The real source of power at DEI
I've been a little lax in posting again mainly because there wasn't much to post about. Sure there was the F1 fiasco at Indy, but that was beaten to death in short order.
It is all over the web this afternoon that Dale Earnhardt, Inc and Michael Waltrip are parting ways at the end of 2005. That's a damn shame for Mikey because at age 42 this will be the final step for him to slip back to racing irrelevancy and into the TV booth as an excitable analyst just like his older brother. *YAWN* With the 2001 Daytona 500 steadily becoming a memory, Mikey's win and Deal Sr's death will become just another footnote in the history of Bill France's money machine. Life goes on in racing even without a guy like Dale Earnhardt Sr. DEI was Waltrip's best hope for success in NASCAR, and now he's moving down the totem pole instead of up. Things must be bad for Mikey at DEI if he wants out that badly.
Last season when Dale Earnhardt Jr. started showing some inconsistency(eg. getting lapped after 36 miles at Las Vegas), everyone was quick to point the finger at Tony Eury Sr. That was a little misguided blame. On paper he is ultimately responsible for the success of the team. However, in my opinion the key to Jr's and Waltrip's success was not their mediocre crew cheifs. Don't get me wrong, Eury Sr is a fine crew chief, but he's no Ray Evernham or Todd Parrot. Both Junior and Waltrip had been riding a wave success into 2004, and have been gently sliding ever since the start of that season.
It was the loss of Ty Norris in early 2004 that did it. Tony Eury Sr. didn't suddenly get stupid. He was just mediocre all along, and Ty Norris was the real guy making it all work.
Teresa, Junior, and the Eurys are all fine people, but without the leadership of Dale Earnhardt Sr, it has become just like many other family run businesses after the patriarch passes on. It suffers from too many family members trying to assert control without hurting anyone's feeling, living off the old man's success, and not keeping their eyes on what it takes to make it grow. Ty Norris was the guy who kept everyone pissed off enough to want to win, and when they lost him they lost their focus.
I hate to say it, but look for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to become the next Kyle Petty only with better merchandise sales.
It is all over the web this afternoon that Dale Earnhardt, Inc and Michael Waltrip are parting ways at the end of 2005. That's a damn shame for Mikey because at age 42 this will be the final step for him to slip back to racing irrelevancy and into the TV booth as an excitable analyst just like his older brother. *YAWN* With the 2001 Daytona 500 steadily becoming a memory, Mikey's win and Deal Sr's death will become just another footnote in the history of Bill France's money machine. Life goes on in racing even without a guy like Dale Earnhardt Sr. DEI was Waltrip's best hope for success in NASCAR, and now he's moving down the totem pole instead of up. Things must be bad for Mikey at DEI if he wants out that badly.
Last season when Dale Earnhardt Jr. started showing some inconsistency(eg. getting lapped after 36 miles at Las Vegas), everyone was quick to point the finger at Tony Eury Sr. That was a little misguided blame. On paper he is ultimately responsible for the success of the team. However, in my opinion the key to Jr's and Waltrip's success was not their mediocre crew cheifs. Don't get me wrong, Eury Sr is a fine crew chief, but he's no Ray Evernham or Todd Parrot. Both Junior and Waltrip had been riding a wave success into 2004, and have been gently sliding ever since the start of that season.
It was the loss of Ty Norris in early 2004 that did it. Tony Eury Sr. didn't suddenly get stupid. He was just mediocre all along, and Ty Norris was the real guy making it all work.
Teresa, Junior, and the Eurys are all fine people, but without the leadership of Dale Earnhardt Sr, it has become just like many other family run businesses after the patriarch passes on. It suffers from too many family members trying to assert control without hurting anyone's feeling, living off the old man's success, and not keeping their eyes on what it takes to make it grow. Ty Norris was the guy who kept everyone pissed off enough to want to win, and when they lost him they lost their focus.
I hate to say it, but look for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to become the next Kyle Petty only with better merchandise sales.
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