Who Needs Them?
Who needs a contract? Pre-season hype, and race fans are getting less important every day.
Junior Negotiates............
This time of the year, news is where you happen to find it. Drivers and teams hire publicists to keep their stars shining as bright as possible, and to be sure to export the correct information to the media. Some of these efforts are nothing more than junk while others turn out to be really interesting.
The news concerning Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s unsigned contract is one of those interesting pieces. One interesting aspect is that Junior has never had a contract. He raced for his dad's Dale Earnhardt Inc. team on his dad's word and a handshake. After his dad's passing he continued to do so.
DEI offered him a lifetime contract last season, and he wisely decided not to sign it. The prospect of being tied down to one team for the rest of his life didn't impress him, even though the team bears the family name. Junior has alluded that the emotions he felt racing the No. 3 for Richard Childress Racing in the Busch Series requires him to leave the futures door ajar. Don't be surprised if you see Junior racing the infamous Black No. 3 Monte Carlo for RCR in Winston Cup one of these days. I certainly won't be. When you get right down to the apples and oranges part of it, Junior would be a lot better off if he were driving for RCR now.
The No. 8 Budweiser team has made some changes for the upcoming season. A new tire carrier and two new tire changers are the key changes. I saw something about new hauler and bus drivers, but they are non-essential to the main objective. I'm still going to contend that what needs changing is the Eurys. Sure, they can mount a good run and win a race or two, but they are not consistent, and it takes constancy to win championships. Maybe they will get it together and I'll have to eat my words. IF that happens, then I'll eat them happily, but from past performances, it appears that I'm safe.
Getting back to the contract, Junior has alluded that he and his sister Kelly submitted a five year contract to DEI a few weeks ago. To me, five years is even a long time to be tied down to one team. This tells me Kelly is someone that Junior can confide in, and that's a great plus for him. The fact that he can discuss serious contractual matters involving his career with his sister shows us that he is healing fine from the pain that has rested on his shoulders for the last couple of years.
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