June 1, 2007

By Sharon Sherwood

First I would like to thank everyone for their comments on my article Teresa Earnhardt Is No Villain. I received quite a reader response to this emotionally charged topic.

Due to the volume of feedback I am unable to respond personally as I usually do, to each and every email. So I would like this week’s column to serve as an open letter and set the record straight on some points that were raised by several readers.

Allow me to shed some light on a few issues that have been widely misunderstood; due in part to an increasingly entertainment-driven media often less interested in reporting the truth than in fanning the flames of controversy.

FALLACY: Dale Jr. had to battle Teresa Earnhardt for the rights to his own name.

FACT: Upon her husband’s death Teresa automatically assumed control of the Earnhardt estate, which included the trademark to Dale Jr.’s name. As a business person and responsible partner, Teresa was, and continues to be concerned with protecting her husband’s name, worth and legacy. Her desire to make sure the Earnhardt name remains untarnished is to be expected and commended.

As reported last June by NASCAR.com’s Marty Smith:

He (Junior) is fine with Teresa owning the trademark to his father's name, but he wanted something for himself, felt he was mature enough and educated enough to handle the responsibility.

On Friday, she legally handed it over, no strings attached.”

And you can't blame Teresa Earnhardt, Junior said, for wanting to protect her late husband's name, its worth, its legacy.

Essentially, it came down to trust. Once she trusted him enough to cherish what Dale Earnhardt means, she obliged the deal.

FALLACY: Teresa Earnhardt is to blame for the wildly unsuccessful 2005 team swap between DEI’s No. 8 and No. 15 teams.

FACT: Swapping Dale Jr’s crew chief and cousin Tony Eury Jr. for Michael Waltrip’s Pete Rondeau was a move intended to provide Junior with a stability that had been lacking in his association with Eury. Junior’s relationship with his cousin had grown uncomfortable, marked by escalating tension, conflict and sniping.

Junior not only supported the switch initiated by DEI vice president of motorsports Richie Gilmore, but cited his own lack of professionalism in dealing with Eury and his need to work with someone outside the family:

“I think I have a lot of maturing to do as far as working with someone else that I was forced to respect, whereas I could say anything to Tony Jr. because I knew the next day we were still cousins. I put myself in this situation so I could be a better person and a little more of a professional. I was a good race car driver, but I wasn't necessarily a professional about how I was on the radio. That will be a good situation for me.” SceneDaily.com.

FALLACY: Teresa Earnhardt “shipped” young Dale Jr. and his sister Kelley off to military school to get them out of the way.

FACT: The decision to send Junior to military school was made by both his father and stepmother, because Junior had become a disciplinary problem. His sister Kelley then followed -- on her own initiative -- in order to be with her brother.

In a 2001 interview Dale Jr. told Playboy Magazine:

“Well, I got kicked out of Christian school. Not for anything serious -- a couple of fights, talking in class, sleeping in class -- but it got me dismissed. So he (dad) and Teresa sent me to Oak Ridge Military Academy, here in North Carolina.”

Despite his enormous wealth, success and innate smarts, Dale Earnhardt’s biggest regret was his lack of education. Not finishing high school and disappointing his father and racing legend Ralph Lee Earnhardt was something that haunted him throughout his life.

As his own father before him Dale Earnhardt drove Junior to better himself. Sending his son to military school after his grades started slipping was an act of tough love, and one that was quite possibly the key to straightening Junior out and changing the course of his life.

The DEI/Junior situation is the end result of many complex and long standing family issues about which we know very little. Most of us have difficultly understanding our own family dynamics, much less someone else’s.

Let’s not be so quick to throw stones.

Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.

~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

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.