Teresa Earnhardt's short-sightedness led to DEI's troubles

Note to Teresa Earnhardt: You should have just let your stepson take the No. 8 with him when he walked out the door.
Now, with that said, let’s embark on a short journey into the history of the No. 8. Regardless of how dear the number is to Ms. Earnhardt, it once belonged to Junior’s grandfather, Ralph Earnhardt, and also to his father, Dale Sr. That was what made it special to him and that is why he should have been allowed to take the number with him when he joined Hendrick Motor Sports in 2008.
But she didn’t and now look what has happened. The famous No. 8 is sitting parked in a shop in Mooresville, N.C., collecting dust. Junior one-upped his stepmother by adapting to the No. 88, but he shouldn’t have had to.
I don’t want to pile on — OK, yes, I do — but let’s face it. Teresa Earnhardt’s arrogance has killed what was once known as DEI.
Even with the mergers of the now Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, the best guy on the team is ex-Formula 1 racer Juan Pablo Montoya. And he came from Ganassi. The supposed star of the show, Martin Truex Jr., is mired deep in the points standings and could be looking for a new ride.
It might be too early to publish DEI’s obituary, but I feel safe in saying that with the lack of sponsorship dollars and only one driver performing above par, EGR is definitely on life-support.
Perhaps the best thing that could happen is to remove the Earnhardt affiliation and let those who know about racing do what they do best. No doubt that Teresa Earnhardt wants to hold on to everything she can pertaining to her late husband and the company he so proudly built, but maybe it’s time she let go because it will never be the same. Besides, those who were once fans of what was once considered the jewel of the sport are pointing fingers … and they are pointing them in her direction.
In other NASCAR news, Lesa France-Kennedy will become the CEO of International Speedway Corp., the publicly-traded sister company of NASCAR. She is the sister to Brian France, the chairman of NASCAR. In the grand scheme of things, nothing really changes except for the fact that her uncle, Jim France, is stepping down from the position she is filling. The announcement from ISC stated that this has always been the plan and that it falls in line with the “plan of succession” for the company.
Just a note, the ISC stock price closed 6 cents higher on the NASDAQ after the announcement was made.
The sport is heading to Phoenix this weekend after taking off for Easter. It looks like there will be a full field of competition despite some of the teams not having sponsorship, which in some ways is not surprising.
Looking back at the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, I think the last place car earned something like $84,000-plus. That’s not bad money when you think about it. Do that several times a year and you can earn a decent living running at the back of the field. Sure, you will never be a contender for the Sprint Cup Championship but not everyone can be a winner — someone has to run last.
I am willing to bet that whoever finishes dead last at Phoenix will take home at least $50,000. Maybe I should learn to drive a hauler, buy a Sprint Cup car, hire some crew guys and get a driver looking to go fast — albeit not as fast as everyone else — and go racing. Hmmm, maybe not.
Anyway, back to racing. With the Sprint Cup taking the weekend off, the only NASCAR racing action was in the Nationwide Series this past week. And if you missed, the race then you missed one of the coolest crashes that I have ever seen. Don’t ask me how because the camera wasn’t focused in, but Joe Nemechek ended up flipping his car, landed on four wheels, managed to keep it off of the retaining wall and drove away. Now, NASCAR made him come in with just a handful of laps in the race but he could have continued with a pretty good finish. Why did NASCAR give him a black flag? His roof flaps wouldn’t go down. Is that not ridiculous or what? There were seven or eight laps left in the race; they could have let him finish.
By the way, Joey Logano held off Kyle “Rowdy” Busch to take the win, proving that he won’t be rattled by Rowdy.
That’s about it for this week. If you are interested in attending the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the Indy Racing League double-header at Texas Motor Speedway in June, keep watching. I am working on a ticket giveaway that will allow several fans VIP access during the event.