Lasting legacy
Little E needs control of DEI to fulfill father's plan
Posted: Thursday April 26, 2007 11:27AM; Updated: Thursday April 26, 2007 12:06PM
While Dale Earnhardt Sr. left a big legacy for his son to fill, he also left a crew capable of seeing his son succeed in that effort.
AP
Where to, Little E?
If Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaves DEI at season's end, one thing is certain: He's going to continue to drive a Chevy. His dad was a Chevy man, and Junior will always be one as well. Here, in order of most likely to least, are the three teams he could drive for in '08.
1. Joe Gibbs Racing: This would be the perfect fit. Gibbs could either add a fourth car or dump the struggling J. J. Yeley to make room for Earnhardt. Plus, Junior is close friends with Gibbs' Tony Stewart, and the two of them could form a powerful one-two combination. The only question would be if Gibbs, a devote Christian, would allow Budweiser to sponsor one of his cars.
2. Richard Childress Racing: Big E won six championships with Childress, and to the sea of red-and-black clad Earnhardt fans, this is the dream destination for Junior. Childress, like Gibbs, has room to add a fourth car to his stable, and the recent resurgence of RCR makes this an attractive landing spot for Little E. But I don't think it would happen. Junior has been careful to craft his own legacy in the sport, and driving for the owner that made his father famous wouldn't be in keeping with that. Someday Little E will pilot the black No. 3 for RCR, but not for a very, very long time.
3. Hendrick Motorsports: Right now Hendrick is the class organization in NASCAR, and any driver in the series would want a spot here. But Hendrick already has four drivers, and next season NASCAR is limiting each organization to only four teams. This means that Hendrick would likely have to dump Casey Mears in the offseason to make room for Earnhardt, but I strongly doubt Hendrick would do that, even if Junior were interested in moving to his team. Hendrick is the kind of person who honors commitments, and he's made one to Mears, who moved to his stable this past offseason. All of which makes Hendrick an unlikely spot for Little E.
Can Dale Earnhardt Jr. win a championship at DEI?
This question goes to the heart of his contract negotiations with his stepmother Teresa Earnhardt, the owner of Dale Earnhardt Inc. Junior, who has never finished higher than third in the final standings in his seven years on the Cup circuit, wants to take control of the company that his father founded in 1996, because he believes that he'll have a better chance of winning it all if he's calling the shots.
What's Teresa's track record as an owner? Well, not great. Under her stewardship since Dale Earnhardt died in February 2001, DEI drivers have made a collective 579 starts. They've won 20 races (or 3.4 percent of their starts), had 97 top-five runs (16.7 percent) and had 184 top 10s (31.7 percent). Over that same time, for comparison, drivers from Hendrick Motorsports have made 891 starts. In those events, Hendrick Chevys have accounted for 57 wins (or 6.3 percent of their starts), 207 top fives (23.2 percent) and 350 top 10s (39.2 percent). The numbers back up what everyone in the garage will tell you: DEI is nowhere near the organization that Hendrick Motorsports is.
But it certainly could be one day -- if DEI has the right leadership. One of the lasting legacies of Big E is that he handpicked all of the important people who now surround his youngest son. Richie Gilmore, who's the director of motorsports at DEI, was one of Earnhardt's closest confidants, and Gilmore has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the top engine builders in NASCAR. Steve Hmiel, the technical director at DEI, used to race against Earnhardt in his early days, and Hmiel's racing acumen is second to none. Two other key personnel at DEI, Tony Eury Sr. (DEI's director of competition) and Tony Eury Jr. (Junior's crew chief), also were selected by Dale Sr. to guide his son's racing team, and both Eurys have a wealth of experience.
Without question, there's plenty of talented personnel at DEI. That's never been the problem. What's been holding Little E back, in my view, is that DEI (read: Teresa) simply hasn't committed the resources to winning that rival teams such as Hendrick have.
Little E has been complaining about a lack of horsepower in his engines for more than two years, and this is a direct reflection of the hard truth that DEI simply doesn't have as many people working on its engines as other teams. Junior, after all, hasn't won a pole since Sept. 27, '02 at Kansas Speedway. That's nearly five years, race fans, and it illustrates the mechanical disadvantage that Junior faces.
If Little E were given ownership of the company, I'm guessing the priorities of DEI would change overnight. Junior is sponsorship gold, and he would pour whatever money it took into building a championship racing organization. He'd keep all of the personnel that was handpicked by his father in place, and they all would be emboldened because they wouldn't be looking over their shoulder and wondering what Teresa -- perhaps the most mysterious, enigmatic figure in NASCAR -- was thinking.
Could DEI someday become the fifth superpower team in NASCAR and join the ruling class of Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing, and Roush Fenway Racing? Absolutely. Will it happen? Well, only if Teresa finally hands Junior the keys to the family kingdom.
Little E needs control of DEI to fulfill father's plan
Posted: Thursday April 26, 2007 11:27AM; Updated: Thursday April 26, 2007 12:06PM
While Dale Earnhardt Sr. left a big legacy for his son to fill, he also left a crew capable of seeing his son succeed in that effort.
AP
Where to, Little E?
If Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaves DEI at season's end, one thing is certain: He's going to continue to drive a Chevy. His dad was a Chevy man, and Junior will always be one as well. Here, in order of most likely to least, are the three teams he could drive for in '08.
1. Joe Gibbs Racing: This would be the perfect fit. Gibbs could either add a fourth car or dump the struggling J. J. Yeley to make room for Earnhardt. Plus, Junior is close friends with Gibbs' Tony Stewart, and the two of them could form a powerful one-two combination. The only question would be if Gibbs, a devote Christian, would allow Budweiser to sponsor one of his cars.
2. Richard Childress Racing: Big E won six championships with Childress, and to the sea of red-and-black clad Earnhardt fans, this is the dream destination for Junior. Childress, like Gibbs, has room to add a fourth car to his stable, and the recent resurgence of RCR makes this an attractive landing spot for Little E. But I don't think it would happen. Junior has been careful to craft his own legacy in the sport, and driving for the owner that made his father famous wouldn't be in keeping with that. Someday Little E will pilot the black No. 3 for RCR, but not for a very, very long time.
3. Hendrick Motorsports: Right now Hendrick is the class organization in NASCAR, and any driver in the series would want a spot here. But Hendrick already has four drivers, and next season NASCAR is limiting each organization to only four teams. This means that Hendrick would likely have to dump Casey Mears in the offseason to make room for Earnhardt, but I strongly doubt Hendrick would do that, even if Junior were interested in moving to his team. Hendrick is the kind of person who honors commitments, and he's made one to Mears, who moved to his stable this past offseason. All of which makes Hendrick an unlikely spot for Little E.
Can Dale Earnhardt Jr. win a championship at DEI?
This question goes to the heart of his contract negotiations with his stepmother Teresa Earnhardt, the owner of Dale Earnhardt Inc. Junior, who has never finished higher than third in the final standings in his seven years on the Cup circuit, wants to take control of the company that his father founded in 1996, because he believes that he'll have a better chance of winning it all if he's calling the shots.
What's Teresa's track record as an owner? Well, not great. Under her stewardship since Dale Earnhardt died in February 2001, DEI drivers have made a collective 579 starts. They've won 20 races (or 3.4 percent of their starts), had 97 top-five runs (16.7 percent) and had 184 top 10s (31.7 percent). Over that same time, for comparison, drivers from Hendrick Motorsports have made 891 starts. In those events, Hendrick Chevys have accounted for 57 wins (or 6.3 percent of their starts), 207 top fives (23.2 percent) and 350 top 10s (39.2 percent). The numbers back up what everyone in the garage will tell you: DEI is nowhere near the organization that Hendrick Motorsports is.
But it certainly could be one day -- if DEI has the right leadership. One of the lasting legacies of Big E is that he handpicked all of the important people who now surround his youngest son. Richie Gilmore, who's the director of motorsports at DEI, was one of Earnhardt's closest confidants, and Gilmore has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the top engine builders in NASCAR. Steve Hmiel, the technical director at DEI, used to race against Earnhardt in his early days, and Hmiel's racing acumen is second to none. Two other key personnel at DEI, Tony Eury Sr. (DEI's director of competition) and Tony Eury Jr. (Junior's crew chief), also were selected by Dale Sr. to guide his son's racing team, and both Eurys have a wealth of experience.
Without question, there's plenty of talented personnel at DEI. That's never been the problem. What's been holding Little E back, in my view, is that DEI (read: Teresa) simply hasn't committed the resources to winning that rival teams such as Hendrick have.
Little E has been complaining about a lack of horsepower in his engines for more than two years, and this is a direct reflection of the hard truth that DEI simply doesn't have as many people working on its engines as other teams. Junior, after all, hasn't won a pole since Sept. 27, '02 at Kansas Speedway. That's nearly five years, race fans, and it illustrates the mechanical disadvantage that Junior faces.
If Little E were given ownership of the company, I'm guessing the priorities of DEI would change overnight. Junior is sponsorship gold, and he would pour whatever money it took into building a championship racing organization. He'd keep all of the personnel that was handpicked by his father in place, and they all would be emboldened because they wouldn't be looking over their shoulder and wondering what Teresa -- perhaps the most mysterious, enigmatic figure in NASCAR -- was thinking.
Could DEI someday become the fifth superpower team in NASCAR and join the ruling class of Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing, and Roush Fenway Racing? Absolutely. Will it happen? Well, only if Teresa finally hands Junior the keys to the family kingdom.
