Childress will give Junior time before talking deal

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- At some point, Richard Childress will sit down and talk with Dale Earnhardt Jr. But the car owner wants to give the driver some space first.

When NASCAR's most popular driver announced Thursday that he will leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. (watch videos) when his contract expires at the end of this season, the focus immediately turned his late father's former team. The elder Earnhardt drove for Childress for 16 seasons, winning six championships and becoming an icon in his black No. 3 car before he was killed on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

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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On Friday, in brief comments to assembled media before the start of practice for Saturday night's Nextel Cup event at Darlington Raceway, Childress' interest in pursuing Earnhardt Jr. was clear. But he added that he had yet to speak to the driver on his future, and that contrary to some broadcast reports, no deal had been done.

"We will sit and talk, I'm sure," he said. "I'm hoping he's considering us. But I think right now, we'll just give him some time and space to do his own due diligence on the race teams he's looking at."

Childress, a longtime friend of the Earnhardt family, seemed more intent Friday of giving Earnhardt Jr. space.

"Let me kind of tell you where I'm at," he said. "Dale Jr. just made a major decision in his career and in his life yesterday. Out of respect for Teresa and Dale Jr. in this situation, let's all give him some time to make the decisions he needs to make, and be fair. He's got a lot of tough decisions coming up in the direction he's going, and I just think it's fair that we all let him have some space and some time to kind of think about what he wants to do in the future."

That future may or may not include Tony Eury Jr., Earnhardt Jr.'s cousin and the crew chief on his No. 8 car. Eury, whose contract expires at the end of the 2008 season, said he would discuss his situation with Max Siegel, DEI's president of global operations.

"I would like to stay with Dale Jr., but I'm going to do whatever is best for Tony Jr., just like Dale Jr., and leave all my options open," he said. "Me and Max are going to talk and go with it like that."

Those comments might have been influenced by Siegel himself, looming over Eury's shoulder as the crew chief spoke to the media. Steve Hmiel, DEI's technical director and Earnhardt's spotter, said he hasn't heard any crewman talk of leaving. But he also understands that the ties between Earnhardt and Eury are close.

"I've been around there a good long while, and there are pictures of Tony Jr. and Kelly Earnhardt and Dale on the refrigerator when they were all 6, 8, 10 years old," he said. Kelley Earnhardt Elledge is Dale Jr.'s sister and business manager.

"There are obviously family ties there. Now, does that mean that Tony Jr. is going to do something? I have no idea. He would be one of those people, along with his dad, who would have different options and be more torn than a guy that just works there."