Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Diary

February 9, 2007 - Daytona Speedweeks

"The main factor is the ownership part. It has nothing to do with money and nothing else really. I would really like my team, I like how things are going. The motors are improving, everything is on an upswing. My father has been gone for almost six years now, I want majority ownership."
As in more than 50 percent? "Absolutely.”
"I really don't want the headaches of being a Cup owner. I would just as soon drive, save as much money as I can and retire. I want to race a long, long, long time.”

"He's a great guy to talk to and a great guy to work with," Earnhardt Jr. said of Siegel. "He's going to speed things up. He's going to improve negotiations and help those things make it a little bit easier. A lot of the problems in the past, it was very clunky in how it went along. Really, you could never get gears meshed. I think he [Siegel] can improve that. I told him how I felt about where the company was, where it should be and some of the things that should be done differently. We just sort of bounced a lot of ideas and things like that off each other. We didn't even talk about the contract. It's one hell of a breakthrough for DEI, I'll tell you that. I hate to make predictions, but this guy is pretty impressive. To sit down and talk to him a little bit, I think that he brings a lot of integrity and credibility to wherever he's at."
You don't like public opinion or media opinions to sway decisions. But in this case, I have a real bad habit of being way too modest about my position in this sport. A lot of people, including the media, have helped me understand what I'm worth, what the situation really is. People around me are all the time having to remind me of the magnitude of me. They're like, 'Hey, we want you to come to the ESPYS to present?' I'm freaked out, scared to death to go to it. They're like, 'Man, you've got to get more confidence because you're that big. You deserve to be there on that stage.' The media, when you guys write about the position that I have, the leverage that I have, it sort of helps me understand what my sister, J.R. Rhodes and all of those people have been trying to explain to me for the last five or six years.“ Asked if Teresa understood that value, Earnhardt Jr. said, "You'll have to ask her. I don't want to put words in her mouth."

I’ve tried to be good and stay professional in my comments about Teresa. I've tried to portray my feelings, but tried to keep the bitterness out of it because, at times, you get bitter about it. Being the younger guy in the whole mess, I tried to stay professional. But it is kind of frustrating at times. I don't make a habit of seeking out attention all the time. She portrayed it like I was out there waving a flag, 'Hey. Look at me. I can dance. I can sing. Check me out.' You know, like I'm trying to do all this different stuff."

“Richard is a great car owner and a good friend, and his program has improved a lot. I get along with a lot of guys over there. Some of them worked with my dad. I talk to them in the garage area regularly."

APRIL 2007

"Kelley probably wouldn't let me if I wanted to," Earnhardt Jr. said, on the topic of driving for his own team.

MAY 10, 2007

DALE EARNHARDT JR OFFICIALLY LEAVES DEI

June 3

June 13, 2007:

DALE EARNHARDT JR OFFICIALLY JOINS

HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS

AUGUST 2007:

December Update:

Teresa & Dale Jr. haven’t spoke since July, not even about Christmas L

JANUARY 2008: 2008 PRE-SEASON MEDIA TOUR

"I don't know what else you would expect. I'll tell you one thing - I don't think there is any animosity (resentment), and I don't think they would do anything to directly insinuate we're totally free of that or we don't want to have anything to do with him or we don't want to recognize his time here. I don't think there was any intention on that. I don't think Max is like that or Teresa is like that. If it is, it doesn't matter to me. But I'm sure it looks different over there."

"Max is a great face for the business, and if it's him, it's him. She doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want to. It's up to her what she wants to do. If she wants to let Max handle it, then that's who we should all respect as the leader of the company. But it would help, I think, the morale of the guys around there for her to plug in more into what's going on, so when she does come up to you and make a comment, you believe it's sincere and you don't think that's just her way of putting in her two cents every six months."

"I'm still great friends with Truex. We talk every night. Literally, every night. We don't talk about DEI, we don't talk about Hendrick. But I know if there was something to happen, if there was something uncomfortable or interesting that he felt like I needed to know, I think we'd discuss it. An unfortunate part of the whole process is that it had to happen. I didn't want to be there anymore, regardless of where I was going to go. It ended OK. It could have been a whole lot uglier. It's unfortunate that that's part of the process to get to where I am now."

"I could see me and Casey working together. I never thought I would be working with Jeff. The way him and my dad were competitors, I felt I would always be his competitor. He and my dad were such competitors and I thought we would always be competitors. So it's very strange and it feels strange. I'm excited to have the opportunity to work with him. But when you get to thinking about it, how did we get to this, how did we get to here, and what a freaking journey it was."

“I went to Daytona because I wanted to see race cars. It ended up doing more good than I anticipated. It impressed them, and that was great, I didn't anticipate that happening. Honestly, Daytona can get here when it gets here. I’m enjoying talking about (driving for Hendrick). It’s been so much fun. Every bit of it.”

"There's been a lot of references to me and it seems I've taken over the headlines, so to speak. And I'm uncomfortable with that. I didn't want those guys to resent me. I just wanted to come here and do well. I didn't want to give them the opinion I wanted to steal the limelight. There's been a lot of references to me coming over here. It's sort of taking over the headlines here so to speak. I'm not real comfortable with that. I'm just trying to come in and do well. I don't want to give them the opinion that I'm trying to steal the limelight, and those guys are well deserving. I didn't win a race last year and for me to be a page ahead of him [Johnson] in the newspaper, it shouldn't be that way. That's not my intentions. When we're working around here, doing things around here, I just try to keep my mouth shut. I don't want to give them the opinion that I'm trying to steal the limelight when those guys are well deserving of it. Jimmie has been the champion for the last two years; big story going into the season should be whether he can three peat. That's the story. I just want to come in here and work. I want them to be glad that I'm here. I want them to be happy that they have me as a teammate because I've helped them in some way throughout the year. That's my goal."

"Coming from him -- he's the top dude -- you've got to be the luckiest guy on earth to be in motor sports. There's not a guy out there who wouldn't want that. That blows my mind. A year ago, I would never have believed that would be said by Brian. Maybe he's trying to send me a message to get off my butt. But it's pretty impressive him saying that." - Jr. on Brian’s quote that the ratings were done because of him

“I don't really think I'm required to prove I'm a good driver. I want to prove I'm a great one. I want to be in that top-50 (all-time) list. The pressure not to fail was prevalent over everything else," he said. "Now, it's more of an opportunity. I can't wait for (next week's test at Las Vegas and California Speedway), and I almost get mad at myself at saying that because I hate testing.”