“The Wicked Witch of the South” is how NASCAR fans describe Dale Earnhardt’s wife Teresa. After the Intimidator passed away in 2001, Dale Jr. and his sister Kelley wanted equal ownership rights of the DEI. But, despite the public feud, Teresa didn’t budge and rather claimed that DEI would “make another Dale Jr.” This is what forced Jr.’s hand to leave his father’s racing legacy and move to Hendrick Motorsports. And just like that, Teresa Earnhardt became public enemy No. 1 in the eyes of the fans.

Not only DEI but the entire estate of Dale Earnhardt was under the control of Teresa. All that remains of DEI is now nothing short of a museum, which is indeed a bleak representation of Dale Earnhardt’s racing legacy. Anything and everything that was related to the intimidator was under the lawful control of Teresa, and she certainly made most of this power. Interestingly, she also might be the reason behind Kannapolis Intimidators changing their name to Kannapolis Cannon Ballers.

Dale Earnhardt’s baseball legacy had to be altered because of Teresa

Now, apart from NASCAR, the Intimidator was looking to spread his wings in different sports. Therefore, he purchased an ownership stake in his hometown baseball team that was associated with the Chicago White Sox. He made this purchase in 2000, and the team from Kannapolis, North Carolina, became the Kannapolis Intimidators.

Unfortunately, Earnhardt never got to see his team in action as he lost his life in a tragic crash during the 2001 Daytona 500 race. Although the team continued to stick by the name Kannapolis Intimidators until 2019 but decided to change it in 2019. With a new stadium coming up, the new owners decided to rebrand the team completely and opted to go with the new name, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers.

While they did have permission to use the nickname Intimidator, it was associated with the late NASCAR driver’s estate, which was under the control of Teresa. There were limitations on the team to trademark the elements of the brand, and therefore they had to make the tough choice. “We really wanted to be thoughtful and careful before we dove in. It was intimidating to think about getting rid of Intimidator’s moniker. But ultimately it was the only practical business decision we could make.” Alicia Amlin, Chief of Staff for Temerity Baseball, said.

But the owners wanted to embrace and honor the culture that embraced Dale Earnhardt so dearly. Although they couldn’t risk being linked to Intimidator, they found a subtle way to ingrain his identity with the team mascot and logo. The human figure with a baseball head had ties to the region’s racing culture. But it was the mustache that paid homage to the former team owner and his ties to the team. Well, if you look closely, the mascot’s face does have similarities to Earnhardt’s, and this isn’t something that Teresa can control.

However, now that Dale Jr. has ownership of the #8 number, it seems like the tensions between him and Teresa have simmered down.

Dale Jr. knew the #8 number was safe under the control of Teresa

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Junior has fond memories of running NASCAR races in the iconic #8 car from his DEI days. However, the public feud between him and his stepmother saw him part ways with the team. But something interesting happened this year. The trademark on the #8 number was set to expire this June, and for some reason, Teresa chose not to renew it.

She could’ve kept the number if she exercised her ownership right, but rather she allowed Dale Jr. to get hold of his iconic number. Despite being at odds with each other, Jr. knew that Teresa would not dilute Intimidator’s racing legacy outside of the family. And surprisingly, he even thanked her for keeping the #8 number safe all these years.

“One of the things that I really appreciate about Teresa as long as she had this “8.” I was very happy that it was in a safe place. I knew that it was always gonna be fine. But if she doesn’t want to pay for the trademark anymore, I’m like, we better get that because I want it safe.” Junior said this on the Dale Jr. Download.

Thanks to this acquisition, Jr. was able to forge his partnership with Budweiser, and fans were able to witness the iconic Bud 8 car in its glory at the Florence Motor Speedway this past week.