Will DEI Survive?
It appears as if the "chickens have come home to roost" for Teresa Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Inc. With Paul Menard's departure following the 2008 season — and the subsequent departure of his sponsorship to Yates Racing — that leaves DEI with three of its four cars without sponsorship for next season. Martin Truex Jr.'s No. 1 is the only one of DEI's Chevrolet's that has guaranteed sponsorship in Bass Pro Shops. The No. 8 driven by Aric Almirola, the No. 01 driven by Regan Smith, and the now vacant No. 15 have no primary financial backing for 2009, at least that the public knows about.

Is this payback for Ms. Earnhardt, who absolutely refused to sell Dale Earnhardt Jr. the business last year before Earnhardt Jr. decided to take his talents over to Hendrick Motorsports? It seems so. Perhaps the smart thing for her to do would have been to take her mutli, multi millions and run with them and let the company's namesake take his rightful place as CEO. Regrets? Yeah, you can bet she's got more than a few now.

The people to feel sorry for now is the employees at DEI. With the lack of sponsorship available for next season, it's difficult to predict what's going to happen with those teams now. It's almost certain that Smith will be out of a job, and that the organization won't even run the No. 01 next year, which puts the members of that team out of work, too. The No. 15? That team may be a foregone conclusion, too.

Almirola's No. 8 team is searching for sponsorship, too, and that's sure to hamper that team's performance if they have to piecemeal a bunch of deals together. Can't see them making a run at the Chase next year by any stretch. The fact that Truex Jr. re-signed with DEI was one of great mystery to me, too. I figured he'd jump ship and at least try to land at Penske (before Stremme got the No. 12 deal) or perhaps RCR (before Mears got the No. 07). Now, Truex is stuck in no-man's land at DEI, too, without much of a prayer for success.

What does everyone think now? Is Ms. Earnhardt getting some come-uppance, perhaps? Only time will tell.
Posted: 10/7/2008 8:16:24 AM
Comments:
As njohns24 said, she got what she asked for! The best thing she could have done was give DaleJr controlling intrest of DEI and she would have made enough money off of her part of the company, but she had to be GREEDY! If I was Truex Jr, I would be looking to see how long Mark Martin will be in the 5 car, if Mark is only going to be there a year then Truex needs to see if he can do a deal with Hendrick for 2010. Then the buddies can be teamates again.
Posted On: 10/10/2008 3:13:33 PM
Max Seigel singlehandidly has run that company into the ground.But because of the color of his skin and the Diversity issue no one dare say a word.Budweiser,Us Army and Menards all know he's lost and want nothing to do with him.
Posted On: 10/9/2008 8:25:50 PM
I think she is getting what she asked for. She should have worked out A deal with Dale jr. And than everybody could be happy and race
Posted On: 10/9/2008 4:34:57 AM

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