- By walking from DEI, he raises the value for every driver in NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series when contract time comes around. It is, perhaps, NASCAR racing's "Curt Flood" free agent moment (Flood was the baseball player whose struggle and court battle established free agency as a sports way of life, for better or worse)
- He and sister Kelley are stand-up people for getting this out and dealt with...a little of the military academy training shone through.
- This announcement and its timing was a master PR stroke which even bumps Danica Patrick off the racing portion of the sports pages...Ramsey Poston (pr flack for NASCAR) had to like all the ink.
- One wonders just how many Budweiser cans with Jr's likeness are planned before he changes numbers...I can see it now...the '8' on a 24 oz can and call it Dale Jr's "master cylinder".
- One also wonders which of the Chevy contenders/pretenders will make a credible offer for Dale Jr's services.
- Dale Earnhardt, Inc. won a Pyhrric victory in these negotiations--Stepmother Teresa showed the NASCAR universe who was boss. But would you rather be the boss of a company worth hundreds of millions of dollars, or one worth tens of millions? The value of DEI is, for all practical purposes, reduced dramatically once Dale Jr drives his last race for the company in November. Dale Jr merchandise money goes to the new team, and his replacement won't sell as many collectibles. The question is raised again: On January 1, 2008, will Dale Earnhardt, Inc. be worth more in liquidation than it would be as a going business concern?
Friday, May 11, 2007
Dale Jr.--My Takes
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