MOORESVILLE - The pressure is on at Dale Earnhardt Inc., and rumors are swirling about what might happen next to the company founded 12 years ago by the late Dale Earnhardt and to the 400 men and women who work there.
The answer?
It's clear and simple -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Teresa Earnhardt, for all she has done for racing and for her husband's memory, is on the verge of losing everything in these next few weeks. And if General Motors executives let that happen, they too will bear the blame.
The Earnhardt name has become as famous and legendary as NASCAR itself, going all the way back to those dusty early days of the late 1970s, when Dale Sr. was still a nobody-going-nowhere before moving on to those brilliant runs through the 1980s and 1990s.
And as his car owner, Richard Childress, said the other night at Lowe's Motor Speedway, if Dale Earnhardt Sr. hadn't died at Daytona in 2001, he probably would have been challenging for a record-breaking eighth NASCAR championship that season after a narrow title loss to Bobby Labonte in 2000.
Since moving to Rick Hendrick's this season after six years at DEI, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has seemed rather disinterested about DEI's fate, other than to say that he hopes things turn out OK.
Now, it might be up to Dale Jr. to step to the plate and make the move to save DEI … or risk losing an important part of his family's heritage.
It's also up to GM to come up with the right game plan for Earnhardt to be able to make that move. Of course, GM also could leave the door open for Toyota to take over DEI.
The cars and equipment at DEI-West, the GarageMahal, and at DEI-East, the new 200,000 square-foot shop added in last year's merger with Bobby Ginn, are top-notch, as has been evident on the track in recent races, including DEI's impressive performances at Talladega.
However sponsorships are in short supply, and in the current economy, finding the money it takes to keep race teams running isn't easy.
Maybe a merger?
The latest rumor is a possible DEI merger with another Sprint Cup operation.
The best solution -- for the sport and the company -- obviously would be for Dale Jr. to take over.
And there is an obvious historical precedent. Dale Sr. drove for Childress for many years while building and running DEI from Monday through Thursday.
Dale Jr. had offered to buy DEI early in 2007, while negotiating a new contract. But he then declined to sign and moved to Hendrick Motorsports when Teresa Earnhardt declined to sell her share.
At one point in the past year John Menard, the Midwestern building-supply operator, seemed interested in taking over DEI, where son Paul has been racing the last few years. Under that scenario, Teresa Earnhardt would have kept the marketing rights surrounding her late husband and sold the team.
And at the moment, there is speculation that Teresa Earnhardt -- who virtually never grants interviews -- wants to keep the marketing rights.
However the price point for the team, without Dale Jr., has gone down dramatically. And with only one major sponsor, Bass Pro Shops on Martin Truex Jr.'s cars, for the four-team operation, it could be an even harder sell.
Whatever happens next to DEI, it appears another merger is in the works.
And this is not just about DEI and Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s legacy. GM would be foolish to let drivers Regan Smith and Aric Almirola get away and wind up on other teams.
Smith showed guts, smarts and class in the way he handled himself at Talladega. And Almirola -- whose run Sunday at Martinsville Speedway will be only his 11th in a Cup car -- has done an amazing job on and off the track. Both men are top-notch.
And GM executives seem remiss for letting the U.S. Army sponsorship contract get away from DEI and Almirola.
Time is short
However, time is running out for DEI. Smith is a free agent, and if GM doesn't put together something quickly, he'll be a Ford or Toyota driver. So will Almirola.
Certainly the time is ripe for Mark Martin to move immediately to Hendrick's team and put Almirola in the DEI car for the five races left. Martin currently is set to run next week at Atlanta, and then at Phoenix and Texas, with Almirola getting back in the car for the Homestead finale.
Instead, Hendrick should be providing the cars and crew for Martin for those three, and let DEI showcase Almirola. After all, Hendrick and DEI are top Chevy operations.
Martin has been tutoring Almirola this season.
"What Aric has done in a short time shows he has all the tools to be a successful driver in the Cup series," Martin said. "He's been an excellent student … and it is evident to me that he has a great future in this sport."
Almirola qualified third at Martinsville in the spring, but a hole in the radiator sent him out early. His best run so far was eighth at Bristol in the spring, and he had an easy fifth place coming at Talladega two weeks ago, only to get snookered on the final restart and shuffled back to 13th.
But the thing that has marked Almirola as such as comer is his ability to handle traffic -- deftly and aggressively. That was clear at Bristol in late August.
"Unless I am running with the leaders, you'll never hear me say I am satisfied," Almirola says. "But looking how far we have come, I feel good about the future of this DEI team. We have a talented crew at the track, and excellent talent back at the shop.
"It was deflating to leave Martinsville the way we did in the spring, after a strong qualifying effort and two excellent practice sessions in race trim. We were just coming off the eighth-place run in Bristol and felt we were as good or better for Martinsville."
So when you're watching the DEI drivers this week at Martinsville Speedway, Clay Campbell's track just over the Virginia border, and when you watch them next week at Atlanta and then at Phoenix and Texas and Homestead, ask yourself this: What would Big E have to say? What would be his call?
He would probably tell Teresa it's time to let loose, to let the team go, and to put his legacy back in the hands of his son.
Before time runs out.
? Mike Mulhern can be reached at mmulhern@wsjournal.com.
TAGS: auto racing, NASCAR
Copyright 2008  Winston-Salem Journal
