The one thing no one could ever answer for me in the Cinderella fairy tale was: Where was the father during all this? Some people believed that a spell had been cast over him, or he was working too hard to notice what was going on. But I still think he abdicated his parental duties and left Cinderella to fend for herself. Surely, not a candidate for Father of the Year.
These days, we have a modern day Cinderella playing out in Nascar. It's called Teresa Earnhardt vs. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Cast Dale Jr. as Cinderella and Teresa as the evil stepmother, and you get a good picture of how most Dale Jr fans view the whole mess.
And the Teresa bashing reached a crescendo with the announcement by Dale Jr that DEI was not "Freeing the 8" for his move to Hendrick.
While I understand the Earnhardt Nation's siding with Jr, I am still left wondering why Dale Sr's part in this whole mess is largely ignored.
First, let's dispense with the usual comments these critiques of Dale Sr generate: (1) Dale Sr. was a great driver (2) He founded DEI and (3) He was the primary reason the sport grew so quickly in the 80's. I'm not disagreeing with any of those statements. To me, these sound like the lame excuses Cinderella's father had for his lack of action in her tale.
If Dale Sr wanted to leave the company to Dale Jr., then why didn't he change his will? Or even give Jr a percentage of ownership/stock when he was alive? Dale Sr clearly had lawyers on retainer. Changing his will would have been a small matter to take care of, as he could have left portions to each of his four kids, Teresa, his mother, whomever he desired to. But he didn't. His will left DEI to Teresa. Dale Sr. did not give Dale Jr. stock/ ownership of any portion of DEI, which could have been done while he was still alive. Dale Sr's comments that he wanted Junior to have the company mean nothing without action on Sr's part.
Ultimately, Junior isn't wrong for wanting to run or own his father's company, but neither is Teresa for wanting to keep the company she helped found and which her husband left to her lock, stock and barrel.
Dale Sr. left a tricky and messy business situation between Teresa and Dale Jr at the time of his death. Dale Sr had no written contract with Dale Jr. Teresa and Junior had to work out a written contract.
Additionally, Junior had signed over to Sr the rights to his name. Last year, Teresa and Junior worked out the transfer of those rights back to Junior. Again, this is something that should have been handled legally at the time Junior signed his rights over - that at Senior's death, the rights would immediately revert to Junior. But Dale Sr. and Dale Jr. did not allow for that in the agreement.
This inaction or lack of planning on Dale Sr's part created tension, hard feelings and problems for those left to clean up: Teresa and Junior (and the rest of the kids).
Teresa and Junior decided the best policy is to divorce their interests. Now, the tiny "divorce" issues of number, sponsor, who gets custody of crew members (Tony Eury Jr etc) and other things are cropping up. Again, we are left with the deafening silence of Dale Sr's intentions and wishes. Or are we?
Dale Sr's last clearly expressed wish was this: Teresa gets DEI and makes the decisions.
Sounds lot like Cinderella's Dad to me.
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