If Junior and DEI part, only one side will win

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- February 2010: The Sprint Cup champion leans back on the black leather couch in the lounge of his team transporter, a long day of practice behind him, a long night of promotion ahead. There's the photo shoot for Time, the appearance on Nightline, and live morning-show interviews with the BBC, Italia 1, and another overseas station he can't remember.

"What's the name of that network again?" Dale Earnhardt Jr. asks his team owner.

"Eurosport, I think," Joe Gibbs replies.

	DAVID CARAVIELLO
Send David your thoughts

Junior just smiles and shakes his head, as if he's still trying to comprehend it all. From almost the first day he entered NASCAR's premier series, he's been the sport's most popular and most recognizable figure. Television spots and magazine covers are nothing new. But after the events of the past few years -- the split with Dale Earnhardt Inc., the championship, the global marketing blitz -- he's emerged as more than just a sports figure.

He's become a worldwide sports ambassador, one of those few athletes capable of influencing public policy or furthering social causes, and known from Atlanta to Australia by just a single name. It's an elite little club. There's Ali. Jordan. Tiger. Pele.

And now, Junior.

"Remember, you're going to speak to the House subcommittee next week about that clean water bill," his public relations rep says. "You promised Rep. Hayes that you'd be there."

Junior nods. This all started back in the early days of 2007, when the dispute with his stepmother Teresa over control of DEI widened from a rift into a chasm. There was the dramatic moment the week before the Daytona 500, when Junior launched a public campaign for majority ownership in his late father's team. His relationship with Teresa had deteriorated to the point where he was relegated to negotiating through the press.

Some took Earnhardt to task for what they saw as a double standard: He wanted to run the team his father founded, but also said he "didn't want the headaches of being a Cup owner" -- exactly what he'd become with a 51 percent stake in DEI -- when asked about taking his JR Motorsports Busch team up to NASCAR's premier level. But no one could argue that DEI's entire stature in the sport was embodied by one man in a red driving suit. (Continued)