Dale Earnhardt Jr. carries one of the most famous names in racing, and for years now he has signed only half of it.
On his Dale Jr. Download podcast, he explained the simple part first.
He said he was signing thousands of autographs at the racetrack a weekend, so it was just quicker and easier for him to write Dale Jr.
Speed was not the only reason. He said he stopped signing his last name partly because of legal issues over the name, and that the name was also removed from the roof and name rail of his car. Dirty Mo Media, the company behind his podcast, said in a post on X that at one point it was a little “touchy” legally.
The name on that roof rail came from his father, and since 2001 the company his father built has been in the hands of his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt.
Teresa Earnhardt Took Control of DEI When Dale Earnhardt Died in 2001
Dale Earnhardt, the seven-time Cup champion, died on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. On February 18, 2001, his widow, Teresa, inherited the roles of executor of his estate and owner of his team, Dale Earnhardt Inc. She was his third wife, married to him since 1982, and she is the stepmother of Dale Jr. and his half-brother, Kerry.
Dale Jr. wanted ownership or control of DEI, and a deal never came close. In a December 14 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Teresa questioned his commitment to driving.
“Right now the ball’s in his court to decide on whether he wants to be a NASCAR driver or whether he wants to be a public personality,” she said.
His sister, Kelley, answered during a Sirius satellite radio interview that being a public personality comes with being a public sports figure, and that fans had voted her brother the most popular driver for the fourth year in a row. At Daytona International Speedway testing, Dale Jr. said he figured that if anything needed to be said, Teresa would call him up and say it.
He also admitted there were things he wanted out of the company’s future, and that it was very difficult for everybody to see eye to eye.
In 2007, he left for Hendrick Motorsports after Teresa refused to give up control. Her statement said the company was very disappointed that Dale Jr. had chosen to “leave the family business.” She also would not let him take the No. 8, the number he had made famous at DEI, so he switched to the No. 88.
At a news conference about the move, he said he planned to be a man, race hard and contend for championships, and that he felt he would have his father’s blessing for it. He could take his name to Hendrick, but the number stayed behind.
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The Fight Over the Earnhardt Name Reached Kerry, the No. 1 and the No. 8
The name itself became a legal matter for the rest of the family too. Teresa sued Kerry over his use of the Earnhardt name for The Earnhardt Collection, a line of homes and furniture. After the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied her challenge to Kerry’s Earnhardt Collection trademark, she appealed the ruling in federal court.
Kerry has said he chose to leave a successful career in racing and could not be happier with the home lifestyle brand he and his family have built, one inspired by their love of the outdoors.
The numbers that carried the name have a trademark story of their own. DEI’s trademarks for the No. 1 and No. 8 logos came up for renewal. Teresa renewed the No. 1, and that trademark has teeth. In 2022, Ross Chastain’s team had to change the number font on a Dale Earnhardt throwback scheme because it infringed on it.
She never filed to renew the No. 8, so DEI and Teresa no longer own that trademark. DEJ Holdings then filed its own application for the No. 8, covering merchandise, race cars and Junior’s appearances. The number Teresa would not let him take to Hendrick now has an application with his initials on it.
Dale Jr. Has Defended Teresa Before, and He Still Trusts Her With the Family Name
Even in the final year of his DEI contract, with talks on a new deal running tense, Dale Jr. took her side in public. Kevin Harvick told reporters during a stop at Richard Childress Racing that it was hard to have what he called “a deadbeat owner that doesn’t come to the racetrack.”
When Dale Jr. was asked to answer that at a Tuesday night DEI media session, he grumbled, “You’re killing me,” and then defended her anyway. He said she had a full plate, with things more important to handle than showing up at the racetrack.
On the Download, he said he has not talked to Teresa in so long that he does not know where things stand emotionally about the relationship, “or the lack of a relationship.” He has said in the past that he is open to a reconciliation. On the subject at the heart of all this, he still gives her credit.
“There’s one thing that I’ll say about Teresa, is in terms of owning a trademark and protecting things like that, protecting our legacy and our family name, I have a lot of trust in her around those things.”
“She’s very smart, very savvy, always thinking,” he said.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the Earnhardt name off his race car and cut his autograph down to two words, partly over legal issues tied to that name. Yet when it comes to guarding that name, he still says he has a lot of trust in Teresa, the stepmother he has not talked to in a very long time.
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