A little Break in the Action

Note: This was posted on July 26, 2007.


Out of respect for Dale Earnhardt, I would ask all fans of Dale Earnhardt Jr. to stop ripping on Teresa Houston Earnhardt. I make this plea because I'm not sure all of the current Nascar fans understand just how important Teresa Earnhardt has been to this sport.

Teresa came from a racing family. She grew up around the race tracks almost the same way that her husband did. In a lot of ways, Teresa helped make Dale Earnhardt the man that he was. She helped him make business decisions and was a driving force behind the creation of the company that she now fully controls, Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Many of us would have loved to have seen Dale Earnhardt Jr. drive his entire career for DEI. I did. Many of us wish his father had not passed away on 02/18/2001. But he did.

If the old man were still alive, would Dale Earnhardt Jr. be driving for Rick Hendrick next year? I think probably not. Has Teresa Earnhardt made some mistakes since her husband died? Probably. I can't judge that, and neither can about 99.99% of you.

The only thing I know is that Dale Earnhardt always went to were the best racing was. Like father, like son. Dale Earnhardt Jr. feels that he's got a better chance of winning races and championships with Hendrick. After the last few years of disappointments, I feel that Hendrick is the very best place he can be to achieve his goals.

Ladies and Gentlemen, there are factors to this equation that we will probably never know about. Was it more of an equipment issue or a personal issue for Dale Jr.? We'll probably never know. That's between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Teresa Earnhardt, and I think it should stay that way. If you are a father or a mother, or a son or a daughter, would you want millions of people examining your lives every day? I doubt it. Let's let the family business remain with the family. It's not our business.

I'm not saying leave the lady alone because she's a widow, or you disagree with her business decisions. You can disagree with her all you want to, but to be calling a woman whom you don't know a witch or worse is not very nice. Would you want that said about your mother?

Taylor Nichole is not involved in Nascar, but I imagine that she reads a lot of the stuff here on the Internet. I know that Kerry, Kelley, and Dale Jr. are stepchildren to Teresa, but Taylor is her daughter, and if I were her, I would not want to be reading about how my mom is the witch from hell.

Leave Teresa alone. If you don't like her, then don't support her drivers. Just remember that she was very instrumental creating and running the company that gave Dale Earnhardt Jr. his start in racing.

As always, e-mail me at what ever address this site shows, and I'll be happy to read your e-mail, but on this subject, I will say that I'm not going to give an inch on this one. Hate Teresa or don't hate her, that's your choice, but I imagine all the hatred out there is probably hurting not only Taylor, but probably the rest of the kids as well.

I think the Earnhardt family has suffered enough. Leave them alone or go find another sport.