Can DEI Survive Without Earnhardt?
Would Dale Earnhardt, Inc. be able to survive without Earnhardt Jr
First and foremost, I must say that I really hope that an equitable deal is worked out between Dale Earnhardt Jr and Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
He truly belongs with the company that his father built from the ground up. And eventually, I believe that Earnhardt Jr and Teresa Earnhardt will come to some kind of contractual conciliation. But there is one question that has arisen from this soap opera- Can DEI survive without Dale Earnhardt Jr?
After the late Dale Earnhardt passed away in 2001, the headship of the company was passed to his wife Teresa. Under Teresa’s control, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. has won two Daytona 500’s and 19 points paying Nextel Cup races. They boast two Busch Series championships as well. But six years have passed, and Earnhardt Jr, now 32 years old, is ready to play a much bigger role in the family company. Last week, Dale Earnhardt Jr made it crystal clear that he wants the majority share of his late father’s company. This is just the latest chapter of this dispute that has concealed all other off-season storylines.
While many believe that Dale Earnhardt Jr makes or breaks Dale Earnhardt Inc., the notion that the establishment cannot survive without him is totally off beam. It’s true, about 99.9% of Earnhardt Jr’s fan base will follow him wherever he goes. Anheiser-Busch bases much of their marketing around him, so they will trail Earnhardt Jr as well. But there are two other laboring teams in the DEI garage.
Martin Truex Jr has built a fairly sizable fan base, and has emerged as one of NASCAR’s rising stars. He has won two Busch Series championships under the Dale Earnhardt, Inc. umbrella. I do not believe that he has to have Earnhardt Jr by his side in order to be successful. Additionally, Paul Menard is entering his rookie season in NASCAR Nextel Cup. Menard won a race and finished 6th in the final Busch Series championship standings in 2006. Like Truex Jr, he has his own fan base that is not all Earnhardt Jr-related. DEI already has two other young and talented drivers besides Earnhardt Jr under contract so signing and maintaining sponsorship should not be an insurmountable obstacle.
And if Earnhardt Jr does leave DEI, is the engine department going with him? The fabricators? The engineers? Besides the Eury’s, I do not believe that all key employees at DEI will jump ship.
Also, I touched on this last month- the signing of Jeffrey Earnhardt. The 17-year old grandson of Dale Earnhardt has displayed boundless potential in his very young career, and it is inevitable that as soon as he turns on 18 on June 22nd, he will be promoted to the Busch Series. If all goes well, the young Earnhardt will run full-time in NASCAR’s second-tier series in 2008. If Earnhardt continues to impress, companies will knock down the doors of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. for the opportunity to sponsor a young, rising star with an influential last name.
