H
Happy29
Guest
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s future with the team that bears his father's name remains open to interpretation. Asked Friday if he could be 100% certain he'd be driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc. next season, Earnhardt said, "It just depends. I want to be there." But, he says, "I ain't going to. .. drive without a contract." Is this a big deal? "It's a big deal not to have one," he said. "I'd like to have one." Earnhardt set off media speculation last month when he revealed that he has yet to sign a contract with the team for next year. But he attempted to defuse the situation by telling reporters that his mind and heart "are in driving the #8 car and it always has been." Earlier this season, Earnhardt submitted a contract proposal to DEI that would allow him to do fewer appearances on behalf of his sponsors. The issue went away, but the deal apparently never was signed. As of last month, Earnhardt hadn't sat down with stepmother Teresa Earnhardt — who inherited ownership of the team after Earnhardt's fatal crash in Feb. 2001 — to personally discuss his contract. He also said that his team's sponsor, Budweiser, would wait until he was signed before it agreed to an extension with DEI. "Budweiser of course, in doing the smart thing, is going to wait until our issues are secured until they can sign an extension," he said. "They want to definitely know that everything is in place. They're like everyone else, including the press and everybody else out in the public. They don't know the whole story. And (they) don't really know my true feelings. If they did, I feel like everybody would just calm down about it." A move to another team remains unlikely, but Earnhardt acknowledged last month that he has entertained thoughts of driving for other teams. "You always do that," he said. "You daydream about everything in the sport. But it was never anything I ever thought would be a reality. But on the other side of that, I'm definitely out to get what I feel like I deserve. As sure as everybody can be about me driving the #8 car for as long as I drive, I'm not going to do it for free. I would expect to get paid and get compensated as I would for anywhere else in this business." Earnhardt Sr.'s former car owner, Richard Childress, was asked last month if he thought Earnhardt Jr. would ever drive for another team. "No, not as long as DEI is going and their doors are open, I think you'll see him racing for DEI," Childress said. "I know what Dale (Sr.'s) plans were for DEI and where he wanted to see Junior and (brother) Kerry race." Childress said he and Junior have never talked "directly" about him racing for RCR. "I hope that if he ever did decide to race somewhere else that he would come and talk to me and would want to drive an RCR car," Childress said.
