Whose ball is it?
“Right now the ball’s in his court to decide on whether he wants to be a NASCAR driver or a public personality,” Teresa Earnhardt, DEI CEO and president said in the Wall Street Journal on December 18, 2006.
Back in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s first couple of years, I’d expect Teresa Earnhardt to say this. The NASCAR Media hounded on that thought.
“I just look at racing maybe a little different than other guys do,” Dale Jr. was quoted in 2001. “There’s nothing better and nothing I’d rather do than be going around the track in a racecar. That’s something I’ve fallen in love with and don’t want to give up for a long time.” It wasn’t all about the championships because if it didn’t work out, he’d go back to working on cars.
But as he continued racing, his determination picked up and he wanted to win the title and took the whole situation more seriously. Situations where he would have just gave up or bitched about; he stuck to them ready to rise to the top.
“You want to do better, but as long as we don’t give up, I’ll keep trying as hard as I can,” he said following some tough races throughout the 2005 season. “Going through it ain’t fun. But we work hard like everyone else.”
The new chemistry wasn’t there with Pete Rondeau but he stuck to it ready to come out on top. This showed the first major signs of the growth of determination but still he was down played. The media now started saying DEI wasn’t the place to be. They said the equipment wasn’t there like Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing (RCR) & Rouch Racing. But Jr. stood tall staying behind his team.
“I don’t know if I’ve driven as hard in my life as I have in the last few weeks since Bristol,” Dale Jr. said at Texas in 2005. “This team makes me wanna drive hard. I want to do well for them. We’re still not totally where we need to be as a team, but we’re getting there. I stepped up my commitment to the team this week and Pete and the rest of the guys have stepped up as well. That’s what it takes: the whole team.”
With a higher commitment level and a team behind their driver, they were ready to prove everyone they were determined and ready to contend. Plus the return of Tony Eury Jr., who went over to Michael for 2005 after 2004 due to the relationship issues with Dale Jr., the team had even higher hopes.
The second race proved they were on their way to their goal when they had a top fifteen run on an intermediate track, a.k.a cookie cutter, where they normally would find no success. They improved on their cookie cutter program as the season went on showing they could be one of the top teams. Yet even more evidence came of determination at Martinsville, a ½ mile paperclip, where he finished forth after ruining the back bumper and tearing the left front fender off. Usually Dale Jr. would ride around complaining about the car but instead they proved he could come back.
The crew also fixed the car in 2003 at Talladega so Jr. could win his forth race there in a row. But not as much was stated because nobody was truly questioning him due to his persona and the close call NASCAR made about Jr. and the yellow line rule. His persona was the bachelor who had lots of huge parties. But that changed in 2005 & 2006 with the crew chief changes and the performance of the Brew Crew overall. So with the cookie cutter and Martinsville, a lot of people regained the strength held before. Of course this all comes with the deep motivation he now holds.
“I just feed off my own motivation now,” Jr. said going into the 2006 Nextel Cup Chase for the Championship. “And my motivation is to win a championship.
“A championship would give Dale a lot of clarity because we didn’t get to continue our relationship with our dad and our relationship was changing,” his sister and business manager Kelley Earnhardt Elledge said. “It would be a sigh of relief.”
Coming from a family where your father is a 7-time Winston Cup champion, the pressure rides high on your shoulders. With that being said, he’d gain no creditability no matter what till he gets one Cup title. Plus all the drivers dream of the big prize so with motivation in full gear, determination was growing. And with that, the team was getting better.
“I think we are there,” Jr. said following the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond. “We keep taking our shots, but we’re pretty competitive. Everything is working really great. I couldn’t ask for any position to be better on this team.”
They showed they could be better than most by being one of the ten drivers to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup. He was set to try to capture the title yet the first race of the Chase, the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire, he finished 15th losing ground to points leaders Jeff Burton & Kevin Harvick. This brought out the first instalment from Jr. on determination.
“People have taken shots at me saying I don’t care about winning,” Dale Jr. said following the race. “But I can tell you nobody else wants to win more when I’m in a racecar.”
Truthfully, how can everyone question him if their not close to him? That’s why the quote from Teresa hits hard but how could she say that after Texas?
At Texas Motor Speedway on November 5th in the Dickies 500, he was sick and he also hit the wall on lap 50. But he got a top 10 even when crew chief Tony Jr. president they’d be running around 25th after the wreck.
“I figured we’d be riding around 25th,” Tony Jr. said following the race. “Honestly, when a car hits the wall that hard, very rarely are you able to bring it back and finish in the top 10.”
“We’ve been called a lot of things,” Dale Jr. added. “It would be great to be called resilient. This team is really strong, very dedicated. They have carried me whenever I needed it.” The Texas race had set the stage that they were a strong team. The question of determination was erased.
That was until Teresa started the off-season with a quote on December 18th with a quote in an article about the hiring of DEI’s newest employee Max Siegel.
“Right now the ball’s in his court to decide on whether he wants to be a NASCAR driver or a public personality,” she told the Wall Street Journal. The quote surprised Dale Jr. because Teresa hadn’t spoke to him personally about it.
Was the quote sparked by the relationship between them? They have never had the strong bond between each other due to when Jr. moved in with Teresa at the age of 6.
“I don’t want to get too personal, but Teresa is my stepmother, and I have a mother at home that I have a very good relationship with,” Jr. told the press at the Preseason Thunder press conference. “Mine and Teresa’s relationship has always been very black-and-white, very strict and in-your-face.”
Or is it over the future of DEI? Dale Jr. wants a say in the company but Teresa holds the key to him getting that. Is she not willing to give him a say? Is she scared that he will grow and own a bigger piece of the DEI pie?
Will this be the key that breaks apart DEI? Well it could possibly happen because team owner Richard Childress has offered Jr. a spot at Richard Childress Racing where Jr.’s father won 6 of his 7 titles.
"If things don't work out over there (at Dale Earnhardt Inc.) and he ever does leave, I hope he'll come and talk to me first," said Richard Childress recently. So if it comes down to it, Jr. could leave the family backed team for RCR over something small which will be the end of DEI. DEI will plummet because it is Dale Jr. who is bringing in the money for them due to his popularity.
Yet the truth in Teresa’s quote lies in her hands and has left the media and Jr. confused. But truly Jr. is determined even if he hasn’t won a Nextel Cup title yet.
“As a driver over the last several years, I’ve faced scrutiny and question marks about my determination and where my true passion lies,” Jr. said. “It didn’t really bother me that bad. Everybody’s always wondered exactly what my dedication level was and how passionate about driving I was.
“My dad had his style. He set a high bar with the way he drove and how he felt about racing. He pretty much wore it on his sleeve. When I first started, it was ‘Whatever, man. It this doesn’t work out I’ll go back to working on cars at the dealership’ …. Each year, that determination and how much it really mattered got more powerful. This last season I felt like (that determination) was equal to anybody in this sport. I finally got that level where it matters to me as much as anybody else.”