from a NASCAR teleconference Transcript) Q. An update on where you’re at right now as far as the contract negotiations go. DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: We’re basically where we’ve been over the past couple weeks. Not much has changed. Unfortunately, I know you guys want to know more than that, and I want to tell you more than that, but there’s not more to tell. Whenever we get the information, when I have what I have, know what I know, believe me, I won’t hold it out for long. Really nothing to report at this time. Q. It’s been the main story around you. Has it served as a distraction at all? DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: No, it’s not a distraction at all because really there’s nothing been going on. I get worried really that it’s being run into the ground. When we find out what we want to do and we decide what to do, how it goes down, what the plan is, we will tell the press. We’ll be ready to tell the press. We’ll be happy to make those announcements. I get worried that the story is just going to become stale, old, it’s going to wear people out. They’re going to get tired of hearing it. One of my favorite shows is Around the Horn on ESPN. They were talking about it on there. I know it’s getting old when Around the Horn is debating whether it’s getting old ’cause they were debating whether it was an old story, we were hearing too much about it, whatever. Q. I know you don’t want to talk about the contract. I’m not asking you to belie any confidences. Would you say it’s fair to say now or all along that this has been, how we can get a deal done, not whether we can get a deal done? Has it progressed at all in that direction or has it ever been anything different than that? DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: It’s not been “if” at all. We’ve both worked together and it’s all been positive. We’ve just made an agreement between ourselves to try not to talk about it in the media or insinuate anything until we’re ready to release the details. Both sides have made that agreement. We had to make it a little bit firmer obviously after this weekend. Q. Dale, with all due respect to what you already said about your contract this morning, can you at least say whether you’re hopeful or confident of staying with DEI? DALE EARNHARDT, JR.: Yeah, I am. I’m pretty excited that things are going to be fine, things are going to work out with our negotiations.(NASCAR teleconference Transcript in part)(4-25-2007)
