The Earnhardt family feud has been no secret to the NASCAR community. After Dale Earnhardt Sr tragically passed away in 2001, confusion and sadness abounded at Dale Earnhardt Inc. The ownership responsibility automatically fell on Teresa Earnhardt, the Intimidator‘s wife, and she was thoroughly unprepared for it. Yet she steadily solidified her grip on their NASCAR team, even shutting out her stepson, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Dale Jr’s feud with his stepmother continued for years (15+ years), climaxing in 2007 when he left for Hendrick Motorsports. It also entailed trademark rights for the No. 8, a car Dale Earnhardt Jr won 17 trophies with. But it looks like the scenario is finally changing, and the trademark struggle is slated to end with recent events. And, to everyone’s surprise, Dale Earnhardt Jr even went the extra mile and put in a good word for his stepmother.

What made Dale Earnhardt Jr affirm faith in his estranged family now?

After the 2001 Daytona crash, DEI continued to operate as Dale Earnhardt Jr continued winning races. But things came to an impasse in December 2003. This was when teammates Michael Waltrip and Dale Jr protested for not receiving their salaries on time. Not happy with the infraction, stepmother, Teresa famously said, “If Dale Jr doesn’t want to stick around here we’ll make another Dale Jr.” And guess what? Junior did leave in 2007, but in the process, he lost his rights to No. 8.

Now, the No. 8 rights deal was set to expire on June 3rd, 2024, and Teresa Earnhardt had not renewed her ownership. Instead, Dale Earnhardt Jr applied to be a long-awaited owner, and evidently, now Junior can proudly claim the car as his own. In this happy turn of events, he also feels it prudent to clear the bad air around his stepmother. Despite their ugly past, he recently praised her.

On one of the episodes of ‘Dale Jr Download’, Junior emphasized that No. 8 should not leave the Earnhardt fold. He said, “I just wanna say that my feelings around this are very plain and basic. I either won’t choose her to have it…and if she were to come in and re-up, I’ll be totally comfortable and happy about that…Or I would like to have it. I would love it to stay hers or mine, and not end up somewhere else.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr cemented his argument, adding a surprising revelation, when he said, “There’s one thing I’ll say about Teresa…In terms of owning a trademark and protecting things like that, protecting our legacy and family name, I had a lot of trust in her around those things. She’s very smart, very savvy, always thinking…She takes emotion out of business decisions and says, ‘This is what’s fair, this what’s right.'” Evidently, Dale Earnhardt Jr tried to mend things, there.

As the Earnhardt family feud draws to a close, Junior now has other things on his plate. What to do with the No. 8 trademark?

Junior is planning a humble approach

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Dale Earnhardt had fielded the No. 8 car for his son in the 1990s. Hence, that logo carries heavy importance for Dale, Kelley, and even among the diehard Earnhardt fans. The community has been waiting forever to own No. 8 merchandise that they can flaunt proudly in public. However, now that Dale Earnhardt Jr finally regains control of No. 8, he does not have a grand plan.

Echoing his “plain and basic” approach to his stepmother’s feud, Dale Earnhardt Jr also cleared up rumors about a vintage line of gear. He added, “I would not be interested in spamming the NASCAR ecosystem with vintage, retro 8 gear,” said Earnhardt. “I know that there are fans that would like to have some things, so maybe would do a small batch of select – one shirt, one hat. Just figure out something sort of nice and tasteful.”

Junior’s real intention is to use the logo again on the race track. “I would probably have interest in using the number in the (zMAX) CARS Tour races if Kelley would be fine with this. We have other owners in the JR Motorsports building that would have to sign off on ever using that number in the Xfinity (Series) level. But I would be wanting to activate it, I’d be wanting to get it out there and get it going.”

As Dale Earnhardt Jr debates over what to do with the No. 8 logo, we are all happy that things are looking greener with his stepmother.