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Dale Jr. Says Goodbye, Hello

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By HOLLY CAIN Tribune correspondent

Published: November 19, 2007

HOMESTEAD - Dale Earnhardt Jr. climbed out of his family's No. 8 Chevrolet for the last time Sunday evening and signed one autograph before sitting on the back of the team's transporter to take a few minutes for himself.

"I thought I was going to be emotional, but it wasn't really that bad," said Earnhardt, who was noticeably subdued following the NASCAR Nextel Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"I thought it would be sadder, but I still have these guys as friends."

As Earnhardt spoke, the Dale Earnhardt Inc. team founded by his late father loaded the beaten and battered Chevy into the transporter for its ride home to North Carolina. The entire right side was scraped up and the rear hood and bumper was held on by yards of black duct tape.

It was perhaps a metaphor for Earnhardt's mostly frustrating, often emotional season - a year marked by his head-turning announcement this summer that he was leaving his dad's team to drive for the championship Hendrick operation.

Neither his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, with whom he has a tenuous relationship, nor DEI President Max Siegel was at the race. Siegel reportedly had a previous commitment out of state.

Their presence - or lack thereof - didn't seem to matter to Earnhardt, who finished 36{+t}{+h} - his 10{+t}{+h} finish of 30{+t}{+h} or worse this year, which dropped him from 14{+t}{+h} to 16{+t}{+h} in the final points standings.

"It's been hard, this whole year has been hard," Earnhardt said. "I just want to get happy, get to where I can win races like I know I can.

"I don't want to ever be in this situation again where people say, 'he had bad things happen and he handled it well.' I'm tired of bad things happening and me having to handle it well.

"It's good to be finished. I'm ready to relax a bit. It's over.

"It's over. And I wish them all a good holiday."

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