Earnhardt wants time to ponder his next move

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- If Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s telephone is ringing, he doesn't know it. These days, somebody else is answering it. With the aftershocks from his seismic decision to leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. still echoing throughout NASCAR's top series, the sport's most popular driver wants to take some time, lay low, and figure things out.

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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"I would like to take a week or two to clear my mind a little bit, drink some beers, and have some fun. Get back to normal," he said Friday at Darlington Raceway. "I have felt about as un-normal as I possibly could the past few days. Lost a lot of sleep. So I want to relax and just clear my head and get a good football stance to go after this new deal that we're seeking."

One day after he announced his intentions to leave the team his late father founded when his contract expires after this season (watch video), Earnhardt said he had not spoken with any other car owners. He doesn't plan to have any substantial discussions about a new home "for another week or two," he said, leaving the NASCAR world to simmer slowly as the 17-time Nextel Cup race winner contemplates where he will ultimately wind up.

That means there was no deal signed overnight between Earnhardt and Richard Childress Racing, the team his father raced for, much to the chagrin of a few television affiliates which reported such a thing. Friday, Childress didn't deny that he wants to pursue the younger Earnhardt. But he also wanted to respect the driver's request for space.

"We will sit and talk, I'm sure. 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 said. The elder Earnhardt drove for Childress for 17 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.

"Let me kind of tell you where I'm at," he added. "Dale Jr. just made a major decision in his career and in his life [Thursday]. Out of respect for Teresa [Earnhardt] 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 isn't limited to RCR. Earnhardt has stated a desire to drive for a contending team and to continue to drive Chevrolets, requests that leave RCR, Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports as top contenders. Earnhardt is close friends with Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart, drivers for a JGR squad that would like to eventually expand to a fourth Nextel Cup car.

"I love that kid," Stewart said, referring to Earnhardt. "I love him like a brother."

Hendrick has a full stable, with four drivers under contract. Still, the possibilities are impossible not to ponder. "Inside the garage area, from the competition end, Junior would be a good teammate," said Hendrick driver and reigning series champ Jimmie Johnson. "Junior would do a lot of things right and be an asset to Hendrick or whatever team he raced for."

Non-Chevrolet teams may pursue him as well. Roger Penske, who owns a two-car Dodge operation, left open that option while speaking at a news conference during Indianapolis 500 activities.

Giving him room

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.

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"I think everybody has interest in Dale Earnhardt Jr. to join their team," he said. "You know, we're a Dodge team, we have drivers under contract today, and we're not in a situation where we would probably be in line to offer him a job. I mean, we'd sure like to talk with him. Just the comments that I read in the paper, he might know more than I do that he wants to be with Chevrolet when we have a contract with Dodge. And when we have contracts, as you know, we stay with them."

Those are discussions Earnhardt will have at a later date. He spent Friday trying to get a handle on his Car of Tomorrow, which was 38th fastest out of 49 cars in opening practice for Saturday night's Dodge Avenger 500.

"I'll get it done when I'm ready to get it done," he said. "I'm in no hurry. No pressure from me or any direction is going to persuade me to hurry anything or rush anything. This is a real important decision for me personally, and I have to make sure I make it correctly."

It's a decision that will have a domino effect throughout the Nextel Cup garage, beginning with the red-shirted crewmen who work on Earnhardt's No. 8 car. Earnhardt's crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., is also his cousin, and the two are often viewed as a package deal. Whether Eury would follow Earnhardt depends on whether he can get out of his contract, something he'll have to discuss with DEI president Max Siegel. Eury's current deal with DEI expires at the end of 2008.

"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 talk of crewmen ready to jump and follow Earnhardt. 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 Kelley 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."

As Earnhardt searches, so does DEI. Earnhardt's departure leaves the team looking for a driver to fill its most high-profile ride, and impacts the ongoing talks about a potential merger between the Earnhardt organization and Robert Yates Racing.

"It definitely makes it look different, that's for sure," said Robert Yates Racing co-owner Doug Yates. "I think looking at DEI without Dale Jr. is a different situation. It doesn't mean it's any better or any worse, it's just different. We're still open to trying. Our goal is to make our team as strong as we can make it, and we're going to continue to look at scenarios until we find out what that is."

DEI driver Martin Truex Jr. doesn't foresee many immediate changes. "People are going to think this is crazy, but I don't think it's a huge deal," he said. "We're going on with business as usual. We've got all the same people working for us. Just because Junior's not driving for us, I don't see that making that much of an impact. Maybe long-term, but not the next couple of years."

Other drivers understand the desire to find a new team to better enhance their chances of winning a championship. Which means that among his peers, Earnhardt seems to have plenty of support.

"I'm proud of him," Matt Kenseth said. "I think if his dad was still alive and he couldn't provide him with the stuff that he thought he needed to win a championship, he'd do the same thing, and I think his dad would give him his blessing. Dale Jr. is Dale Jr. He's really talented. He's really good. He's got a big name, so you know that he's always going to be able to get a ride, but he's 32 or 33 years old and it's time for him. If he doesn't feel like he's in the best equipment, he needs to go find the best equipment and go out there and try to win championships and do those things."

Added Mark Martin: "Dale Jr. is one of the strongest men in the sport. He is the man in NASCAR, and he needs to do what's right for him. I'm going to watch with excitement and enthusiasm. He is a tremendous leader, and is going to do great wherever the dominoes fall."