Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
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| Owner(s) Name | Teresa Earnhardt |
| Racing Series | NEXTEL Cup, Busch Series |
| Number of Championships | 4 |
| Car Number(s) | #1, #8, #15 (NEXTEL Cup) #8, #11, #15 (Busch Series) |
| Driver(s) | Martin Truex Jr. (#1-NEXTEL, #11-Busch) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (#8-NEXTEL & Busch) Paul Menard (#15-NEXTEL & Busch) |
| Primary Sponsor(s) | Bass Pro Shops (#1-NEXTEL) Budweiser (#8-NEXTEL) Menards (#15-NEXTEL & Busch) |
| Shop Location | Mooresville, North Carolina |
| Homepage | Dale Earnhardt Incorporated |
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. is a NASCAR team based in Mooresville, North Carolina. It fields three full-time Nextel Cup teams. The team was owned originally by seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, before his death in a crash on the closing lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
The team is currently owned by Teresa Earnhardt and run by Richie Gilmore. Despite Dale Earnhardt's ownership of the racing team, he never raced for it in the Winston Cup, preferring to race for his long-time mentor and backer, Richard Childress at RCR.
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[edit] NASCAR teams
[edit] Car #1 history
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. debuted in Winston Cup in 1996 as the #14 Racing for Kids Chevrolet, driven by Robby Gordon at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Jeff Green drove the car in two more races that year. The next year, Busch Series standout Steve Park drove the car in five races with the Burger King sponsorship. In 1998, the team switched numbers with car owner Richard Jackson with the car changing from #14 to #1, and receiving sponsorship from Pennzoil and Park making a bid for NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors. The team got off to a bumpy start after Park failed to qualify at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in just the third race of the year. The next week, Park broke his leg at a testing accident at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Two weeks later, the team hired three-time champion Darrell Waltrip to pilot the car whilst Park recovered from his injuries. Waltrip posted two top ten finishes in the car until Park made his return at the Brickyard 400, where he finished 35th following a crash. He posted two eleventh-place finishes and finished 42nd in points that year.
Park fared better the next year, posting 5 top 10 finishes and finishing 14th in points. In 2000, Park won his first two Bud Pole awards, and won his first race at his home track at Watkins Glen International Raceway. He finished 11th year in points. The race after Earnhardt's death in 2001, Park beat Bobby Labonte in a photo finish at North Carolina Speedway. But his career stalled when competing in a Busch Series race at Darlington Speedway, he was T-boned by Larry Foyt and almost died. He gradually recovered and returned, ironically, at the spring Darlington race in 2002. He has since struggled to maintain his career. Midway through 2003, he was released from the ride and was replaced by Jeff Green. (Park took over Green's old ride at Richard Childress Racing, who used to be Earnhardt's owner.) Both Green and Pennzoil left following the season, and the team moved to part-time status, occasionally popping up to field cars for two-time winner John Andretti. The team ran a part-time schedule in 2005 with Martin Truex Jr. driving a Bass Pro Shops-sponsored car, and moved to full time status in 2006.
[edit] Car #8 history
The 8 car started out in the NASCAR Busch Series as the #3 ACDelco Chevrolet driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 1998. Junior won championships in both 1998 and 1999 in the Busch Series in this car. In 1999, Earnhardt drove in 5 Winston Cup races in the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet, finishing in the top 10 once, leading one lap, and one DNF. In 2000, Junior made a full time jump to Winston Cup. Despite winning two poles and three races (including The Winston), Junior finished runner-up to Matt Kenseth for NASCAR Rookie of the Year. In 2001, he won the first race run at Daytona International Speedway following his father's death. In 2004, Dale won the Daytona 500, 6 years after his father won the 500. He went on to collect 5 more wins for the season. Though he failed to qualify for the Chase for the Cup in 2005, he rebounded in 2006 and qualified for the 2006 Chase for the Cup, where he finished 5th.
[edit] Car #15 history
The #15 team originated from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series as the #16 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado driven by Ron Hornaday. The team won two championships and 23 races during this time (1995-1999). In 2000, the team moved to the Busch Series as car #3. Hornaday won twice, finished 8th in points, but finished second to Kevin Harvick for Rookie of the Year. In 2001, the team once agained moved to a different series, but this time, without Hornaday. The team was now #15 (a possible reference to the #15 Ford Thunderbird that Dale Earnhardt drove in the early and mid-1980s) and sponsored still by NAPA. Michael Waltrip now handled the driving chores, and won his first race at the Daytona 500, but it was overshadowed by the death of Dale Earnhardt. Waltrip won four times over the next five years. It was announced in 2005 that Waltrip will not drive the car for DEI in the future, as Waltrip moved to his own team, Waltrip-Jasper Racing and took the Napa sponsor with him.
The #15 team moved to a part-time status for 2006 with DEI's Busch Series driver Paul Menard and sponorship provided by Menards Home Improvement stores. Menard will race in Cup full-time in 2007.
[edit] Car #81 history
The 81 car made occasional attempts at a Winston Cup race in 2003 with mostly Jason Keller and John Andretti driving. The team hasn't been seen since, and is unlikely to return since NFL legend Tim Brown has acquired the number for his announced Nextel Cup team, backed by Roush Fenway Racing. The 81 ran in limited action in 2005 by Dale Earnhardt Jr, at the Daytona, Talledega (superspeedway restrictor place races), and Charlotte races in the Busch Series.
[edit] Chance 2 Motorsports
Chance 2 Motorsports is a wholly owned subsidiary of DEI. Run by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Teresa Earnhardt, the team won championships with Truex Jr. in 2004 and 2005. Dale Jr. or Truex Jr. occasionally drive Chance 2's #8 Busch-series car.
[edit] JR Motorsports
Following the success of the Chance 2 Motorsports collaboration with his stepmother, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. set up JR Motorsports. The operation is independent of Chance 2 and DEI, and they use the money of Dale Jr. and the engines of RCR. Chance 2 Motorsports was dissolved after the 2005 season by Dale Jr. in order to focus on his own independent operation, JR Motorsports. At the beginning of the 2006 season JR motorsports had driver Mark McFarland to driver their #88 Navy Busch Series car, but 21 races into the season they decided to hire a different face, Shane Huffman. Huffman continues to drive the #88 in 2007.
[edit] Future of DEI
The contract for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to drive for the team expires at the end of the 2007 season. Tension between Earnhardt Jr. and his employer and, ultimately, his stepmother, Theresa, has increased as a result of the negotiations for an extension. Junior demands majority ownership in the organization, stating that it is what his father would have wanted.
