DALLAS — Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Thursday that he wants majority ownership in the organization that bears his father's name.
Earnhardt told reporters during media day at Daytona International Speedway that he wants more control at Dale Earnhardt Inc. — the race team built by the late Dale Earnhardt and controlled by his widow, Teresa Earnhardt, Dale's stepmother.
Earnhardt Jr.'s contract to drive the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet for DEI expires at the end of the 2007 season.
"The main factor is the ownership part," Earnhardt said.
"It has nothing to do with money and nothing else, really ... My father has been gone for almost six years now. I want majority ownership."
Earnhardt and his sister and business manager, Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, met Wednesday with Max Siegel, the new DEI president of global operations, and team general manager Richie Gilmore. Earnhardt was impressed by Siegel.
"He's a great guy to talk to and a great guy to work with," Earnhardt said. "He's going to speed things up. He's going to improve negotiations and help those things make it a little bit easier."
Teresa Earnhardt took over as owner and chief executive officer of DEI following her husband's death at the 2001 Daytona 500. She made news this off-season, telling The Wall Street Journal that Earnhardt Jr. needed to "decide on whether he wants to be a NASCAR driver or whether he wants to be a public personality."
Earnhardt has acknowledged that the relationship "isn't a bed of roses," and because of that tension, Teresa isn't expected to take part in the negotiations. But she has said she wants Earnhardt to stay in the company.