Posted on 11/20/2006 4:55:50 AM PST by WestCoastGal
Earnhardt Jr., not stepmom, has all the support
Published January 26, 2007
Even as a toddler he was proud of who he was. If you asked him his name, he would say it like this: "Dale! . . . Earnhardt! . . . Junior!"
By the time he was 3 -- soon after his parents divorced, and his father hit the big time -- I saw, up close, how hard it was to be Dale Earnhardt Jr.
He is 32 now. It hasn't gotten any easier. And I don't think it's going to -- until and unless he frees himself from Dale Earnhardt Inc.
The issue teeters now, in his ongoing negotiations for a new contract.
The only thing new about his long-difficult relationship with his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, is that it's out in the open at last.
It has boiled over into the media in recent weeks since he acknowledged to reporters at a Daytona test session that the relationship "ain't a bed of roses," and that it "has always been very black-and-white, very strict and in-your-face."
There. He said it. He finally said what he has stepped to the precipice of saying so many times since his father's death in 2001.
Indeed, he said, "The relationship we have today is the same relationship we had when I was 6 years old when I moved into that house with Dad and her. It hasn't gotten worse over the last couple of years or couple of months . . . the way I felt about her then is the way I feel about her now."
That was his first public response to her remark in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, published Dec. 14, that "the ball is in his court to decide whether he wants to be a NASCAR driver or whether he wants to be a public personality."
"I really didn't appreciate it," he said at Daytona after nearly a month -- on top of years and years -- of biting his tongue. He was, if nothing else, bewildered -- all NASCAR drivers must be public personalities to please their sponsors.
This week, sympathetic peers, particularly Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick, fueled the uproar with comments in defense of their friend during NASCAR's preseason media tour of team compounds in North Carolina.
Harvick called Teresa "a deadbeat owner" to one group of reporters. Perhaps he meant "absentee" owner because she rarely comes to races while most other owners show up every Sunday.
More biting still was Harvick's remark that "it's not just a money pit [where] somebody says, 'Well, I can make money off Dale Jr., I can make money off [the name of] Dale Earnhardt . . .' "
Gordon, while expressing hope that Junior will stay at DEI, added his doubts: "I think it [the public squabble] has gone too far. When it gets ugly in the media, it's usually very, very difficult to rebound from that."
Gordon didn't let up. It was as if the pressure cooker friends had sensed surrounding Junior for years was blowing all its steam at once.
"He can go to any team [in a heartbeat to Richard Childress, his father's treasured friend and longtime car owner]. He can start his own team [Junior has one in development, or he could buy control of DEI from his stepmother]. He's got the sponsors who are willing to back him [representatives of his primary sponsor, Budweiser, have acknowledged privately for years that they'll go with him wherever he wants], and the fans that are going to back him [Junior is clearly NASCAR's most popular driver].
"He's really in the power position," Gordon said, "and if Teresa isn't recognizing that, then shame on her."
Teresa Earnhardt is generally closed off to the media. The December interview was beyond rare. It's impossible to give her side of the story when she won't tell it.
Even at the height of the storm (so far), Wednesday night at the DEI media function, she gave a perfunctory welcoming speech of less than a minute, took no questions, and left.
And there sat Junior on a stage, before hundreds of reporters and dozens of TV cameras, to face the barrage of questions about the relationship.
Told of Harvick's earlier comments, Earnhardt paused, then said, "Man, you're killin' me." Translation: Please, please don't ask me to talk about this anymore.
The body language was uncomfortable, but the face was expressionless. And I had a flashback to some 27 years ago at a race-weekend dinner at the Darlington Country Club in South Carolina.
The little kid, his father and I were sitting together. Someone was making a speech. The only little boy in the room couldn't see over all the adults. So he stood up on his chair to get a better view.
His father was saying something to me and then turned around and saw Dale Jr. up on the chair. Profanely, Senior told the kid to sit down, and drove home the point with a quick, sharp spanking.
More here>>>>
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/local/orl-hinton2607jan26,0,894579.column?track=rss
This story will make your heart hurt.....at least it did mine.
PING
We've had Cox for years, no problems other than an occasional hick-up - say once or twice a year.
Last summer, it got real bad. It was obvious they decided to do their maintenance on the weekends. Zero problems during the week. BUT COME SUNDAY MORNING AND RACE TIME - guess what? Sorry for yelling.
Almost every Sunday morning, from mid-June through August, signal interuption - sometimes short, sometimes long.
Their standard answer was, "We have no other reported problems in your area, sir, so it has to be with your equipment." Finally had a tech (3rd time to my house) tell me, "they are doing node upgrades for expansion - and they don't want to tell anyone about it." I asked why can't they do it at 2 or 3 in the morning? "They don't want to pay the overtime or night differential pay."
Nice.
The next time I had to call them, I asked for a supervisor - got the same song and dance. I asked, "Do you keep records of trouble calls?"....."Of course we do!"...."When was the last time I called?"...."A week ago."...."Last Sunday, right?"...."Yes sir."....."And the time before that?"...."ummm...it was a Sunday, sir."...."And the time before that will be a Sunday, also. Do you see a pattern here, bud?" "Now either you folks programmed my cable box to screw up only on Sunday's...or you are lying to me, mister!" He told me a 'regional representive' would be in touch with me, then hung up.
But that was the last Sunday that I had signal problems. Now though, it's almost daily that we see some sort of signal degradation (like putting your finger on a spinning record, almost goes out but not quite).
The icing on the cake was the letter from Cox...."We will no longer provide the Nascar In-Car package..."
Bye-bye. Their Internet connection is fine. No problems. (probably should not have even said that!).
The neighbor across the street has DirectTV and Cox for Internet. No problems, at all, with DirectTV for over 3 years.
I think it was P-R-B that posted the info about the Nascar package on DirectTV - that was when I started looking.
Sorry for the rant - just frustrating.
Schmucks!
LVM
Would that be the base ball tie in? Boston owner - forget the name.
So would I.
Watch for the big guy on the curb!
lol
Which story? There is so many flying around right now! I read back through the thread, but am confused about which one you are talking about??
Jr: "Translation: Please, please don't ask me to talk about this anymore.
Still think there are too many people trying to butt into Jr/DEI's business.
Pinged to 841
Flash, Smoke and JJ alert.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Qualifying results for the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 27-28, the first round of the 14-race Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve at Daytona International Speedway.
Qualifying results include starting position, (car number), drivers and hometowns with qualifying driver first, class, car, best lap time, best lap speed.
1. (99) Alex Gurney, Irvine, Calif.; Jon Fogarty, Bend, Ore.; Jimmy Vasser, Las Vegas, Nev.; Bob Stallings, Dallas, Texas; DP, GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley, 1:43.475, 123.856 mph. [Alex Gurney is Dan Gurney's son) I didn't know that.
2. (10) Max Angelelli, Monaco; Wayne Taylor, Altamonte Springs, Fla.; Jeff Gordon, Vallejo, Calif.; Jan Magnussen, Denmark; DP, SunTrust Racing Pontiac Riley, 1:43.480, 123.850 mph.
3. (91) Marc Goossens, Belgium; Jim Matthews, Boca Raton, Fla.; Jimmie Johnson, El Cajon, Calif.; Ryan Hunter-Reay, Boca Raton, Fla.; DP, Lowe's Riley-Matthews Motorsports Pontiac Riley, 1:43.516, 123.807 mph.
Stewart, Leitzinger and Andy Wallace start 14th.
I find it odd that Crown Royale still sponsors this race but backed out on the IROC, therefore there will be no IROC race at Daytona this year after 22 races there. There may be none at all if they don't find another sponsor.
Rolex to be shown on Fox and Speed Channels.
Thank you so much! I just pray Junior will be ok in all of this...............
Boys are looking good!
If anyone is watching this here's a live timing page. I always have trouble following who is where for this race and the car numbers are hard to SEE.
http://www.livetiming.net/rolex/livetiming.asp
Juan Pablo has the lead with JJ in 2nd. Bobby Labonte is in 12th, 3 laps down and Flash is in 14th, 4 laps down. Major issues with coil pack on the Pontiacs.
The 20 car must have had problems when I wasn't watching. They are in the pits now.........maybe Tony strapping in??
JJ just came in and went 2 laps down while they worked on the tailpipe. Flash pitted and went back out again for another run.
Flash tagged the guard rail on the way out of the pits.
I just lost the timing, my computer did not like that page.
I read on Jr's board that the 20 had two problems and had to pit for both thus putting them 14 down.
JP has put everyone a lap down. Flash is up to 13th, but 5 laps down now.
Don't know what's up with the scoring page, not even close to TrackPass. :)
According to Jr's board both Flash and Smoke's cars had coil problems.....the 20 two times.
I'm surprised they are not covering this all the way through.
Flash still going, up to 12th, still 4 down. Wheldon and Rice both back on the lead lap after a driver change for JP's bunch.
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