Representatives of DEI and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will meet on Wednesday to discuss Dale Jr.’s contract and ownership stake in the team. Earnhardt Jr., his sister, Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, who serves as his business manager, DEI competition director Richie Gilmore, and DEI’s new president, Max Siegel are expected in the meeting. Teresa Earnhardt, the owner of DEI who also is Earnhardt Jr.’s stepmother, will not be at the meeting, by design. Gilmore said the parties wanted to try to keep the emotions to a minimum, and they wanted to keep Teresa Earnhardt and Dale Jr. separate. Dale Jr.’s contract with DEI expires in 2007, and he said during testing at Daytona that he wanted a greater stake in DEI, the company that his father started. Gilmore says the ownership stake in the team is still the major determining factor in the contract negotiation process for Dale Jr.(ESPN.com)(2-7-2007) UPDATE: it was reported in ESPN’s NASCAR Now that Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s representatives met with some DEI execs, including new president Max Siegel on Wednesday, basically just a meet-and-greet and there is nothing else to report. UPDATE 2: #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t mince words on Thursday when asked what it would take to get him to re-sign with the Nextel Cup organization his father built. “I want majority ownership, basically,” Earnhardt Jr. said for the first time during media day at Daytona International Speedway. As in more than 50%? “Absolutely,” Earnhardt Jr. said emphatically. Earnhardt Jr.’s contract with Dale Earnhardt Inc. expires at the end of the 2007 season. Negotiation on a new deal began in the middle of 2006, with ownership of the company a major sticking point. Asked if stepmother Teresa Earnhardt, who inherited sole ownership of the company when Dale Earnhardt was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, was willing to budge, Earnhardt Jr. said, “We’ll see.” Earnhardt Jr. and his sister, Kelley, met with Max Siegel, DEI’s new president of Global Operations, on Wednesday along with director of motorsports Richie Gilmore. Earnhardt Jr. said it was more of a get-to-know-you meeting with Siegel than a contract negotiation, but added Siegel could expedite the process he initially hoped would be concluded by April or May. “He’s a great guy to talk to and a great guy to work with,” Earnhardt Jr. said of Siegel. “He’s going to speed things up. He’s going to improve negotiations and help those things make it a little bit easier.” Not in the meeting was Teresa, who has been asked to step aside in negotiations because of her somewhat tumultuous relationship with Earnhardt Jr.(ESPN.com)(2-8-2007)
