Earnhardt needs break from daily dose of blitz

The media attention has been overwhelming over the past week.
By JENNA FRYER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. needs some time to decompress.
It's been all Earnhardt all the time since he announced he was defecting from his late father's company. Rumors swirled through the garage, false reports showed up on television and the Internet buzzed after Earnhardt said he was leaving DEI at the end of the year.
"It's going to last until he signs a contract with somebody, which is really good," said two-time champion Tony Stewart, who joked he could have punched somebody at Darlington Raceway last weekend and no one would have noticed.
Stewart, no stranger to the spotlight, wasn't exaggerating.
Earnhardt seemed to be the only story at Darlington. Pay no attention to that feud between Kasey Kahne and David Stremme or the intentional bumping and banging between Stewart and Ryan Newman during the Busch race. Save a brief interruption by Hendrick Motorsports' fourth consecutive victory, the spotlight never left Earnhardt, who finished eighth Sunday.
That's why Earnhardt asked for a break -- just a week or two to unwind.
Wait begins
Now, the wait begins.
Even though he'll likely have his pick of teams, figuring out his future might not be so simple.
Earnhardt wants to stay in a Chevrolet, which puts Dodge owners Ray Evernham, Chip Ganassi and Roger Penske at the bottom of the list.
Earnhardt fans everywhere would revolt if he went to one of the new Toyota teams, and none are competitive enough to entice him.
Jack Roush, the best of the Ford owners, is already over the limit with five drivers. He must figure out how to meet NASCAR's 2009 four-car mandate before even considering adding Earnhardt.
That leaves three Chevrolet teams -- Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing -- as the front-runners. Upstart Ginn Racing also plans to pursue Earnhardt but is a longshot at best.
"There are a lot of safer routes he could take," first-year owner Bobby Ginn said. "But I hope that he would see that we try harder."
So where does that leave Earnhardt?
Team options
He wants to win championships, and Hendrick Motorsports seems to be the place to do it. Winners of eight of the last nine races, the organization is the best in NASCAR right now. But all four of its drivers are under contract, and Hendrick isn't looking to dump any of them.
Casey Mears, struggling through his first season, is the most expendable driver if Hendrick wanted to make room for Earnhardt. But Mears is like a son to Hendrick, is best friends with Jimmie Johnson and deserves a chance to make it in the organization.
It's also not the most natural fit for Earnhardt.
Hendrick drivers are taught to be polished, politically correct and arrive at events in starched shirts and slacks. That could be tough for Earnhardt, whose wardrobe seems to consist of only wrinkled white T-shirts.
Gibbs has won three championships since 1990, and Earnhardt is friends with Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. He and Stewart have been unofficial teammates for years at restrictor-plate races, and Stewart pushed Earnhardt to his 2004 Daytona 500 victory.
But the Gibbs team has a strict family values message that makes it leery of bringing Budweiser on as a sponsor. The beer company is expected to follow Earnhardt wherever he goes.
That leaves RCR, where the elder Earnhardt won six of his seven championships. It's the one team Earnhardt fans would embrace, and Junior really does care what his fans think.
Childress plans to make a run at Junior, as soon as he's ready to listen.
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