MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- In perhaps the most riveting Deal or No Deal drama in NASCAR history, Dale Earnhardt Jr. made his emphatic decision public Thursday.

That the announcement was being made in the heart of his own JR Motorsports shop didn't say it all -- because what Earnhardt left unsaid for the moment is where he is headed next as the sport's most popular driver -- but it did speak volumes.

It meant that Earnhardt had told his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, and by extension the company that was founded by his late father, that there would be no deal to keep him long term at Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Earnhardt Jr. leaving DEI at end of season

In a news conference at his JR Motorsports race shop on Thursday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he will leave DEI at the end of this season.

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As tape recorders and television cameras whirred and hummed and recorded the historic moment, Junior made it official: he's parting ways with DEI when his current contract runs out at the end of this season (watch video). He essentially announced that he is becoming a free agent, and said he is willing to talk to any other currently established race teams who would like to open serious discussions with him about driving for them next season and well into the future.

He did say that he would prefer to continue driving for a team that runs Chevrolets. Although Earnhardt said he wasn't ready to narrow down his list of potential future employers, his stated criteria immediately places Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing at the top of the list of possibilities, with Ginn Racing at least certain of getting some face time with the driver before a decision is reached.

Earnhardt also said that, although he would prefer to drive for a team already established, he would consider forming his own Nextel Cup team if he can't reach an acceptable agreement with a current team within a reasonable but as yet undetermined timetable.

"Those of you who know me know that I don't like to keep things under wraps. I'm usually pretty honest," Earnhardt said. "After a year of intense negotiations and intense efforts on behalf of Dale Earnhardt Inc. and JR Motorsports, we decided that it's time for us to move on and seek other opportunities for me to drive for a new team in 2008.

"We both worked extremely hard to find common ground, but as the negotiations continued, one thing became evident: we both want to get to the same place, but we both simply have different visions on how to get there."

As recently as two weeks earlier, Earnhardt had said that he believed he would return to DEI for next season and beyond. But in the end, he said Thursday that the parties never really were close to reaching common ground on an agreement. The crux of their disagreement appeared to center on what exact course should be followed to get the DEI race teams more competitive.

"They have every intention of running well and doing well; we just had a difference of opinion on how we get there," Earnhardt said.

In a statement released by DEI, Teresa Earnhardt said: "While we are very disappointed that Dale Jr. has chosen to leave the family business, we remain excited about our company's future."

Without question, however, the family business just lost the most important living member of the family. A 17-time winner in the Nextel Cup Series, Earnhardt has been named NASCAR's most popular driver four years running and annually rakes in millions in souvenir sales and endorsement money.

He takes along with him Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, his sister and the president of his JR Motorsports operation who headed up the contract negotiations with DEI. She sat at his side Thursday and also answered questions about those failed negotiations and where her famous brother takes his career from here.

At issue was the publicly stated position of Earnhardt that he wanted at least a 51 percent stake in DEI, so he could control the direction of a racing program that he -- and others -- believe has fallen behind the curve being established by such other top teams as Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing.

It has been more than a year since Earnhardt has won a race. He said because of that, he believes he has let down his legions of fans and that, like himself, they deserve the best opportunity that he can find to start winning races again and lessen the disappointment in the future.

Earnhardt repeatedly stated that he fully understands some fans and racing insiders will not understand his desire to leave the company founded by his father, the racing legend who died in a wreck during the 2001 Daytona 500. But he said that he thinks his father would understand his motives.

"I want to say with complete sincerity that it has been a privilege to drive for DEI, and it will continue to be a privilege for the rest of this season," Earnhardt said. "It's really all I've ever known. We've grown together; we've won together; we've lost together.

"It's important to me that my father's legacy continues. I would like nothing more than for DEI to continue building its future around good people, hard work and relentless determination: the same characteristics that were so evident in the man who built the place."

Earnhardt went on to add that "all the while, it is time for me to continue his legacy in the only way I know that I can -- by taking the life lessons that he taught me: be a man, race hard and contend for championships. That is what I plan to do, and I feel strongly that I would have my father's blessing."

In addition to the uncertainty as to where Earnhardt will end up, there is some uncertainty (however slight) regarding whether his long-time main sponsor, Budweiser, will follow him wherever he goes. It also seems likely that after this season, the driver will have to find another number to stencil onto the car he drives, as the No. 8 is owned by DEI and Teresa Earnhardt is not likely to give it up.

"We have a great relationship with Budweiser, and those things definitely will be discussed and dealt with in a timely fashion," Earnhardt said. "It would be awesome to continue driving the No. 8, but numbers obviously are owned by car owners, and that's something Teresa obviously would prefer to have stay at DEI and I'm assuming that that's probably what will be the case."

Earnhardt said that his decision was made independent of all others who work with him at DEI, squelching rumors that it already is a done deal that he will bring along crew chief Tony Eury Jr. wherever he ends up. He also said that there was no truth to reports that driver Martin Truex Jr. would follow him out the door at DEI.

"Martin is in the same boat as you guys [in the media] are. He's probably watching this as we speak," Earnhardt joked.

At the end of the day, it ended up being about control over how to get more competitive in his racecar. Earnhardt didn't think it was going to happen the way he wanted at DEI, so he has decided to leave.

Now the next round of questions can begin, as in who is going to offer him how many millions? And where will he ultimately end up?

"At 32 years of age, the same age as my father was when he made his final and most important career decision, it is the time for me to compete on a consistent basis and contend for championships," Earnhardt said. "What team I'll drive for next season, I don't know. We'll see who wants to hire me, who is interested in having me drive their racecars, and we'll decide from here. That is an announcement, obviously, for a later date."

Retired driver Darrell Waltrip, now a television analyst on NASCAR races, was in attendance at Thursday's news conference and said that a new version of an older game show is about to heat up in the sport.

"I guess in any other sport, I guess they'd call him a free agent now," Waltrip said. "I guess he kind of wanted to let everybody know that. Now it's going to be like Let's Make a Deal. Or Let's Make the Best Deal. That's what it sounds like."

Except now the organization bearing his father's name is out of the picture, having had its exclusive chance to close the deal of Dale Jr.'s lifetime and failed.