Daddy Dale was thinking with his head. He never let Teresa make decisions that he felt changed his ability to compete on the track. With him gone, she tried to fill his shoes, but couldn't. Don't get me wrong, Teresa Earnhardt is a very shrewd businesswoman, and by all accounts is flat-out deadly in a boardroom setting. Problem is, she doesn't know how to handle the racing side of racing, and she obviously doesn't deal with people very well. There've been rumbles from DEI since the week after Senior died regarding problems between Teresa and several others within the organization. If I was Casey Mears, I'd be sweating bullets right now, and I'd drive like a freakin' maniac the rest of the year. Junior wants to run Chevys, wants to drive a Hendrick chassis, and has complimented their engine shop on many occasions. Mears, while talented, isn't doing squat, which looks really bad considering he's got about as much experience as Kyle Busch, who's torn it up pretty good for a kid the past couple of years. After the Brian Vickers experiment, I wonder how fast Rick Hendrick might pull the plug on Mears to bring Junior on board. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. That has the potential to be a scary team right there.
Hell of a good move. I think he can pull it off. Why not start his own team, he has enough expirience to do it...right? Theres other current drivers starting teams, and he has the work done for him. All the sponsorship and money he needs. Doesn't he own over half of DEI already? So he's set. This is probably the make it or break it point for Dale Jr. If hes gonna live up to his Dad's name, he better do it now.
No, he doesn't own over half of DEI. As stated in the linked article, he wanted 51% ownership, which was the whole reason this happened. Always helps to read the article.
Other than drivers desperate for a team, what driver of quality is going to want to sign with DEI now? Would you drive for a team named DEI when DEJr won't even race for them?
