Step Mom

Being in education I can understand why the whole step parenting situation can be tough. In fact I think it could be down right brutal. Just wanting to date a child’s dad could be hard enough for children to deal with. Especially if that step mom is your ex boss.

Early last week Dale Earnhardt Jr. showed off his new ride. He will be driving the Number 88 Mountain Dew/ AMP energy drink Chevy for Hendrick Motor Sports. Nobody should expect Dale Jr. to be his father. His father like him or not was a legend, and a great race car driver. For those of you too young to really watch him race he was Tony Stewart before Tony Stewart.
I think the Hendrick Motorsports/ Dale Jr. marketing team is a match made in motor sports heaven. I like the fact that Jr. wants to win races. He could very easily go out there and be another Kyle Petty. Dale Jr. doesn’t have to win races to make money. He just has to show up. To be a millionaire all Dale Jr. would have to do would be to show up at the track make the field drive in circles on Sunday, and sell t-shirts, die cast cars, memorabilia, and whatever else NASCAR fans buy.
The funniest part about this is the reason he had to keep “8” in his number. The reason he felt he had to keep the number 8 in his number wasn’t because of luck, it was because of the fans who got “8 Dale Jr.” tattoos. I am not making fun of rednecks because lets face it I am a redneck, but how short sided is that? I love the Colts, but I know there might be a time when they could move cities. They could change their nicknames, that’s why you never get a sports related tattoo.
Lets talk about the whole drama with Dale Jr, because lets face it, its interesting. I understand why they wanted a split. Theresa Earnhardt wants to become the Petty’s. She wants to put as little actual money into the races as possible, and she wants to sell as much stuff as possible. Basically the races for her are to sell #3 die cast cars of her late husband to the millions of fans who still want to watch him race. It doesn’t matter if her race team wins, losses or ties. She wins in the end. She is a business person, she could care less about wins or losses. Again, let me state my point, or make it more clear. She is in the business of making money. She doesn’t have to win races to make money, so she doesn’t.
Dale Jr. the race car driver does want to win races. He wants to compete and wants to win. Can you see the conflict of interest here? That’s the main reason for the split. Now come the details. The sponsor Budweiser and more important the car number 8.
I really thought Budweiser would go with Dale Jr. See even though the company name is on the car, the real sponsorship is on the driver. You always think of Jeff Gordon with what? The number 24 and the Dupont name. Same with Dale Sr. #3 and Chevrolet. (It is funny though how American Chevrolet is but it is actually a French name. And how associated with NASCAR it is but the Chevrolet brothers actually got their start in Indianapolis.)
Anyway back to the original subject, Theresa Earnhardt should have sold Dale Jr.’s Number 8 to Hendrick Racing. She also should have paid him what he was worth. Her step son makes her millions of dollars every year. A smart business person would have forked over the cash. Dale Jr. as a race car driver has the right to go to a winning team. His time with Hendrick Motorsports will tell if he is a legit NASCAR driver. He has won races in the past, but these next couple of years will tell us if he is a great driver like Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson or if he is just another Earnhardt.
If Peyton Manning went to the Cardnails he would have the right to wear the number 18, and it would not matter if the Colts liked it or not. She made her millions off of him, and will continue to do so, but she should have sold the number. "88" is fine. In fact in the long run it will help becuase now everyone who has Dale Jr. jackets and needless excessories will have to turn around and buy 88 Mountain Dew/ Amp energy crap.
I thought that Bud was crazy for not following Jr. Even though they advertise enough i think Dale Jr. was a gold mine beucase you cant put a prise on those Die Cast cars. Think of all the advertising dollar they got out of the man. They should have stayed with Jr.
In the end everyone loses. The good news is we will see how good of a driver Dale Jr. really is. He has the ride to promote himself to a truely elite driver on the circut. But he has to prove it on the track. If he can do that, then maybe he will live up to his hype. If not, we are doomed to another year of yellow flags for debris right after he gets lapped by Jimmie Johnson.