Blame Teresa Earnhardt for demise of the No. 8

[6 Shooter]

Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove the No. 8 car for Dale Earnhardt Inc. for
eight years at NASCAR's top level.​

The No. 8 was once the stuff of tattoos, of piles of money from merchandise sales, of racing lore.

The very suggestion that it would ever belong to anyone else but Dale Earnhardt Jr. was so unimaginable, it was mocked in television commercials.

That was just three years ago. And now this: When the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season resumes at Phoenix, the No. 8 won’t even be on the track.

How did this happen? The chain of events that led the No. 8 from its iconic attachment to the most popular driver in the sport and the most familiar car to this entry into nothingness is still hard to grasp.

It wasn’t supposed to end up this way. After all, the 8 car equaled Earnhardt Jr.; Earnhardt Jr. equaled the 8 car. The No. 8 seemed destined to be one of the great racing numbers of all time.

Now, the 8 car is no more. At least for the time being. Earnhardt Ganassi Racing couldn’t secure funding for Aric Almirola, and so the No. 8 will not be coming to a track near you in the immediate future.

Fans didn’t have any particular attachment to Almirola or his team, so they won’t mourn the loss of the car. The number 8 itself is what held the meaning for them.
As is the case for so many other missteps involving the former Dale Earnhardt Inc., Teresa Earnhardt deserves the blame here.

Call it Earnhardt’s Error. Teresa’s Terrible Try. To recap:

• Under Teresa’s watch, DEI made poor decisions that affected Earnhardt Jr.’s performance, such as switching his cars with those of teammate Michael Waltrip’s after Earnhardt Jr. had just enjoyed a stellar season.

• That ultimately led Earnhardt Jr. to consider driving elsewhere, and when his stepmother refused to give him partial ownership and control of the team, the biggest cash cow in the sport took his show to Hendrick Motorsports.

• Earnhardt Jr. still wanted to keep the No. 8, but Hendrick couldn’t work out a deal to get the number from DEI, which claimed the 8 still had equity and value for sponsors even if Earnhardt Jr. wasn’t driving it.
• Mark Martin drove the 8 with U.S. Army sponsorship last year before leaving the team and handing the car off to Almirola, who never attracted a full-time sponsor even with the number that supposedly had so much of its own identity. DEI had even kept the No. 8 to have the same style as it was on Earnhardt Jr.’s cars, just with a different color.

• With no sponsorship money, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing was forced to shut down the No. 8 team.

How different would things be today if Teresa had just given half of DEI to Earnhardt Jr.? Haas CNC Racing did that for Tony Stewart, and look how competitive Stewart-Haas Racing has turned out to be.

Earnhardt Jr. could have stayed at the company his father founded for the remainder of his career while driving the 8 car, perhaps building a championship-winning organization in the process.

Ultimately, letting Earnhardt Jr. walk irreparably damaged DEI. The organization as we knew it then doesn’t even exist anymore. Yes, the new team is called Earnhardt Ganassi Racing – but it seems in reality to be Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and Teresa Earnhardt.

And do you really think a merger would have even been necessary had Earnhardt Jr. stayed with the team?

As for the 8, without Earnhardt Jr. in the driver’s seat – where he earned 17 of his 18 career victories – the number apparently wasn’t worth that much after all. If it was so valuable, why not shift it to EGR’s Martin Truex Jr., who currently drives the No. 1 car? Perhaps because there’s now more equity built into the 1 than the 8. And that’s sad.

To some people, it’s just business. Numbers don’t mean anything, they say.

But that attitude ignores history and shoves any nostalgia out the window. Fans of Earnhardt Jr. will remember their driver’s time in the 8 as the good ol’ days, when he was winning and tossing back Buds.

If you close your eyes – or load up YouTube, perhaps – you can see the red No. 8 car leading the pack at Talladega as the masses roared their approval.

It’s the same thing for Richard Petty’s No. 43 or the No. 3 of the elder Dale Earnhardt. Numbers are married to drivers in this sport, and it could have been that way forever with Junior and the 8.

Instead, the 8 is lost now, left to suffer a lonely fate. It deserved better.

SceneDaily.com Article

 

[Tuna]

I can't remember who said it but a racing reporter did say that DEI without Jr. will be a museum before it's all over.

 

[ARKvette02]

I think Nascar has become to white washed for me. There are no more rivalries between drivers anymore, they say " Its not good for the sport." God forbid a driver who shows any short of anger--heres your fine. Its also become far to corprate for me too. sensor, sensor, sensor. Lest we forget what this sport is, and where it came from. I think a little "old school" would be fine by me. p.s. I havent watched a full race since Rusty retired.

 

[navy2kcoupe]

I think Nascar has become to white washed for me. There are no more rivalries between drivers anymore, they say " Its not good for the sport." God forbid a driver who shows any short of anger--heres your fine. Its also become far to corprate for me too. sensor, sensor, sensor. Lest we forget what this sport is, and where it came from. I think a little "old school" would be fine by me. p.s. I havent whatched a full race since Rusty retired.

Ditto for me, except replace "Rusty retired" with "Dale Sr. was retired".
NASCAR "North American Stock Car Auto Racing". Yeah....Right! When was the last time you saw a V-8 powered, 4 speed, rear wheel drive Taurus at your Ford dealership.......! It seems to boil down to a B.B. King song for me ........ "The Thrill Is Gone".
Andy

 

[Chrisr]

Ditto for me, except replace "Rusty retired" with "Dale Sr. was retired".
NASCAR "North American Stock Car Auto Racing". Yeah....Right! When was the last time you saw a V-8 powered, 4 speed, rear wheel drive Taurus at your Ford dealership.......! It seems to boil down to a B.B. King song for me ........ "The Thrill Is Gone".
Andy

Same here. Ever since we lost Dale Sr., Nascar hasn't been the same for me. And for some reason, when Toyota came into the picture, it just hit me the wrong way for some reason. I guess because of the word "American" in Nascar, I dunno.
Anyway, I got off topic here. I agree with 6shooters post. Teresa definitley "pooped the bed" by letting Junior walk. Once he left and went to Hendricks, it was all over for DEI.

 

[383_BluByU]

same :bashhere,,,

 

[Witness]

Nascar needs to go back to the "old school" all these pretty boys make me sick!... The race car drivers like Jeff Burton, who say we need to "race clean" are super boring. Personally, I'd probably punch the guy for being so lame.

Jr. can't race anyway....;help;help

 

[rascal_rascal_99]

I think Teresa believed that Dale Jr was bluffing about leaving DEI and thought she would be calling him on it and that she would have the upper hand to work things out and get what she wanted. Obviously he wasn't and without him, DEI is just another "also ran" team. I do think that before it's over with Jr will end up buying DEI and at a much smaller amount than what's been offered in the time prior to Jr's leaving. I also think that for DEI to come close to what it once was is going to depend on Jr's sister as much if not more than him.

 

[6 Shooter]

Yep - That would be Great!

I do think that before it's over with Jr will end up buying DEI...

​

Later . . . . . .
6 Shooter

 

[jr3]

People blame Teresa to much for all the things that have happend with Jr. and DEI... It's easy for people to brand Teresa as the evil stepmother and burn her alive just by relying on rumors and hear say.

There are many more things and family problems there behind closed doors than people know about. I know members of the Earnhardt family and anyone that has had family problems knows that they can be very difficult.

It is just so much easier for some people to beat up on one little lady and blame her for everything bad that has happend to DEI.

The truth is DEI was delt a lethal blow when Dale Sr. died. It was never the same after he died.... And giving Dale Jr. 51% of DEI would have changed nothing.

Why would ANYONE just give away 51% of a multi million dollar company??? Especially to a imature, "self admitted" slacker, that would rather sleep all day, play video games, and stay drunk with his high school "entourage".

Dale Earnhardt Sr. publicly said " It's the people around Dale Jr. that he has to worry about ".

In fact another of Jr.'s companies recently had problems with illegal drugs being sold there.
(Whiskey River employee arrested:

By: News 14 Carolina Web Staff

CHARLOTTE -- Police have charged an employee at an uptown Charlotte bar with selling drugs to undercover officers. Anthony Ortega Rodriguez, 28, was arrested on Tuesday after police received complaints about drugs being sold at Whiskey River. The bar – located at the new EpiCentre -- is owned by NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Police say that when they arrested Rodriguez he was carrying 12 bags of cocaine.)

I am NOT bashing Dale Jr., Not at all.... I am an Earnhardt fan and i want him to do good. But it's not fair to burn Teresa alive and kiss Dale Jr.'s feet when most people dont know the truth about things.

Many people make a big deal about Jr. not getting control of DEI. How could he run DEI when he couldnt even get the JR Motorsports Busch team competitive? He had to get Rick Hendrick to come in and take part of the JR Motorsports team to get it competitive.

At DEI he could always blame Teresa and the team for his consistant poor performance. They changed EVERYTHING on the team for Dale Jr. at DEI to try and get him competitive.


It's hard to say, but now Jr. has NO Excuses. He has done no better at Hendrick Motorsports than he did at DEI. He cant blame Teresa any more, he cant blame the team, he cant blame the cars. At some point the driver has to take responsibility for not getting the job done no matter how popular he might be.

• Dale Jr. now has the BEST team in the sport (HMS).
• Dale Jr. now has the BEST equipment in the sport.
• Dale Jr. now has the BEST technology in the sport.

And yet he does no better at HMS than he did at DEI... His team complains behind closed doors about him "Laying down on them".... Dale Jr. has no more excuses... No one to blame... At some point people have to face reality that the driver is not getting the job done.

Yes his name brings in a ton of money... and that got him the Hendrick ride. But switching to HMS gave him no one to blame any more. Because now he has the best of everything in the sport.

No matter how many people or buddies you have on the "pay roll" that tell you how good of a driver you are, the results speak louder than words.

Dont blame Teresa for the downfall of the #8.... The #8 started its decline in Feb. of 2001 when Dale Sr. died.

 

[rascal_rascal_99]

I agree with a lot of what you say jr3 but there's some things I don't. I do think Jr has the best technology and equipment, and one of the best owners out there...currently his team sucks though, there have been stupid mistakes that have cost him on the track in the last couple of races in the pits, some are crew errors, some driver error. I do think Rick is one of the best at putting winning teams together (I think Joe Gibbs is best at it) and I think before it's over with Jr's team will be finely tuned and if he doesn't become a constant front runner there, then he won't anywhere...but they're not there yet.

As for the business side of Teresa and how she dealt with DEI and Jr, to me what she did was extremely disrespectful to Dale Sr. He made it no secret that DEI was something he looked forward to passing along to his kids, there's no way you'll convince me that he'd have been such a hardass about turning over the company some day, he wanted them to have it! Had he not been killed at daytona I think it's much more likely that he'd have ran DEI for as long as he wanted and then simply passed the torch. DEI losing Dale Jr, whether he wins races or not, I do blame Teresa for completely and losing him was losing the single most marketable thing in nascar today. Along with him leaving, it absolutely shattered the DEI fanbase. Without Jr there, it's just another racing organization and who built it hardly even matters now. Why would anyone give away 51% of a company like DEI? Because it would have been the right thing to do. Looking at it now, if you had a huge ship, would you rather give away 51% and still have 49% of Freedom of the Seas or be greedy and own 100% of the Titanic?

 

[jrose7004]

I'd like to see a nice looking woman with Dale Jr sometime but you just never see it!

 

[jr3]

I agree with a lot of what you say jr3 but there's some things I don't. I do think Jr has the best technology and equipment, and one of the best owners out there...currently his team sucks though, there have been stupid mistakes that have cost him on the track in the last couple of races in the pits, some are crew errors, some driver error. I do think Rick is one of the best at putting winning teams together (I think Joe Gibbs is best at it) and I think before it's over with Jr's team will be finely tuned and if he doesn't become a constant front runner there, then he won't anywhere...but they're not there yet.

As for the business side of Teresa and how she dealt with DEI and Jr, to me what she did was extremely disrespectful to Dale Sr. He made it no secret that DEI was something he looked forward to passing along to his kids, there's no way you'll convince me that he'd have been such a hardass about turning over the company some day, he wanted them to have it! Had he not been killed at daytona I think it's much more likely that he'd have ran DEI for as long as he wanted and then simply passed the torch. DEI losing Dale Jr, whether he wins races or not, I do blame Teresa for completely and losing him was losing the single most marketable thing in nascar today. Along with him leaving, it absolutely shattered the DEI fanbase. Without Jr there, it's just another racing organization and who built it hardly even matters now. Why would anyone give away 51% of a company like DEI? Because it would have been the right thing to do. Looking at it now, if you had a huge ship, would you rather give away 51% and still have 49% of Freedom of the Seas or be greedy and own 100% of the Titanic?

I agree that Dale Sr. may have wanted to "eventually" leave DEI to his kids. But he and Teresa may have felt that his kids were not ready to run DEI... plus you have to also remember that Dale Sr. had a will and he did not leave DEI to Dale Jr. in his will. Dale Sr.'s documented wish was to leave DEI to Teresa.

You have to also keep in mind that there were a lot of family problems involved with this also. Even Dale Jr. has said publicly that his sister did not speak to her father for the last year of his life.

There have been and will always be families and relationships that have been broken up by personal problems.

Should a man and wife stayed married if they hate each other and it is destructive to both sides? Sometimes it is just better for each to go seperate ways before the relationship gets worse.

Or Should Dale Jr. and Teresa stay together in DEI if they hate each other? And the relationship is stressful and destructive?

Both of them are worth millions so i doubt the $$$ was an issue. Not all stories have a good ending. The relationship was never going to get any better, so maybe the best thing was for both to go their own seperate way.

Maybe one day things will work themself out.

 

[jrose7004]

Teresa sure was ready to run DEI wasn't she?

 

[jr3]

Teresa sure was ready to run DEI wasn't she?

I dont think Teresa ran DEI, i think the bean counters did.

 

[84Turbo]

Ditto for me, except replace "Rusty retired" with "Dale Sr. was retired".
NASCAR "North American Stock Car Auto Racing". Yeah....Right! When was the last time you saw a V-8 powered, 4 speed, rear wheel drive Taurus at your Ford dealership.......! It seems to boil down to a B.B. King song for me ........ "The Thrill Is Gone".
Andy

Gotta agree with ya. I quit watching Nascar when the RWD Monte Carlo lost its eligibility. FWD car bodies on RWD platforms just doesn't do anything for me.