Dale Earnhardt Jr going to RCR #33

[Bow Tie Omega]

Multiple reports late tonight are stating that a deal is done for Jr to go to Richard Childress Racing where he will be driving the #33. Here is one of them
After announcing Thursday that he would leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of the year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. could announce Friday that he will join Richard Childress Racing in 2008, according to FOX8 WGHP in Greensboro/High Point, N.C.
Childress has scheduled a news conference Friday at Darlington Raceway, site of the Nextel Cup Dodge Avenger 500 (Saturday, 7 p.m. ET on FOX).
Rather than drive the No. 3 car that his father, Dale Earnhardt, made famous for RCR, Earnhardt Jr. would drive the No. 33 car, according to the report. Budweiser would follow Junior from DEI to the new team.
Another FOX affiliate, FOX25 in Boston, reported that Earnhardt Jr. finalized a deal with RCR on Thursday night and that an announcement would come soon.
If the reports are accurate, NASCAR's most popular driver will partner up with Richard Childress, the same man for whom Dale Earnhardt Sr. starting driving in 1981.
Childress and Earnhardt Sr. won six Nextel Cup championships before Earnhardt was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
If he is not going to race at DEI, I think this is a great fit for him and Richard Childress alike. How is Kevin Harvick going to be able to handle being second fiddle at RCR????? He hated the competition with Robby Gordon. There will not even be any competition with Jr, he will be the man. Good luck to Jr and RCR

[raff]

heres some more:
http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/05/10/dearnhardtjr.part.ways.dei/index.html

[RitcheyRch]

Following in Dad's footsteps. Could be a good move for him.

[OCMerrill]

His step mother owns their current team. I remember an interview a while back where he stated he struggles with this a bit.
I think there is more to it. Possibly making a little more $$$$:idea:
I am sure the switch will be a good one for him.

[LAFD]

its all about money he needs to start winning shit in order to even thinking about taking over a company. glad he didnt get handed the company he hasnt earned it and it show with him pouting and going to another team. i hope harvick kicks his ass.

[Kilrtoy]

33 HUH,
That is probably where he will finish in the points standings without daddy's money

[Bow Tie Omega]

RIchard Childress denied the reports........Drama.........He did say he would love to have Jr in his camp, but did not want to push Jr.

[franky]

33 HUH,
That is probably where he will finish in the points standings without daddy's money
I completely disagree. If Jr. only has to worry about getting into someone elses car and driving, he will kick ass.

[WILDERTHANU]

its all about money he needs to start winning shit in order to even thinking about taking over a company. glad he didnt get handed the company he hasnt earned it and it show with him pouting and going to another team. i hope harvick kicks his ass.
Ya know, as big of an Earnhardt fan as I am, maybe you're right. From his own mouth JR said "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.".
It's time for JR to get away from drama and focus on winning races. Look at Gordon, his divorce and the starting his own team clearly affected his performance. He is just now pulling out of his slump.

[jbtrailerjim]

I watched a little bit of Cup practice this morning on Speed and they didn't mention anything about him striking a deal with RCR. :confused:

[Bow Tie Omega]

I watched a little bit of Cup practice this morning on Speed and they didn't mention anything about him striking a deal with RCR. :confused:
Yeah, I already posted that Richard Childress deinied it. I would not be suprised if a deal is done. Richard did not want to disrespect Theresa Earnhardt by going after Jr right away . I could be wrong, but I think they will hang low for a while and announce at a later date. You know what they say, where there is smoke, there is fire

[racecar.hotshoe]

Childress will give Junior time before talking deal
By David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
May 11, 2007
01:04 PM EDT
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.
Complete story, click here
Running commentary
DEI shifts focus to future
DEI, Budweiser reactions
Junior blazing own trail
Effect on licensing industry
Post your thoughts
Video archive
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."

[MKEELINE]

33 HUH,
That is probably where he will finish in the points standings without daddy's money
Ya, Childress and Budweiser don't have any money.:rolleyes:

[blown65]

Ya, Childress and Budweiser don't have any money.:rolleyes:
I agree and on top of that he will be away from the drama of DEI and his step mom.

[Racey]

I think it's great, and his step mom won't have a pot to piss in after he's gone, I'm sure the other DEI drivers are getting a little nervous right about now.

[Kilrtoy]

Ya, Childress and Budweiser don't have any money.:rolleyes:
Never said they dont have money, He just wont have 15 race cars to pick from set up for each track

[rivrrts429]

its all about money he needs to start winning shit in order to even thinking about taking over a company. glad he didnt get handed the company he hasnt earned it and it show with him pouting and going to another team. i hope harvick kicks his ass.
Start winning shit??? Doesnt he have 17 nextel cup wins... a third of the nascar field is still searching for their first:( How can you say he hasnt earned the company? Did Teresa earn it...Hell no, she's going to ruin a company that her husband built into a powerhouse and then has the balls to offer 51% of the company to Dale Jr. for $50 million. Dale Sr. said he built D.E.I. so his kids could run it in the end. Imagine if your step mom decided you had no rights to your fathers estate/company and then said "but I'll sell you what he wanted to leave you for $50 million!" And show us the pouting, I haven't heard him say one bad thing about DEI or Teresa. Earnhardt is not my first pick for favorite drivers but when LAFD blurts out a bunch of crap hoping it will stick, I gotta defend him:D :D
Just my .02

[DUNDUN]

i am happy and bummed at the same time.
for the record i am a 24 fan, flame on.
anyways. i completely support jr's decision, although i liked the report i read last night saying him and truex were gonna run nextel cup cars for jr motorsports with hendrick power under the hood. that wouldve been pretty good considering the engines that they turn out..
but him going to childress is a storybook ending, and truex was built by dale jr. so im sure he will not be sticking around with dei. (which is the sad part, the downfall of dei is a definite possibility, theresa earnhardt is making a poor decision by not leaving 51% to junior and kelly earnhardt.. now she is going to lose them both..)
and that leaves paul menard, who, in my opinion, can not perform on a dale jr or martin truex jr level.
so the question is, who will fill the spot for jr. and most likely truex?
kerry earnhardt maybe? maybe someone from the busch series might come up like shane huffman?

[HCS]

I think it's a great idea. Go to RCR.
DEI isn't doing him any good.

[OutCole'd]

Absolutely, Childress has three drivers in the top 10. Tell me that is not a quality team with all the money as DEI??
I'm not a huge #8 fan, but I think this is a great move for him.

[MKEELINE]

The impression I got was that the DEI team wasn't heading in a direction he, Jr., felt it needed to go to have him contend for a championship. I believe he wanted 51% ownership of the team, probably so he could make some of those changes. It seems that the guy wants to go to a team that knows how to win championships, he can win races. I don't think that money is the issue, the guy can write his own check wherever he goes. I'm sure he has sponsors standing in line to give him money.

[OutCole'd]

The impression I got was that the DEI team wasn't heading in a direction he, Jr., felt it needed to go to have him contend for a championship. I believe he wanted 51% ownership of the team, probably so he could make some of those changes. It seems that the guy wants to go to a team that knows how to win championships, he can win races. I don't think that money is the issue, the guy can write his own check wherever he goes. I'm sure he has sponsors standing in line to give him money.
Plus looks like DEI is going to go switch to Ford for power and Jr wanted to stick with the bowtie.

[parker guy]

Dale has said , he wants to drive for a championship team. DEI need's to make some changes to there shop. His shop jr motorsports has newer and more state of the art equipment. That is why he wanted more say so in DEI.
I think it will be a great move for him

[mikefd024]

its all about money he needs to start winning shit in order to even thinking about taking over a company. glad he didnt get handed the company he hasnt earned it and it show with him pouting and going to another team. i hope harvick kicks his ass.
For Junior I don't think it was all about money, he was making 20 mil a year at DEI, and not mention the endorsement money with Bud etc. he has plenty of money. If you look at his life it is pretty simple living for a multi millionaire, he's not just about money. He just wants to win, and wanted to have more control over his dads company which he should have had. I think his sister on the other hand, she has the real power trip and hated Theresa more than Jr. did. The bottom line is Sr. "f" ed in his will not giving the majority of his company to his kids when he was dead....

[havasu5150]

For Junior I don't think it was all about money, he was making 20 mil a year at DEI, and not mention the endorsement money with Bud etc. he has plenty of money. If you look at his life it is pretty simple living for a multi millionaire, he's not just about money. He just wants to win, and wanted to have more control over his dads company which he should have had. I think his sister on the other hand, she has the real power trip and hated Theresa more than Jr. did. The bottom line is Sr. "f" ed in his will not giving the majority of his company to his kids when he was dead....
In most states it doesn't matter what the will states. The company was community property of the marriage and goes to the spouse.

[abraman1326]

W/ all of the rumors swirling around out there, it's hard to know what to believe right now. I'd love to see Jr in an RCR car, but only time will tell. It is a story book ending.
I did see a report today on ESPN that Jr is the highest paid athlete at 20.? mil/ year. They also said DEI was worth 50 mil last year according to forbes, and speculation is w/o Jr, their value dropped 50% or more. That's going to hurt Theresa's pocket book. I have a feeling that sooner rather than later she will realize she made a huge mistake, and Jr will be winning championships. I just hope this doesn't destroy their family and drive a stake between the 2 sides...
BRA