DARLINGTON, S.C. - NASCAR team owner Richard Childress says people need to give Dale Earnhardt Jr. a little time before they start pushing him on where he's going to drive in 2008.
A day after NASCAR's marquee Nextel Cup driver announced that he did not plan to drive for Dale Earnhardt Inc. beyond this season, speculation was rampant about where he would be going. Richard Childress Racing, the team for which Earnhardt Jr.'s father, Dale Earnhardt, won six championships, is obviously high on the list. Earnhardt Jr. said Thursday that he was willing to listen to anyone at this point, though he made it clear he'd prefer to continue to drive a Chevrolet.
That put even more emphasis on Richard Childress Racing, which with Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing ranks as the top Chevy teams.
"Let me kind of tell you where I'm at," Childress said in a media gathering Friday morning at Darlington Raceway. "Dale Jr. just made a major decision in his career and in his life yesterday, and out of respect for Teresa [Earnhardt Jr.'s stepmom and owner of Dale Earnhardt Inc.], Dale Jr. and this situation, let's all give him some time to make the decisions that he needs to make and be fair. He's got a lot of tough decisions coming up with the direction he's going, and I just think it's fair if we all let him have some space and some time to kind of think about what he wants to do in the future."
But would Childress want him to drive for his team?
"We will sit and talk, I'm sure," he said. "I'm hoping he's considering us, but I think right now we just give him some time and some space to do his own due diligence on the race teams that he's looking [at]."
Childress said that he'd been a friend of the family for years and that he was "sure the time will come [when] we'll talk," but that they had not had a conversation concerning this as of yet. Childress also dismissed reports that he had already signed the driver.
Asked if he would consider bringing back the No. 3 made famous by Dale Earnhardt if he did land Earnhardt Jr. to drive for his team, Childress pointed out that it's too early to speculate.
"Right now it's, like I said earlier, it's just way too soon to even talk about it," he said politely. "I apologize, but we're here at Darlington, I've got three teams that we're trying to come down here and win the race with, Junior's going to be trying to win the race, and I just think being fair to everybody this is something that has to be settled ... I just think right now let us concentrate on Darlington, give Junior a little time and a little space, and he'll make the decision. He'll make the right decision, and I want to see him do what's best for Junior because I've known Junior since he was a very young man."
Childress said he is still friends with the entire Earnhardt family, including Teresa Earnhardt, who has been running DEI since Earnhardt died in 2001.
"I'm still friends with Teresa, the whole family and Dale Jr.," he said. "We'll just see how it all pans out."
A day after NASCAR's marquee Nextel Cup driver announced that he did not plan to drive for Dale Earnhardt Inc. beyond this season, speculation was rampant about where he would be going. Richard Childress Racing, the team for which Earnhardt Jr.'s father, Dale Earnhardt, won six championships, is obviously high on the list. Earnhardt Jr. said Thursday that he was willing to listen to anyone at this point, though he made it clear he'd prefer to continue to drive a Chevrolet.
That put even more emphasis on Richard Childress Racing, which with Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing ranks as the top Chevy teams.
"Let me kind of tell you where I'm at," Childress said in a media gathering Friday morning at Darlington Raceway. "Dale Jr. just made a major decision in his career and in his life yesterday, and out of respect for Teresa [Earnhardt Jr.'s stepmom and owner of Dale Earnhardt Inc.], Dale Jr. and this situation, let's all give him some time to make the decisions that he needs to make and be fair. He's got a lot of tough decisions coming up with the direction he's going, and I just think it's fair if we all let him have some space and some time to kind of think about what he wants to do in the future."
But would Childress want him to drive for his team?
"We will sit and talk, I'm sure," he said. "I'm hoping he's considering us, but I think right now we just give him some time and some space to do his own due diligence on the race teams that he's looking [at]."
Childress said that he'd been a friend of the family for years and that he was "sure the time will come [when] we'll talk," but that they had not had a conversation concerning this as of yet. Childress also dismissed reports that he had already signed the driver.
Asked if he would consider bringing back the No. 3 made famous by Dale Earnhardt if he did land Earnhardt Jr. to drive for his team, Childress pointed out that it's too early to speculate.
"Right now it's, like I said earlier, it's just way too soon to even talk about it," he said politely. "I apologize, but we're here at Darlington, I've got three teams that we're trying to come down here and win the race with, Junior's going to be trying to win the race, and I just think being fair to everybody this is something that has to be settled ... I just think right now let us concentrate on Darlington, give Junior a little time and a little space, and he'll make the decision. He'll make the right decision, and I want to see him do what's best for Junior because I've known Junior since he was a very young man."
Childress said he is still friends with the entire Earnhardt family, including Teresa Earnhardt, who has been running DEI since Earnhardt died in 2001.
"I'm still friends with Teresa, the whole family and Dale Jr.," he said. "We'll just see how it all pans out."
