A fly on the wall on December 8, 2008 9:30 a.m. in Kannapolis, North Carolina, may hear:
Tony Stewart: Wow. This changed since I went to New York.
Secretary(via intercom) : Where have you been?
Stewart: (fumbling with intercombutton) Home. Why?
Secretary: Didn't you read the schedule we sent to your phone?
Stewart: No. I never check my messages before I get to the shop in the morning.
Secretary:(sound of exhaling breath) Oh. Well you missed the meeting with Joe Custer. And you're about to be late for the all shop meeting at 9:45.
Stewart: Okay. Where is the coffee?
Secretary: I'll get it. And I'll let Custer know you are here.
Stewart: What's the meeting about? Hello? (intercome shuts off). What is all this stuff? Stacks of catalogs. Speedway Motors catalogs. T-Shirt design samples. Media requests - ha - that'll be easy to put in the NO box.
Secretary: Teresa Earnhardt, Line 1.
Stewart: What the Hell? (Picks up phone) Teresa?
Teresa Earnhardt: Tony, congratulations again on your new team.
Stewart: Thanks.
Teresa: Have you given any more thought to the merger option we discussed in New York?
Stewart: Ummm. Noooooo.
Teresa: I really think it would work to our benefit.
Stewart: Ahhhhh... (Loud crash)
Secretary and Joe Custer: (sound of door opening and footsteps) What was that?
Stewart: Got to go. Talk to you later. (Call ended).
Custer: You threw your shoe at Martinsville clock!?
Stewart: I needed a diversion. Put Teresa on my "do not call" list. And get more glass for the clock.
Secretary: Ok. Is this a good time to ask for a raise?
Stewart: No problem. As long as you don't schedule anything before 10 a.m. And screen the calls from women I don't want to talk to.
Secretary: Deal.
Custer: Now you're negotiating salaries?
Stewart: If she handles things the way I want, she'll earn it.
Custer: Uh-huh. I brought in your schedule for the next few days. And a few important dates we have before Daytona.
Stewart: The day after Christmas you scheduled a sponsor meet and greet?
Custer: We have several to do and it fit. I know it is a bit odd, but they'll be able to get lots of kids there as they are on Christmas vacation.
Stewart: But I'm racing that day in Fort Wayne. And I'm at the Chili Bowl these dates in January. And I have to go to the season opening World of Outlaws races these dates in February.
Custer: Oh. Well. I guess we can move a few things around.
Stewart: While we're on that, put on the master schedule the dates of the Kyle Petty Charity Ride, the Knoxville Nations, and the Knoxville Late Model Nationals. There's the Prelude in June, and the Sprintweek in July.
Custer: When exactly do you plan to do ownership stuff?
Stewart: I'd have times on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Custer: I think we'll need a bit more than that. Let's talk about that after the shop meeting.
Stewart: Great.
Custer: Don't forget that part of the deal with the sponsors is that you would be available for meet and greets, commercials, autograph signings and media tours.
Stewart: I've done all that before. Wait, how many media tours?
Custer: I think they want you talking to the camera every opportunity.
Stewart: Hendrick doens't do that.
Custer: But you see Richard Petty, Ganassi, Childress, Hendrick and Evernham regularly talking about their teams on Trackside and the Pre-Race shows.
Stewart: Isn't my radio show enough? It's going to take 10 minutes to get through the list of sponsors already!
Custer: We'll talk later. I'll see you in the shop in a couple minutes. (Sound of footsteps and door shutting).
Secretary: Your Dad, Line 4.
Stewart: Dad?
Nelson Stewart: So are you going to run the double this year?
Stewart: Dad, I haven't really had time to think about it.
Nelson: You're your own boss now. And that Indy 500 trophy would look good on your trophy shelf.
Secretary: Junior, Line 2.
Stewart: Dad, I gotta go. We'll talk later. Junior.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr: Hey Tony. Thought I'd call in and talk a bit about the Nationwide program and warn you about my crazy stepmother. She is shopping hard for a partner. Thought I'd give you a heads-up.
Stewart: A little too late for that. She already cornered me in New York. And I do mean cornered.
Stewart: I'd better go, someone just walked in. Bye. I still can't believe no one has put this together yet.
Chad Knaus: They will at Daytona.
Stewart: Yeah. Well, since I had no crew chief and you got fired from Hendrick after the fiasco during the Chase, it should work for both of us.
Knaus: I agree. Do you want to know what my ideas are? I went back and re-read some of Smokey's stuff and Ray's stuff, and I think there are a few tweeks we can make to the COT that techinically aren't outlawed. Yet.
Stewart: I don't want to know. As the owner/driver, Nascar will think I do, but as long it as doesn't involve lead water containers, I don't care. We just have to get into the top 35 in points.
Knaus: The cars will be very fast.
Stewart: That's what I expect.
Secretary:(Intercom) The meeting is starting now in the shop. Both of you need to get there!
This week's hot conspiracy theory is that Dale Earnhardt Jr's five DNFs for engine failure are the direct result of his evil step-mother, Teresa Earnhardt's actions. Blinded Dale Jr. fans theorize that his stepmother deliberately sabotaged his engines to punish him for leaving the family business and defecting to Hendrick Motorsports.
Here's the quick list of why this is a ridiculous theory: (1) She isn't an engineer and lacks the knowledge to damage an engine to make it fail with just 5 laps left. (2) If she had help, think how many people would have to keep this quiet (plus, when was the last time we saw her at the track?) (3) Failing to make the Chase damages DEI's chances at getting sponsorship dollars (4) Wouldn't rubbing in a Championship as Junior jumps ship be sweeter? (5) Merchandise sales.
The more insidious and unspoken insult is that a woman can't (and shouldn't) run a successful Nascar company.
Teresa Earnhardt is the only woman running a multi-car team. Realistically, she's the only woman running a Cup team (BAM barely counts). Heck, throw in the IRL/Indy Car Series, and she's still the only one. But anytime there is a problem at DEI, we get ludicrous conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory. Heck, the only thing she hasn't been accused of this year is killing Elvis.
Did we bash Jack Roush when he lost the reigning Champion to Penske? Did fans skewer Chip Ganassi when he threw in the towel on Casey Mears? Was Hendrick's dumping of a rookie of the year and a young man his dead son handpicked touted as a bad business move that didn't make sense? No. No. And No.
So why take a owner to task when she lets a driver go who hasn't won a race this year, barely won a race in each of the last two years and fails to qualify for the Chase half of the time? Obviously, there is a family dynamic at work in this situation, but that should cut both ways.
Nascar's anti-woman feelings have run deep and long. Look at the insults and lack of help given to Janet Guthrie. Women weren't allowed in the pits and finally Stevie Waltrip broke through by being listed as an owner. For a more recent candidate of the "women are evil" sentiment, look at Erin Crocker, who was singlehandedly the reason Jeremy Mayfield couldn't win and Ray Evernham couldn't run a company.
Instead of looking for dark shadows behind every engine failure, Everyone should be looking at why a female owner is being scrutinized and held to a standard male owners are not. Why is it OK to write these horrible things about her when she isn't doing anything illegal, but the same sources won't write, theorize or complain when one of those male owners is indicted and convicted of a federal crime?
The one thing no one could ever answer for me in the Cinderella fairy tale was: Where was the father during all this? Some people believed that a spell had been cast over him, or he was working too hard to notice what was going on. But I still think he abdicated his parental duties and left Cinderella to fend for herself. Surely, not a candidate for Father of the Year.
These days, we have a modern day Cinderella playing out in Nascar. It's called Teresa Earnhardt vs. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Cast Dale Jr. as Cinderella and Teresa as the evil stepmother, and you get a good picture of how most Dale Jr fans view the whole mess.
And the Teresa bashing reached a crescendo with the announcement by Dale Jr that DEI was not "Freeing the 8" for his move to Hendrick.
While I understand the Earnhardt Nation's siding with Jr, I am still left wondering why Dale Sr's part in this whole mess is largely ignored.
First, let's dispense with the usual comments these critiques of Dale Sr generate: (1) Dale Sr. was a great driver (2) He founded DEI and (3) He was the primary reason the sport grew so quickly in the 80's. I'm not disagreeing with any of those statements. To me, these sound like the lame excuses Cinderella's father had for his lack of action in her tale.
If Dale Sr wanted to leave the company to Dale Jr., then why didn't he change his will? Or even give Jr a percentage of ownership/stock when he was alive? Dale Sr clearly had lawyers on retainer. Changing his will would have been a small matter to take care of, as he could have left portions to each of his four kids, Teresa, his mother, whomever he desired to. But he didn't. His will left DEI to Teresa. Dale Sr. did not give Dale Jr. stock/ ownership of any portion of DEI, which could have been done while he was still alive. Dale Sr's comments that he wanted Junior to have the company mean nothing without action on Sr's part.
Ultimately, Junior isn't wrong for wanting to run or own his father's company, but neither is Teresa for wanting to keep the company she helped found and which her husband left to her lock, stock and barrel.
Dale Sr. left a tricky and messy business situation between Teresa and Dale Jr at the time of his death. Dale Sr had no written contract with Dale Jr. Teresa and Junior had to work out a written contract.
Additionally, Junior had signed over to Sr the rights to his name. Last year, Teresa and Junior worked out the transfer of those rights back to Junior. Again, this is something that should have been handled legally at the time Junior signed his rights over - that at Senior's death, the rights would immediately revert to Junior. But Dale Sr. and Dale Jr. did not allow for that in the agreement.
This inaction or lack of planning on Dale Sr's part created tension, hard feelings and problems for those left to clean up: Teresa and Junior (and the rest of the kids).
Teresa and Junior decided the best policy is to divorce their interests. Now, the tiny "divorce" issues of number, sponsor, who gets custody of crew members (Tony Eury Jr etc) and other things are cropping up. Again, we are left with the deafening silence of Dale Sr's intentions and wishes. Or are we?
Dale Sr's last clearly expressed wish was this: Teresa gets DEI and makes the decisions.
Do I want to keep the number at DEI, or should I let Junior take it with him? After all Dale bought it because it was his father's number and he wanted Junior to run it. But is it so attached to the Junior phenomenon that a new driver won't ever feel comfortable about driving it? Will the fans shun it because its not Junior behind the wheel? Does the Good will possibly generated by letting it go overcome the history DEI has had with the number? Letting it go wouldn't transfer the owner's points to the new team for qualifying purposes next year. And I do have a step-grandson in our driver development program, so maybe an Earnhardt can drive the Number 8 again. I'll need to think this through a bit more.
2. Think about Replacement drivers.
How do you replace the most popular driver - with the prior title holder. I'd hire Bill Elliott to replace Junior. I know he retired, but he runs enough races every year, that he's not that far out of the loop. And he has the mechanical knowledge to be a real help with the program. Plus, he's run about every make of car in the last 10 years, so driving a Chevy shouldn't be a big deal. If he won't do the whole season, maybe we can work out a partial season ala Mark Martin with a development driver or drivers.
3. Think about Replacement sponsors.
Is Bud really leaving or is there room to negotiate with them about staying the primary sponsor? If they leave, would they consider an associate sponsorship? Nabisco has always been a strong associate sponsor, maybe they'd like to increase their presence in Nascar as the primary sponsor. How about Walmart? Or Chevy? Pennzoil?
4. Remember the Reason I'm doing all this:
And remember he and I were in this together. It may be time to re-examine my roots and find the next idea that will turn the Nascar world on its head. After all, the branding and marketing ideas of the #3 and Dale Earnhardt were mine and Dale's, and look where those have taken the sport. If I got through February 2001, this should be a piece of cake.
