Junior Surprises Many but Not All

All year there has been a lot in the news about Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his contract negotiations with DEI, Inc. I had not paid much attention to the whole situation because I really thought most of it was both sides putting little bits out to the media to satisfy them. Even as I read the paper on Thursday morning I didn’t think I would hear what I heard at the press conference that was called by the Earnhardt camp.

As we all now know, Dale Jr. announced that he will be leaving DEI at the end of the 2007 season. He will be exploring his options to drive for other teams. That doesn’t surprise me. There was not much said about if any or all of his current sponsors would be going with him. It wouldn’t surprise me if all of them went with him. I really wouldn’t be shocked to see some the sponsors on DEI’s other teams go where Jr. goes. Many of Jr.’s answers were your standard answers that any driver would have to give at an announcement like this. We have seen many drivers over the past couple of years make news by announcing that they would be switching teams this early in the season. Once I sat there and listened I wasn’t really surprised that Dale Jr., with the help of his sister and others close to him made the decision to explore new options for his career. However, I was surprised that DEI couldn’t come to terms to keep him there. Yes, Dale Earnhardt’s legacy and legend will continue to bring notoriety to DEI, but I don’t know how you loose your driver with the same name. Certainly, there are things none of us could understand about this situation and the magnitude of negotiating within the walls of DEI.

I am not saying DEI can’t have some success without Jr. and I am not saying they can’t have good race teams. As a matter of fact, I think they will continue to have competitive race teams but they will not have one ingredient that I think they need to compete for championships: Dale Earnhardt Jr. He is marketable, he is a winner, and he attracts good people to work for him because of these traits and many other traits that we may never see in public. So, I think the good people around him will follow him if they have the option and he will make the new people around him better because of the kind of person he is.

Dale Jr. made the right call. I know he had plenty of “advisors” while trying to decide what to do. I have a feeling he had some good advice from some people that have been in similar situations. Not many people, if any, have been completely in his shoes so he was probably very guarded in advice he took. Personally, I know how tough a “family business” situation can be and it doesn’t matter if you have one dollar or millions, family business is tricky to balance. Again, in my opinion, his decision was made to make is personal life better. I believe he will perform at a higher level on the race track now that he has made his final decision. I am glad that he is in a position professionally and personally that he could do what he wanted to do and not worry about anyone or anything else.

I heard him say repeatedly that many people will not fully understand why this had to happen but I know of one person that understands where he is coming from and I support his decision 100%.

Just when you think the big story has hit NASCAR something like this comes along and blows that theory out of the water. This is going to be a great story to follow as he finds his new home.