The son of The Intimidator refused to be intimidated. As a result, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company founded by his famous father, to become the highest-profile free agent in the history of NASCAR.

It is obvious that Junior’s stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt — who inherited DEI from Dale Earnhardt Sr. after he died in 2001 — overestimated the leverage she had with Junior in their recent struggle for controlling interest of the company. Junior wanted 51 percent ownership of the team. Teresa Earnhardt gambled that he either would accept minority ownership, or pay an exorbitant amount for a majority share.

She was wrong on both counts, and DEI is losing the biggest star in the sport, if not necessarily the best driver.

Never mind that Junior has won only two Nextel Cup races since the 2004 season and has yet to seriously contend for the series championship. He remains the face of NASCAR, the flesh-and-blood connection to the seven-time Cup champion known affectionately to his legion of supporters as The Intimidator. After Dale Earnhardt Sr. died in a wreck at the 2001 Daytona 500, his fans shifted their allegiance to Junior.

Now Dale Earnhardt Jr. is shifting his allegiance to a new racing team, a move that appears certain to create a seismic shift in the NASCAR landscape. Basically, Junior is putting himself up to the highest bidder, a scenario that is commonplace in most other major professional sports, but has been relatively unheard of in NASCAR.

Until now.

CNBC video Earnhardt Jr. pulls away from family May 10: A family feud has the NASCAR star looking for a new team. The move means multimillions will change hands. "On the Money's" Darren Rovell reports. CNBC

“A new paradigm has just been established in American motorsports,” said Eddie Gossage, the president of Texas Motor Speedway. “Just as Andy Messersmith ushered in the era of modern-day free agency in Major League Baseball, Dale Jr. is establishing modern-day free agency in NASCAR. Dale Jr. will now determine his full value on the open market and have the opportunity to make his own choices to put himself in a position to win races and championships.

“Dale Jr.’s announcement is every bit as significant as A-Rod’s (Alex Rodriguez’s) huge contract a few years back or Roger Clemens’ extraordinary contract signing with the New York Yankees. You can expect him to make as much — if not more —than Clemens’ $28 million contract with the Yankees when you factor in his salary, sponsorships, personal services agreements and merchandising. This will impact future decisions by big-name drivers like Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and others down the road. You can expect all of them to dip their toes in the free-agency waters when their current contracts expire.”

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So where will Earnhardt end up? That is the main question his fans will be asking in the coming months. His options actually are limited. There are only a handful of Nextel Cup teams that have the kind of money Earnhardt will command. In addition, Earnhardt has driven for Chevrolet his entire career, and he indicated during his press conference Thursday that he is unlikely to switch to another manufacturer. That would seem to rule out a move by Earnhardt to the organizations owned by either Jack Roush (who runs Fords) or Ray Evernham (Dodges). And don’t even bring Toyota into the discussion. That’s not going to happen.

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