Post by dalejrfan on Nov 5, 2005 3:19:14 GMT -5
Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn't given up on the idea of one day driving the No. 3 car that his dad made famous with Richard Childress Racing.
The son of the late Dale Earnhardt, a four-time Nextel Cup champion, left the door open this past week during an appearance on Dave Despain's "Wind Tunnel" television show.
"That is something that is an opportunity for us, and it would be fun for me and Richard to do something like that in the future," Earnhardt said. "We haven't sat down and decided that is what we will do, but maybe the last one or two years in my career, that's a possibility.
"I look forward to it. That is just something we just leave laying out there and joke about it, but it is something that we want to do, and we will do."
However, Earnhardt, who finished fourth at Atlanta, said his immediate concern is turning around his No. 8 team at Dale Earnhardt Inc.
He added that his stepmother, DEI owner Teresa Earnhardt, is more involved with running the organization than people perceive.
"She has put certain people like Richie Gilmore, Steve Hmiel and Tony Eury Sr. (in position) to try and make decisions based on their experience and so things go forward in the right direction," Earnhardt told Despain. "Her and Richie Gilmore are at the office sometimes as late as 9 p.m. during a weeknight going over those decisions.
"So she is there and she is involved. It is just not seen and there is a perception I think within the NASCAR family that she is not there. But she is and she knows what is going on, and she will surprise you with how much she knows about the day-to-day operation."
Earnhardt said he would like to one day share the ownership of DEI with Teresa.
"That is my drive and determination," he said. "If I didn't want to be involved in it or be an owner or acquire ownership in it, I would go drive for somebody else."
The son of the late Dale Earnhardt, a four-time Nextel Cup champion, left the door open this past week during an appearance on Dave Despain's "Wind Tunnel" television show.
"That is something that is an opportunity for us, and it would be fun for me and Richard to do something like that in the future," Earnhardt said. "We haven't sat down and decided that is what we will do, but maybe the last one or two years in my career, that's a possibility.
"I look forward to it. That is just something we just leave laying out there and joke about it, but it is something that we want to do, and we will do."
However, Earnhardt, who finished fourth at Atlanta, said his immediate concern is turning around his No. 8 team at Dale Earnhardt Inc.
He added that his stepmother, DEI owner Teresa Earnhardt, is more involved with running the organization than people perceive.
"She has put certain people like Richie Gilmore, Steve Hmiel and Tony Eury Sr. (in position) to try and make decisions based on their experience and so things go forward in the right direction," Earnhardt told Despain. "Her and Richie Gilmore are at the office sometimes as late as 9 p.m. during a weeknight going over those decisions.
"So she is there and she is involved. It is just not seen and there is a perception I think within the NASCAR family that she is not there. But she is and she knows what is going on, and she will surprise you with how much she knows about the day-to-day operation."
Earnhardt said he would like to one day share the ownership of DEI with Teresa.
"That is my drive and determination," he said. "If I didn't want to be involved in it or be an owner or acquire ownership in it, I would go drive for somebody else."