Dale Earnhardt, Inc. is de-Juniorizing the house Dale Earnhardt, Sr. built primarily for his son to race.
At least that’s the way it appears when you get up close to all the stuff left in the NASCAR Nextel Sprint Cup race shop on N.C. State Road 3.
Even the woman running the gift shop on the ground floor here gave one the impression that she didn’t even know who Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was, almost as if she had been programmed in that direction.
None of Earnhardt, Jr.’s trophies were visible; not even a Teresa Earnhardt trophy as the winning car owner of the Daytona 500.
There are some uneasy feelings here between Teresa Earnhardt, Dale Jr.’s step-mom, and Earnhardt, Jr.
It was those ill feelings that kept DEI and Earnhardt from striking a new deal last season.

Aric Almirola (Autostock Photo)

Instead, Earnhardt moved to Hendrick Motorsports where he’ll drive the No. 88 Chevrolet as a teammate of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears. He took cousin and longtime crew chief Tony Eury, Jr. with him.
Earnhardt’s departure leaves Martin Truex, Jr., Mark Martin, Paul Menard, Regan Smith and Aric Almirola to carry on at DEI.
Menard, Smith, Truex and Almirola all are between 22 and 27 years old. Martin, with more than 20 years in the business, could be the steadying influence on the group. Martin celebrated his 49th birthday in January.
Martin and Almirola will share the ride in the No. 8 U.S. Army Chevrolet. It’ll be Menard in the No. 15 Menard’s Chevrolet; Smith in the No. 01 Principal Financial Chevrolet and Truex in the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet.
Max Siegel, who took over as president of global operations at DEI early last year, said, “As a company, we certainly took a tremendous hit in the public and with our commercial partners.”

Regan Smith (Autostock Photo)

Not only did DEI lose Earnhardt, but Budweiser, the company’s primary sponsor since 1999, also jumped ship, moving to the Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge wheeled by Kasey Kahne.
“We took our bumps, that’s a fact,” said Siegel. “Every part of this company was torn apart from the public and the media analyzing and criticizing it. It forced us to look at every single area of the company. How are we doing, performance-wise? How are we doing as a commercial partner? How are we perceived?.. Every aspect of it and we had to be candid.”
There was no Earnhardt for Siegel to build the marketing programs around.
“It’s not fair to compare anybody to Dale Earnhardt, Jr.,” said Siegel. “He moves products. He is like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. You can slap him on anything and it will work.”
DEI still had the legacy of the late Dale Earnhardt to keep the team on track.
“Do you really care about Dale Earnhardt, Inc., and Dale Earnhardt, Sr. and Teresa and everybody else?” said Siegel. “If you do, then suck it up and let’s identify the problems and let’s figure out how to solve them.”
It appears Truex, 27, the driver from Mayetta, N.J., is ready to step up and take up the slack left by Earnhardt, Jr.
Truex won his first race last June and was the only DEI driver — including Earnhardt, Jr. — to qualify for The Chase for the Cup.

Martin Truex, Jr. (Autostock Photo)

It was a definite boost for DEI.
“The success the (Truex) team had and the timing of that, was absolutely critical,” Siegel said. “…When their momentum started, they felt good because they knew how much hard work that they’d put into it. It was a sigh of relief because now I had something other than me being self-serving trying to sell to the company. I could say, ‘Look at how we’re running every week.’”
Truex and his crew chief, Kevin Manion, hope that momentum built up from making The Chase last year has some positive carryover in 2008.
“I think, as a team, we’re just going to keep challenging ourselves,” said Truex. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to pick up and be as strong this season as we finished off last year. I have a lot of confidence and I can’t wait to get to Daytona and get that momentum started. If we can get in The Chase, I really feel like we can win the championship. All the crew at the shop has been working hard to give me some of the best cars I’ve ever driven.

Mark Martin (Autostock Photo)

“It is definitely a different feeling. This is the most comfortable I have ever been in my own shoes. I love the position I am in. I feel like we can win races and we can win the championship. I love this company. I love being here.”
Said Manion, “If Dale (Jr.) was here, he would be number one, but he’s moving on and we are moving on. We have four teams and we have four number ones.”
When DEI merged with Ginn Racing during the second half of 2007, it picked up Martin, Almirola and Smith.
Martin finished second to Kevin Harvick in one of the closest finishes in the history of the Daytona 500. Martin is still seeking his first Daytona 500 triumph.
“Unfortunately, because of the timing, it looked like all of that was a reaction to Dale, Jr. leaving,” said Siegel. “But from the first day I walked in here, there was always a desire to improve. We just had to get things organized and focused and that accelerated the process.”

Mark Martin (Autostock Photo)

DEI merged its engine-building program with Richard Childress Racing in Welcome, N.C., and Richie Gilmore, who headed up DEI’s engine-building operation, is now working out of the Welcome facility.
Without Earnhardt, Jr., without a doubt, DEI will be viewed in a different perspective in the future.
Siegel is aware of that fact.
“I think we can be competitive,” Siegel said. “We have high expectations.
 “…To have the critics and the public respect us again I think is going to take us a couple of years. We need to go into the year understanding that.”
Martin Truex, Jr. can solve many of the problems by winning races.
He’s already found out he can do it.
The future of DEI is in his hands.