DEI Fights To Regain Racing Prowess Despite Merger With Ganassi
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Earnhardt Has Been Vilified For
Failing To Keep Earnhardt Jr. |
There is a “misconception among many… that DEI disappeared” after its merger with Chip Ganassi Racing, but the goal when they agreed to the merger was “one day to split back into separate race teams,” according to David Newton of ESPN.com. Since the merger, a “perception developed that the Garage Mahal had been turned into a museum,” but DEI last month hired Exec VP & GM Jeff Steiner “to show that the organization remains very viable in the racing community through the Dale Earnhardt Foundation, its engine program with Richard Childress Racing” and many other programs. Steiner: “We’re still very much alive and working on a lot of different programs. We’ve maybe been a little silent on a lot of stuff that is going on here.” Driver Jeffrey Earnhardt said, “Everybody’s hopes right now are to get DEI back going and to have an actual race team back out of this shop. That’s what we’re all working for.” But in the meantime, DEI’s “goal is to build around the legacy” of the late Dale Earnhardt. Steiner noted that there is “always a welcome sign” for driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. to return to the team, but added that that “isn’t what the company is about anymore.” Newton noted DEI President & CEO Teresa Earnhardt, who has been “vilified for failing to keep” Earnhardt Jr. with the team, last week “took a few minutes to talk with reporters, something as rare as an Earnhardt win these days.” Teresa Earnhardt said, “We’re always going to be in motorsports in some capacity. We’re always going to be viable. People just need to come out and get back on board.” Jeffrey Earnhardt said of Teresa, “Everybody likes to bash her, but there’s really no bashing her. Teresa is working real hard. That’s what a lot of people don’t see. She’s working hard to get this place back the way it was” (ESPN.com, 5/15).
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