Earnhardt's contract negotiations drag on

He disputed speculation that part ownership of DEI was a reason for the holdup.
BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) -- Contract negotiations between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Dale Earnhardt Inc., the team started by his late father, have dragged on for eight months with no end in sight.
On Saturday, Earnhardt addressed speculation that the holdup was his effort to get a piece of the ownership from stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, who inherited the team after his father was killed in a crash in Feb. 2001.
"I never said [ownership] was a big deal to me," said Junior, who goes into today's GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway second in the season points in his No. 8 DEI Chevrolet. "There are other things in the contract.
"I haven't talked to Teresa one-on-one, so I don't know what aspects we need to sit down and discuss yet. So I can't say what is holding the process up."
A DEI spokesman said Teresa Earnhardt is on vacation and unavailable for comment.
Handshake agreement
In January, Earnhardt Jr., who has driven for the team with only a handshake agreement, said he had agreed on a contact to drive for DEI through the 2007 season.
At the time, Earnhardt said he sat down with DEI officials "spent about four hours and got everything agreed upon." He also announced that he and his stepmother had become partners in Chance 2 Motorsports, which is fielding a car part time in the Busch Series.
"I enjoy the Busch Series team that I have and I'm only 50 percent owner in that," he said. "But it's fun and I'm learning. ... That will be the experience that will tell me whether I want to have anything to do with ownership down the road.
"Right now, this is enough. I haven't even gotten to where I want to be as a race car driver. Ownership [of DEI] is just way, way out of the picture right now."
No signed contract
The fact that he has not yet signed the contract came out Friday during an interview.
"We just didn't particularly have any interest in sharing information with anybody," Earnhardt said. "But, you know me, when I'm asked a question, I can't help but give an honest answer."
Earnhardt, laughing, added that the publicity could give the negotiations a push toward conclusion.
"I've been without leverage for a long time and it's nice to have leverage," he said.
He added that it's unlikely he would leave DEI in the near future.
Earnhardt said other people don't know "the whole story. And [they] don't know my true feelings.
"If they did, I feel like everybody would just calm down about it. My mind and my heart are in driving the No. 8 car, and it always has been."