By John Clayton
Staff Writer

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — If not for a subdued, standing-room-only press conference held May 10 to announce his decision to leave Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s classified ad might read something like this:

Ride wanted. Driver looking for long-term relationship, family atmosphere and championship trophies. Well-liked, casual dresser who prefers bowties on Sundays ready to race.

Either way, the questions that centered around Earnhardt, Jr.’s potential return to DEI now center around where NASCAR’s most popular driver will land next and just what life-after-DEI will mean when the 2007 season is completed.
“At 32 years of age, the same age as my father when he made his final and most important career decision, it is time for me to compete on a consistent basis and contend for championships now,” Earnhardt, Jr. said, summing up the desire to carry on the family tradition, even if it means leaving the family business.
But Earnhardt, Jr. probably won’t be leaving empty handed. He still has a personal-services contract with Budweiser that reportedly lasts through 2008. Expectations are that Budweiser would remain the primary sponsor on any car he drives, even if that car is not the notorious red No. 8 Chevrolet.
Speculation began immediately that Earnhardt, Jr. would join Richard Childress Racing, the team for which Dale Earnhardt, Sr. won  seven championships in NASCAR’s top series. The assumption is that Earnhardt, Jr. will sign with RCR and drive the back No. 3 Chevrolet his father made famous.
But that is not necessarily the scenario that Earnhardt, Jr., sees for his future.
“With respect to my father, I don’t feel very confident about (driving the No. 3),” he said. “He made that number what it is. With respect to him, I believe that it belongs to him. . . . I never say never, and I’ve told you guys before that I was interested in doing that. . . . If that’s something Richard’s interested in, we can explore that, but that’s a long way down the road.”
Obviously, if Earnhardt, Jr. is interested in a team that would allow him to immediately compete for NASCAR Nextel Cup titles, then the scope of his search for a new home is narrowed greatly. That group is narrowed even more by his stated desire to remain in a Chevrolet.
RCR is among the top-tier Chevrolet race teams as is Rick Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing, which have produced the past two series champions in Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick, 2006) and Tony Stewart (Gibbs, 2005). Ginn Racing, a relatively new force in the Chevy stable, is also a possibility with Mark Martin being very competitive while running a limited schedule this season.
Childress said he wants to let the process run its course.
“Dale, Jr. just made a major decision in his career and in his life and out of the respect for Teresa, Dale Jr. and this situation, let's all give him some time to make the decisions that he needs to make and be fair,” Childress said. “He's got a lot of tough decisions coming up with the direction he's going. I just think it's fair if we all let him have some space and some time to kind of think about what he wants to do in the future.”
Earnhardt, Jr. is good friends with Stewart and Denny Hamlin, driver of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Chevrolet, and there is speculation that could also weigh in his decision. But JGR has taken a personal business stance against alcohol-related sponsorships in the past and JGR President J.D. Gibbs said nothing has changed.
“For us it would be hard,” Gibbs said. “(Budweiser) has been a great partner of the sport and does a lot for us, but, personally, that would be a hard deal for us to do.”
Another option — the one Earnhardt, Jr. likes the least — is to form a Nextel Cup team under the umbrella of JR Motorsports.
“There is time to start our own Cup effort if that’s what we chose to do,” said Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, Earnhardt Jr.’s sister and partner at JR Motorsports. “Our last choice would be to form our own Cup team, but if that was necessary, that’s what we would do.”
Earnhardt, Jr. reiterated while at Darlington that he won’t be rushed, saying he will take a couple of weeks before he begins discussions with would-be suitors.
“I'll get it done when I'm ready to get it done,” he said. “I’m in no hurry, no pressure from the media or any direction for that matter is going to persuade me to hurry anything or rush anything. Like I said, this is a real, real important decision for me personally that I have to make sure I'm making correctly."

DEI or TEI?
DEI President of Global Operations Max Siegel stood in the back of the room at JR Motorsports as Earnhardt, Jr. announced his decision. He said he was there to show support for Earnhardt, Jr.
After all, this is family.
Soon thereafter, sports business analysts estimated that DEI’s net worth would be cut in half on the day Earnhardt, Jr. walks out the garage door for good.
Siegel, whose primary job description prior to now was to negotiate a contract to keep Earnhardt, Jr. with DEI, believes the company has the ability to become stronger despite the loss of its namesake and heir apparent.
“The first thing we have to do is win on the track,” Siegel said. “You have to be good at your core business. If you win, and you win consistently, it takes care of a lot of issues.
“Our job is to develop all the assets at DEI so we have four Dale Jr.’s to help grow the sport. We remain committed to focusing on how we got there. It's a 25-year-old company. Teresa’s had an incredible vision and she continues to get the support of everyone there.”
But some say that vision and a desire for the company to be “TEI” has brought it to what could be a precarious position, a future without the sport’s most marketable and popular star.
“We’re still Earnhardts,” said Earnhardt Elledge. “We still have a relationship with Teresa, Kerry and Taylor. For whatever the future holds for us as participants an Dale Earnhardt, Inc., there’s lots of years to figure that out. Dale and I want to be very supportive of Dale Earnhardt, Inc., and their efforts because it is our family name as well.”
DEI recently met with struggling Robert Yates Racing about a possible merger, but that could mean a switch from Chevrolet to Ford for DEI.
“As a company, when you're looking to have a healthy company that's diversified, you try to operate efficiently, control costs and be competitive, you have to look at all the opportunities in the marketplace,” said Siegel, whose background was in entertainment before arriving on the racing scene. “We're looking for opportunities that are consistent with our growth plan and diversification plan with championship-caliber competition.
“We have to get creative to figure out how to grow a company and sustain it in the long term. We have to be a better company to our commercial sponsors, and not become solely reliant on our sponsorship revenue to survive.”

Family Values
Over the course of the Darlington weekend, Earnhardt, Jr. alluded to tension between himself and his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, a subject he tactfully avoided during his announcement last week.
But he did say then that the two sides were never close to an agreement.
“I feel like (Earnhardt, Sr.’s) vision was for me to have a huge role in the company itself,” Earnhardt, Jr. said. “Throughout the negotiations, I felt like me and Kelley came to the understanding that that was not in the cards.”
So, the biggest name in NASCAR has become the sport’s biggest free agent, possibly commanding a record payday, even though Earnhardt, Jr. said the money is not as important as finding the right opportunity to race in the family footsteps.
“It’s not the guy that gives me the biggest paycheck,” he said. “It’s the person I feel will allow me to accomplish what I want to accomplish throughout my career on the racetrack, in the shop itself, with my employees and our company.
“I’m seeking to have that peace of mind and the comfort to be able to really be an asset to somebody. . . . I want to go somewhere and really make some things happen for somebody and have that appreciation go back and forth.”