#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. is not happy with his stepmother – again. Earnhardt told Scott Fowler as part of an exclusive Charlotte Observer interview Thursday that he was siding with his half-brother over his stepmother in a legal dispute. The issue: Whether Kerry Earnhardt can use his last name to market homes that he and his wife Rene helped design as part of a series of houses to be built by Schumacher homes. ‘Obviously, I’m in support of my brother,’ Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. Kerry Earnhardt plans to call the homes ‘The Earnhardt Collection.’ Teresa Earnhardt – Kerry and Dale’s stepmother and the widow of Dale Earnhardt Sr. – doesn’t want that name used because she believes it could be confused as an endorsement or sponsorship by the estate of her late husband. A legal fight has dragged on for several years about this. Teresa Earnhardt’s lawyers recently filed an appeal in federal court after a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruling denied Teresa Earnhardt’s challenge to the ‘Earnhardt Collection’ trademark applied for by Kerry Earnhardt. Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that Kerry deserves to be able to use his own last name on the line of homes. ‘This is a business venture that he’s put a lot of effort and heart and soul in that I think he deserves,’ Dale Jr. said of Kerry. ‘So in this particular case, I side with my brother and his belief to be able to use the name as is – without any alterations or changes.’(See full article / interview at the Charlotte Observer)
