, in my opinion, is a very good thing.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.