Earnhardt Jr. Says RCR-DEI Partnership Won’t Impact Decision

Richard Childress Inks Engine- Building Partnership With DEI

Dale Earnhardt Jr. indicated that the engine-building partnership between Richard Childress Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc. announced last week “would not impact his decision” on which team to drive for next season, according to David Newton of ESPN.com. RCR is considered one of the front-runners to land Earnhardt, who intends to leave DEI after this season. Earnhardt called the RCR-DEI partnership “a great move. I was telling [DEI Dir of Motorsports Richie Gilmore] this time a year ago that if Chevy teams all consolidated to one program it would cut the costs tremendously” (ESPN.com, 5/19). Earnhardt estimated the move would save each team 25-30% in engine production costs. USA TODAY’s Seth Livingstone reports Childress “might have assumed the lead” in the race to sign Earnhardt after Rick Hendrick indicated that he “currently has no room in his four-car Cup program for him” (USA TODAY, 5/21). JR Motorsports President Kelley Earnhardt Elledge did not reveal what teams she had spoken to about her brother, but she said, “We have all along said we would talk to everyone, specifically Chevrolet teams. We have not eliminated any options at this point” (AP, 5/18).

ENGINEERS: ESPN’s Angelique Chengelis reported the idea for the engine-building partnership was Childress’, and he approached DEI Owner Teresa Earnhardt. While there is “no intention to merge these two companies, ... both teams do intend, based on this merger in the engine departments, to expand to four-car teams” (“NASCAR Now,” ESPN2, 5/19). In N.Y., Viv Bernstein noted the partnership is “similar to the consolidation” of Roush Fenway Racing and Robert Yates Racing (N.Y. TIMES, 5/19). DEI Technical Dir Steve Hmiel said of why the partnership was formed, “It’s just a matter of ‘Man, we’re going to spend X amount of millions of dollars doing this. Why not do it together and spend it together and we’ll both get the benefit of it?’” (ESPN.com, 5/18). DEI President of Global Operations Max Siegel said that Hmiel and Gilmore are “at the forefront of plotting the direction of the organization” with Earnhardt Jr. leaving (BOSTON HERALD, 5/20).