#8-Dale Earnhardt Jr. has not backed down from his demand for majority ownership in his late father’s company, his sister said Tuesday. “Fifty-one (percent) is the right number because that gives us control,” said Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, Junior’s sister and business manager. “We’ll take 75 or 95 or whatever we work out. At the end of the day, 51 gives you control. “And we want control.” Earnhardt is in the final year of his contract with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and has made owning a share of the company a major issue of his negotiations. He raised the stakes even higher in February when he said he actually wanted 51 percent of DEI – not just a piece of the team. Earnhardt Elledge said the ownership stake was not the breaking point of negotiations, but that time could run out for a new agreement to be reached. [DEI President Max] Siegel has said he believes a decision can be made by May, and Earnhardt Elledge said the next two months are crucial.(Associated Press)(4-11-2007)
