By the time Max Siegel arrived at Dale Earnhardt Inc., it was already too late. Less than a month before he was hired as the team's president of global operations, owner Teresa Earnhardt had made public comments questioning Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s commitment as a driver. A month after Siegel was hired, Earnhardt Jr. demanded a 51 percent ownership stake in the company his late father founded. It was like hiring a contractor to try and repair a building that had too many fissures in the foundation, and was destined to crumble to the ground.
In that atmosphere, as the antagonism between stepmother and stepson began to simmer, Siegel really had very little chance of brokering an ownership deal between two parties growing further apart by the day. That's too bad. Because had Siegel been brought to DEI a little earlier, before the differences between Teresa and Dale Earnhardt Jr. began to fracture their always-precarious business and personal relationships, the former record-company executive might have had a chance to pull off a miracle, and keep NASCAR's most popular driver in that No. 8 Budweiser DEI Chevy for a little longer.
Siegel is the executive-level buffer DEI has always needed, and a perfect one at that. The Indianapolis native, who earned a law degree at Notre Dame, has made a career out of deftly handling artists and athletes, two groups of people who aren't always easy to handle. He worked as an agent for football great Reggie White and baseball legend Tony Gwynn. He was part of a leadership group at Sony BMG Music that marketed performers like Usher, Beyonce, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. He ran a gospel record label that turned out more gold and platinum records than any other.
He's sharp, funny, unafraid of facing the media, and gives DEI an at-track presence the camera-shy Teresa rarely does. At first Earnhardt Jr. didn't know what to make of this new team executive without a motorsports background. A bond between the two was forged after Siegel shared stories of growing up in a broken home, something Earnhardt could relate to. Earnhardt Jr. and his sister Kelley, now his manger, moved in with their father and Teresa at a young age after a fire destroyed the home they lived in with their natural mother. That forced cohabitation, many believe, is where the roots of the frosty relationship between Dale Jr. and Teresa began to sprout.
Siegel seems to understand that. He seems to understand what Earnhardt Jr. means to his fan base and his sport, something Teresa has always been unwilling or unable to grasp. He seems able to serve as that long-needed intermediary between two parties that have a mutual interest, but rarely see eye-to-eye. He has somehow been able to pull off the delicate balancing act of earning Earnhardt Jr.'s trust while representing the interests of Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the same time.
That much was evident last weekend at Michigan, when Earnhardt Jr. explained why his trademark No. 8 will not follow him to Hendrick Motorsports, his new home beginning next season. It would have been a move without precedent, really -- car numbers have always stayed with owners, not drivers -- and Teresa understandably wanted a cut of the gravy-train licensing revenues that will surely follow Junior's move. It the driver's eyes, a deal with a caveat like that was a non-starter. Still, Siegel "tried his butt off," Junior said, to try and make it happen. He had promised Siegel a new set of golf clubs, fresh from adidas subsidiary Taylor Made, if he could pull it off.
It's difficult to imagine Earnhardt Jr. striking a deal like that with Teresa, a person for whom he is no longer able to hide his disdain. While Junior softened his comments this week at Bristol, there is no more dancing around the issue - he wants his stepmother out of his life. He's willing to give up the 8, a number raced by both his father and grandfather, to do it. "If I was to get the 8, and allow Teresa to have limited control of it, I'd still have to deal with her, and that wasn't what I wanted," he said this past weekend. No wonder Dale Jr. and Teresa couldn't be in the same room with each other as the two sides worked on an ill-fated contract extension. No wonder he moved on.
Siegel, though, is a different story. Siegel appeared at the May news conference at JR Motorsports when Earnhardt Jr. announced his split with DEI. Junior praised his work then, and praises it now. He may be Teresa's top lieutenant, but Siegel has never publicly uttered a word questioning Dale Jr.'s commitment or decision-making, and you're led to believe he wouldn't do so privately, either. It's obvious who his boss is, but he's never come across as choosing sides. He's somehow been able to stand between these two warring factions who don't trust one another, and convince both of them to trust him.
In retrospect, it's impressive that Siegel kept the negotiations between Earnhardt Jr. and DEI alive as long as he did. Just imagine what he might have been able to accomplish with a little more time. Had he been brought aboard a little earlier in the game, before it got personal, before it got ugly, the man with the penchant for making gold records just might have produced his biggest hit.
In that atmosphere, as the antagonism between stepmother and stepson began to simmer, Siegel really had very little chance of brokering an ownership deal between two parties growing further apart by the day. That's too bad. Because had Siegel been brought to DEI a little earlier, before the differences between Teresa and Dale Earnhardt Jr. began to fracture their always-precarious business and personal relationships, the former record-company executive might have had a chance to pull off a miracle, and keep NASCAR's most popular driver in that No. 8 Budweiser DEI Chevy for a little longer.
Siegel is the executive-level buffer DEI has always needed, and a perfect one at that. The Indianapolis native, who earned a law degree at Notre Dame, has made a career out of deftly handling artists and athletes, two groups of people who aren't always easy to handle. He worked as an agent for football great Reggie White and baseball legend Tony Gwynn. He was part of a leadership group at Sony BMG Music that marketed performers like Usher, Beyonce, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. He ran a gospel record label that turned out more gold and platinum records than any other.
He's sharp, funny, unafraid of facing the media, and gives DEI an at-track presence the camera-shy Teresa rarely does. At first Earnhardt Jr. didn't know what to make of this new team executive without a motorsports background. A bond between the two was forged after Siegel shared stories of growing up in a broken home, something Earnhardt could relate to. Earnhardt Jr. and his sister Kelley, now his manger, moved in with their father and Teresa at a young age after a fire destroyed the home they lived in with their natural mother. That forced cohabitation, many believe, is where the roots of the frosty relationship between Dale Jr. and Teresa began to sprout.
Siegel seems to understand that. He seems to understand what Earnhardt Jr. means to his fan base and his sport, something Teresa has always been unwilling or unable to grasp. He seems able to serve as that long-needed intermediary between two parties that have a mutual interest, but rarely see eye-to-eye. He has somehow been able to pull off the delicate balancing act of earning Earnhardt Jr.'s trust while representing the interests of Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the same time.
That much was evident last weekend at Michigan, when Earnhardt Jr. explained why his trademark No. 8 will not follow him to Hendrick Motorsports, his new home beginning next season. It would have been a move without precedent, really -- car numbers have always stayed with owners, not drivers -- and Teresa understandably wanted a cut of the gravy-train licensing revenues that will surely follow Junior's move. It the driver's eyes, a deal with a caveat like that was a non-starter. Still, Siegel "tried his butt off," Junior said, to try and make it happen. He had promised Siegel a new set of golf clubs, fresh from adidas subsidiary Taylor Made, if he could pull it off.
It's difficult to imagine Earnhardt Jr. striking a deal like that with Teresa, a person for whom he is no longer able to hide his disdain. While Junior softened his comments this week at Bristol, there is no more dancing around the issue - he wants his stepmother out of his life. He's willing to give up the 8, a number raced by both his father and grandfather, to do it. "If I was to get the 8, and allow Teresa to have limited control of it, I'd still have to deal with her, and that wasn't what I wanted," he said this past weekend. No wonder Dale Jr. and Teresa couldn't be in the same room with each other as the two sides worked on an ill-fated contract extension. No wonder he moved on.
Siegel, though, is a different story. Siegel appeared at the May news conference at JR Motorsports when Earnhardt Jr. announced his split with DEI. Junior praised his work then, and praises it now. He may be Teresa's top lieutenant, but Siegel has never publicly uttered a word questioning Dale Jr.'s commitment or decision-making, and you're led to believe he wouldn't do so privately, either. It's obvious who his boss is, but he's never come across as choosing sides. He's somehow been able to stand between these two warring factions who don't trust one another, and convince both of them to trust him.
In retrospect, it's impressive that Siegel kept the negotiations between Earnhardt Jr. and DEI alive as long as he did. Just imagine what he might have been able to accomplish with a little more time. Had he been brought aboard a little earlier in the game, before it got personal, before it got ugly, the man with the penchant for making gold records just might have produced his biggest hit.
