Random Thoughts

On both INC and his XM show Michael had some very interesting comments about Teresa, who he knows well as a result of his close friendship with Dale Earnhardt, that really shed light on Teresa's motivation for some of her actions as it relates to DEI and the #8. Some fans seem to forget that Teresa was Dale's wife, the woman that he loved, trusted and wanted to handle his business affairs. Not Michael, since he obviously saw them together first-hand. He said that Teresa and Dale were a perfect match together. So for all those fans who think that Teresa is some nasty, evil woman, what would that say about Dale? But Michael said despite what some think, Teresa's not a spiteful or a mean woman. All of her actions, according to him, are done out of her love for Dale, and that she's trying to preserve everything that belonged to him. So she didn't want to give up the #15 when Michael wanted to take it with him when he left DEI or more recently the #8 when Junior wanted it because those two numbers were owned by Dale so to Teresa they belonged with DEI. I can totally understand that way of thinking, and why Teresa wouldn't want to let go of anything that belonged to Dale. That would explain why it took so long for her to give Junior rights to his own name since those rights had been in Dale's name.

I think what really got me about what Michael said about Teresa is that while some have defended her right to make the decisions she feels are in the best interest of DEI from a business point-of-view, that I can recall until Michael's comments no one had defended Teresa as a person. A large part of that might be due to how private Teresa is so Michael is one of only a select group of people in the garage area who really know Teresa well. But I think it's also because it's become accepted and in vogue to hate Teresa and blame her for a lot of things that aren't necessarily completely in her hands. The vast majority of fans, some in the media and I would guess even some in the garage area are extremely negative towards Teresa, and when it comes to the fans, sometimes in very hateful ways. Speaking out in support of Teresa could put Michael in a position where some of that nastiness was directed towards him, but he was willing to risk that because he felt it was something that needed to be done. Apparently the only thing that had stopped him from saying something sooner was that he wasn't sure how to go about doing it. Based on what he said on his XM show it sounded like he didn't want to offend anyone in the Earnhardt family or seem to be taking a side since he's still on good terms with both Teresa and Junior, but he had finally gotten so fed up that he couldn't take what was being said about Teresa anymore.

Ultimately Michael didn't have to be the one who spoke out since Junior did so. And Michael apparently told him how proud he was that he did so during their conversation on Saturday. Junior told him that his father would be extremely upset about what people were saying about Teresa, and maybe that's what prompted Junior to speak up - that he realized that his father wouldn't be too happy. Maybe that's also part of why Michael was going to say something because he felt he owed it to Dale. Regardless, I'm just glad I'm a fan of a driver who isn't afraid to speak his mind, especially when it's to support a friend.