Dale Jr.'s Turbulence Hits The Tube

(Originally published on Jan. 25, 2008)

As much as people (myself not excluded) were hoping that Dale Earnhardt Jr. would gain control of Dale Earnhardt Inc., one of his comments during a Friday teleconference reminded us all why that maybe wouldn't have been the best thing.

"I don't think you're going to see footage of me behind a desk, you know, slamming my fists on the table, making phone calls and carrying on, hiring and firing," Junior said while promoting Shifting Gears, a five-part series chronicling his move to Hendrick Motorsports that debuts on ESPN Feb. 8. "That's not really my style or what I want to consume myself with doing every day."

And even with the guidance of sister Kelley, taking over DEI would've undoubtedly involved some of those unwanted tasks. Junior seems to be enjoying the balance of gradually developing his business sense-he's happy he had the foresight to have his production company, Hammerhead Entertainment, chronicle his blockbuster 2007 press conferences before any TV deal was even in the offing-without being thrown to the corporate wolves too quickly.

When it comes to contract intricacies or figuring out the right car design, having the godfather of successful NASCAR ownership at your side can be quite the security blanket.

I'd like to control those [business] situations," Junior said. "You always do. But, you know, it's hard to control some situations when Rick Hendrick is in the room. He's pretty good at it, too."

Moments with Earnhardt and Hendrick in the boardroom will be seen somewhere in the first three episodes, which will air prior to the Daytona 500. The final two will air in July and check in on the new combination's progress.

Junior described the project much the way people would hype their wedding video, saying that the announcements were such a big deal that having them on tape would be important whether a TV series happened or not.

"I tried to recall [the reactions of family members] upon memory, and it was difficult to really see the look on their faces upon memory," Junior said. "And to be able to watch the show and see it in the show is great."

There's still a little "Aw, shucks" in his delivery, but there isn't any false modesty in understanding what a historic step this was.

"If you're thinking about the world that we live in, the bubble that NASCAR is, it's sort of chronicling a big moment in the history of that sport," Junior explained. "It's not necessarily reality TV, as much as it is just embarking on trying to tell the story of that moment where this driver did this and chose to do this, and it just happened to be one of the biggest stories of the year in sports overall, not only just NASCAR."

He added that he doesn't think it will shed light on his relationship with stepmom Teresa Earnhardt-"that's between me and her and that's really where it's going to stay"-but that otherwise it will have a candid appeal.

"Plus, the people that are filming this stuff are really really good friends of mine, so it's almost as if they're not there with a camera," Junior said. "For me, it's hard not to talk to the guy behind the camera, because we're such good buddies, while he's filming, and maybe that's not a bad thing anyway if you do."

The air schedule (all times Eastern):



Friday, Feb. 8 7-8 p.m. ESPN2

Friday, Feb. 15 6:30-8 p.m. ESPN2

Saturday, Feb. 16 4:30-6 p.m. ESPN2

Thursday, July 24 7-8 p.m. ESPN

Friday, July 25 7-8 p.m. ESPN