Teresa Earnhardt is Destroying DEI

The beginning of the end for DEI as most Dale Earnhardt Sr. fans remember began on that fateful day at Daytona in February 2001. We saw our driver killed while protecting a win for Michael Waltrip, who was driving the #15 race car for DEI. Ever since that sad day, there have been many decisions that have been made that simply makes me scratch my head.

With the passing of Dale Earnhardt Sr. in 2001, all of the company decisions have fallen on the shoulders of Teresa Earnhardt and that seems to be where the problems began.

A little background information on the race teams that are being fielded by the new DEI (recently merged with Ginn Racing); #8 Budweiser Chevy, #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevy, #01 Army Chevy and #15 Menards Chevy. The drivers of the cars; #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr., #1 Martin Truex Jr., # 01 Mark Martin/Aric Almirola and #15 Paul Menard.

DEI has been through a lot of turbulence the last couple years and it has ultimately lead to the departure of Dale Earnhardt Jr. after the 2007 season ends at Homestead in a few weeks. He will be joining Hendrick Motorsports and will drive the #88 AMP Energy drink Chevy and will be team mates of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears.

Martin Truex Jr. on the other hand actually has had a decent season and he qualified for NASCAR's version of a playoff system (Chase for the Nextel Cup) but he has faltered and won't be a serious contender. The #01 car started off the season very strong (while still under the Ginn Racing banner) with Mark Martin running the first dozen races, but when Regan Smith jumped into the car it fell back in the pack. The #15 car with Paul Menard driving hasn't been much of as factor missing many of the races due to NASCAR's Top 35 policy during qualifying. Since the merger, the #15 car had a guaranteed starting spot. But even though having a guaranteed spot in the 43 car field hasn't yielded much for the #15 team.