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Maybe, but it doesn’t seem as though this latest contract extension is shaping up to be a slam dunk. The last three-year deal Earnhardt signed didn’t come easy, with Junior holding firm in his desire to reduce the number of required personal appearances worked into the deal. The negotiations dragged on for months before the two sides finally came up with a number he was willing to agree to.
Gilmore did tell ESPN on Monday that negotiations between the two sides are on the fast track and that a deal could be reach by May.
"He's just like Derek Jeter to the Yankees," Gilmore told ESPN. "He's our star player. It would be fair when you compare Junior to other famous athletes like Michael Jordan with the Bulls. He's a franchise player.
"We feel confident we're going to get it all worked out and we'll have an announcement shortly."
But now there’s a much larger issue at his hand: Junior’s desire to take over at least partial ownership of the company his late father founded in 1996. Many believe Dale Earnhardt started the team as something his children would someday run, but Teresa inherited the business when the elder Earnhardt was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
She’s controlled everything since then, including the rights to Earnhardt Jr.’s name, which she only relinquished to him last summer. But Junior wants more than that, and sounded Monday as if he’s prepared to walk if he doesn’t get it.
“I want to be very involved in the company, but I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do,” he said. “I want to win championships. Particularly, I would love to own DEI. Aside from that I have no interest in ownership.”
And if he can’t get a stake in DEI? Well, Junior just might take his firesuit elsewhere.
“I just want to drive races and win championships and hang it up one day and not have to worry about whether I have enough money in my retirement fund,” he said. “Just give me a good race car and make it run fast and give me guys I can enjoy working with, and I’ll go to the racetrack and I’ll do whatever you need me to do with the sponsors and everything else.
“Just don’t make everything a hassle and don’t make everything a pain and you’ll have my dedication and everything else you need as far as a driver goes.”
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