Bye-Bye DEI? Dale Jr. Calls 11:00AM ET Press Conference Tomorrow

As I wrote a few weeks ago I just wasn't buying the reports that Dale Earnhardt Jr. was going to re-sign with the company his father founded Dale Earnhardt Inc. People I spoke with who work in the NASCAR biz said there were too many barriers in the relationship between Dale Jr. and his sister Kelley (who is also his business manager) and their stepmother Teresa Earnhardt who currently owns DEI. These same people also told me that Dale Jr. just didn't think he could win with DEI and that during the last 7 or 8 years of his career (he'll likely call it quits at 40) he wants to make hay and win as many races as he can to cement his NASCAR legacy. Well Junior has called a press conference for tomorrow morning at 11:00am ET and if you are Teresa Earnhardt and DEI President of Global Operations Max Siegel that's not at all good news for you. As a matter of fact Yahoo! Sports is reporting that Dale Jr. will officially say goodbye to Dale Earnhardt Inc. on Thursday morning. Junior and teammate Martin Truex Jr. will announce Thursday morning that they are leaving the DEI camp at the end of this season and will drive for Earnhardt's heretofore Busch Series operation JR Motorsports. Sirius Satellite Radio also reported late Wednesday afternoon that the Earnhardt/Truex split with DEI was a done deal and that the new Cup team entry will field Chevrolet chassis built by Hendrick Motorsports and will use Hendrick engines as well. Sources at Hendrick Motorsports reportedly disavowed knowledge of a pending partnership however. Sources tell Yahoo! Sports that Earnhardt Jr.'s primary sponsor Budweiser will follow Junior to JR Motorsports. Budweiser's contract with DEI is due to expire at the end of 2008 but Yahoo! Sports sources believe there are provisions within the contract for an early exit if Earnhardt Jr. does not drive the No. 8 Chevrolet for DEI. Budweiser reportedly pays between $20-$25M per year to sponsor Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car. If this is all in fact true Teresa Earnhardt and Max Siegel will have lost NASCAR's most popular driver the past 4 years running and the company's founder's son who was to carry on his legacy at DEI. If Teresa Earnhardt was not willing to give Dale Jr. the 51% percent of DEI that he said he needed in order to stay with the company she's made a mistake that she will likely regret for the rest of her life. As sad as it may be for some to see Junior leave his father's company it was really a move he had to make if he wanted to win races. Junior has gone 36 races without a win and that has not set well with him at all. If he does in fact strike a deal with Hendrick Motorsports he'll be much more competitive than he would be if he remained at DEI with the current set up. Junior will now enhance his own brand via JR Motorsports and he'll have absolutely no problem getting sponsors. As I said on SBR Junior is the biggest free agent to ever hit the NASCAR market and if reports tonight are true he'll be signing himself instead of signing with someone else's race team. Why let someone else own you when you can call your own shots? If he partners with the right company for his engines this is a brilliant move in my opinion. Its definitely not an easy task to race for a team you own (ask Michael Waltrip) but Junior has a keen business sense and if anyone can do it he can. What happens now to DEI? Several reports have circulated. One has DEI and Yates Racing merging. The other has John Maynard of Maynard's sporting goods buying DEI from Teresa Earnhardt - the two are supposedly close - and then Maynard would merge with Yates Racing. Otherwise DEI will simply become a marketing company for all Dale Earnhardt Sr. licensing and they'll likely oversee his museum. Not exactly what DEI President of Global Operations Max Siegel signed up for.    

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