Harvick Blasts Teresa Earnhardt
Kevin Harvick criticizes Teresa Earnhardt for being a deadbeat owner
This Dale Earnhardt Jr versus Teresa Earnhardt quarrel has become such a hot topic of late, that even rival drivers are weighing in on the issue.
Face it, this is NASCAR’s biggest story right now, and it will be NASCAR’s biggest story until the ink has dried on the contract. This past week, both Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon voiced their separate opinions regarding Dale Earnhardt Jr and this ostensible family feud.
Harvick’s assessment on the Earnhardt saga was rather brusque, and that is putting it mildly. The Richard Childress Racing driver said, "It's hard when you have what I call a deadbeat owner that doesn't come to the race track… Richard is one of the best owners in the garage. You always see Richard Childress. You always see Chip Ganassi. All these owners, they all come to the race track. You have to be at the race track and you have to play the politics of the sport and you have to be a part of your team and you have to understand what's going on. To me, from the outside looking in, it doesn't look like that's happening."
Not even Tony Stewart could have articulated a quote that candid. Harvick, a close friend of Earnhardt Jr, is the type of guy who is known by his peers as a straight shooter, you always know where you stand with him. But sometimes he can be over the top with some of his strong opinions. I think Harvick meant well, but he really went to far with the ‘deadbeat owner’ reference. Only Teresa Earnhardt, and those close to her understand the reasons why she does not attend the NASCAR races on a regular basis, and her stepson appears to be one of those people.
When learning of Harvick’s statement, Earnhardt Jr responded by saying, "That's ridiculous. I don't think there is a comment for that remark. With everything that's happened, not just to the company but to the family over the last five years, she's had a full plate. That's just the tip of the iceberg of the stuff that she's been responsible for and had to take care of and had to deal with… But she's taken care of things that are much important when it comes to the family."
Despite the fact that Earnhardt Jr and Teresa may not see eye to eye on a lot of matters, they share one thing in common- Dale Earnhardt. Both genuinely loved the late Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt Jr did the right thing by sticking up for Teresa. It’s not the fact that she does not attend many NASCAR races that bothers Earnhardt Jr, it is the fact that he wants a piece of the pie at DEI. They just need to come to some kind of consensus regarding the details of pending contract. Harvick may want to tone down his opinions on topics on which he doesn’t know all of the details.
Ironically, if Earnhardt Jr decides to leave Dale Earnhardt Inc, he could very well be teamed up with his stepmother’s loudest critic.
A lot of fans and media members believe that Earnhardt Jr will indeed depart the Dale Earnhardt Inc organization because of last month’s comments by Teresa Earnhardt in her interview published in the Wall Street Journal, and you can add four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon to that list. While the media was gathered at the Hendrick Motorsports complex, Gordon told reporters, "I think it's gone too far. When it gets ugly in the media, it's usually very, very difficult to rebound from that." He went on to say, "I think that you've got a little stubbornness going on there. Junior is in the seat to be able to write his own ticket, he can do whatever he wants. He can go to any team, he can start his own team, he's got the sponsors who are going to back him, the fans that are going to back him."
While Gordon made some valid points, I still believe that Earnhardt Jr will get his share of the company and will end his career with the organization that his late father established.
