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Simply put...pressure! The more Jr. airs out his laundry to the media, the more pressure he puts on Teresa to either a) work with him and offer some kind of partnership deal, or b) encourge him to not renew his contract or offer less to renew thus allowing Jr. to move on to bigger and better things, and take his sponsor with him. Lets give Jr. some real credit here as he is making Teresa look not so good to those on the outside looking in. She may be the worlds best owner, and business person but until she starts to speak up...she don't look too good. And why would a sponsor like Bud want to stay with a team that treats it's star driver like a, well, red headed stepson. Brilliant move on the part of Jr. to get what he wants without having to work real hard at it!

this whole ordeal is a joke it should have been jr's

She'll give him a controlling interest or the DEI org will become irrelevant.

If Jr. leaves, BUD'll go with him. RCR would be a great fit for Jr.

Jr. oughta look seriously into starting his own racing group. I know he doesn't want to run it, give that part to his sister, she seems pretty capable and has been around the business for some time.

Jr. hasn't done squat (won a Cup championship) in the eight years he's been at DEI and in my opinion if he remains there it'll be the same ol same ol even if he gets majority control. I say make the move to RCR and Richard will be the catalyst that'll make it happen for Jr.

Jon,

Junior finished, I beleive, 5th in points last year, and he is, by far, the most visible driver in the sport. How much is a washed-up David Beckham getting to play soccor? $250 million.

Clearly, Junior recognizes his value to the organization and--like Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace--he wants an interest in the team.

Now I think his opening at 51 percent probably is a negotiating tactic that's going to lead him to get, perhaps 30 percent of DEI. If so, the deal will redefine the value of stock car drivers. If NBA players can get, collectively, 70 percent of the gate, why can't stock car drivers earn upwards of $25 million a year, just as the top F1 drivers do.

Is Teresa willing or able to meet those terms? That's entirely up to her, but, to me, a team where the star drivers are Martin Truex Jr. and Paul Menard is worth far less than one with Dale Earndhardt Junior at the top of the roster.

Let's play the say-negotiations-break-down game, just for kicks and just because it's Friday.

So Junior leaves. Budweiser (and the Eurys) bolt for a new team. So which new team is it? Early money's on Childress because of Senior and the No. 3.

Dustin has written that the not-so-obvious-but-maybe-smarter-choice is Gibbs. Still Chevy. Only has three teams, one less than the NASCAR cap. Junior and Stewart are buds. And Papa Joe might be the guy who can get into Junior's head and make him a champ.

Where else might he go? Ginn? Hendrick when/if Gordon retires? Would he start his own team?

Don't forget (and it's easy to b/c of the Buschwhackers) that Junior has hiw own team now. Its top team runs Busch with Shane Huffman driving, but it's possible that Junior might move the whole show up to Cup and drive it himself.

Or ... is Junior better off at DEI no matter what happens? High drama, and the 500 is still nine days away.

Newsom,

Seeing as how GM lost $10 billion last year--and how long can that go on?--I'd say the smart move would be to one of the well-financed Toyota. Of course, it's risky to move to an unproven manufacturer... That's why he could demand Beckham-type money--$250 million, including a substantial ownership stake in the team.

At the end of the day I still believe Teresa is one shrewd businesswoman and she fully understands the drop in the value of DEI if there is no DE there driving a car. She has always known what she is doing ever since back in the 80's when she made sure Big E' signature was trademarked long before collectibles became such a big business.

If Kelly learned anything at those classes at UNC Charlotte and then being at the same company as Humpy, her brother will still be at DEI when the dust settles.

For a shrewd business person, she sure isn't conveying the characteristics of one, making statements such as, and I'll paraphrase, "Jr. oughta decide if he wants to be a driver or a celebrity." Talk about p'oing off the franchise, which is Jr.

Jr. wouldn't fit in at Hendrick's nor at Roush. He tends to drop the f-bomb too much for their squeaky clean image, exceptions to that squeaky image of course are Jeff caught drilling someone else on Brooke's time and the ex-felon Rick Hendricks. Roush has already got a stable full of ego-centric drivers. Gibbs, just possibly. Like Jr., Tony has some rough edges (sometimes his apprearance reminds me of someone who lives under an overpass) and yes him and Jr. are buddies. But I still would like to see Jr. hook up with RCR. I believe the chemistry would be right to get him a championship. Jr. and Harvick, now that would be a fearsome duo to contend with by the other teams.

Put Jr. in a black car at RCR, slap the #3 on the side, have him grow a handlebar 'stache, and it'll give new meaning to, "The South's Gonna Rise Again."

On paper RCR sounds like a good idea, but I'm not sure it would be as simple as jumping in an RCR car and dominating (although the mustache idea is intriguing, especially since he's no longer a Young Gun). Based on some of his past comments, I think Junior really wants to win a title at DEI on his own merits. With Kerry and Jeffrey signing with DEI, I wonder if Junior is trying to get all three children in line for what they believe is their company.

Regarding Mart-Dawg, I love the piedpiper-dot-com joke. It's so 1997.

I think Jr. would be better off at RCR. They know how to make a champion. He would also have talented teammates something he's never had at DEI. Leave DEI go to RCR and concentrate just on the racing and JR. will have a couple championships real quick.

I HAVE BEEN A NASCAR FAN FOR 30 YEARS OR MORE.
JR. ISN'T RACING FOR JUST THE MONEY AND PUBLICTY.
JUST LISTEN TO HIS COMMENTS AFTER THE RACES THIS
SEASON. COOL HEADED LIKE JEFF BURTON AND MARK MARTIN. WHEN THE RACE IS OVER ITS OVER. THEY CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE.