Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Earnhardt ‘out to get what I feel like I deserve’

Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2003 | 9:19 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. created a firestorm last week at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. when he said he had not yet signed a contract to drive for the team next year and referred to himself as a "free agent."

Earnhardt tempered his remarks over the weekend during a press conference at Michigan International Speedway, saying it is his intention to remain as driver of the No. 8 car -- but on his terms.

"I'm definitely out to get what I feel like I deserve," Earnhardt said. "As sure as everybody can be about me driving the No. 8 car for as long as I drive, I'm not going to do it for free. I would expect to get paid and get compensated as I would for anywhere else in this business.

"I've got plenty of money to do what I want to do and to live like I want to live. I'm really not out there buying yachts and airplanes, so I don't need to worry about those types of things. But as sponsor money increases, I'm sure the driver's salary and crew members and crew chiefs' salaries always will increase as well. I drove that Busch Series car (for DEI) in 1998 for $350 week so I've always been underpaid -- I don't know what it is."

In January, Earnhardt reached an agreement on a contract extension with DEI but never signed the paperwork. When word got out that he still had not signed the deal, it fueled speculation that Earnhardt might leave DEI for Richard Childress Racing, for whom his late father drove.

"I entertained the idea for driving for somebody -- you always do that," Earnhardt said. "You daydream about everything in the sport, but it was never anything I ever thought would be a reality."

Earnhardt also dismissed the notion that he is seeking an ownership interest in DEI, the company his father founded, by saying that ownership was "way, way out of the picture right now." He also said he didn't know exactly what was holding up the contract, which would keep him at DEI through the 2007 season.

"I haven't talked to Teresa (Earnhardt) one on one," Earnhardt said of his stepmother and team owner. "So I don't know what certain aspects we need to sit down and discuss yet. So I can't say what is holding the process up."

Although Earnhardt admitted his comments last week reflected "a little poorly on myself," he said he wasn't exactly disappointed with the results.

"Maybe it bumped it all up to priority in some people's minds," Earnhardt said of the contract negotiations. "Every once in a while, you guys (in the media) come in pretty handy.

"Well, it's nice to have a little leverage; I've been without leverage for a long time and it's nice to have leverage."

Attisani, 32, suffered bruised lungs and multiple rib fractures when the right-front brake caliper on his Super Late Models car broke, sending him into the outside wall in Turn 1 during a practice session. Attisani has been kept in an induced coma since the accident.

IMCA Modifieds, Chargers, Legends Cars, Thunder Roadsters and Bullring Bombers also will be in action. Spectator gates open at 6 p.m., qualifying starts at 6:30 and racing begins at 7:15.

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