Junior leaving family business

The “Red Army” could be wearing a new color next year.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose legion of fans wears red to match the color of the Chevrolet driven by NASCAR’s most popular driver, said Thursday he would leave the company started by his late father and join a different Nextel Cup team after this season.

The announcement was not entirely surprising -- Earnhardt’s contract runs only through this season and he had threatened to leave if he couldn’t reach a new agreement with Dale Earnhardt Inc. Even so, it sent shock waves through NASCAR because of Earnhardt’s huge following -- and earning power -- in stock car racing.

The driver, who has won 17 Cup races but is still seeking his first series title, is now perhaps the most sought-after free agent in NASCAR history.

“What team I drive for next season I don’t know, we’ll see what opportunities I have,” Earnhardt said in a nationally televised news conference from the headquarters of JR Motorsports, the NASCAR Busch Series team he owns, in Mooresville, N.C.

“We’ll see who wants to hire me, who’s interested for me to drive their race cars and we’ll decide from there. I’m not going to sit here today and try to narrow it down.”

Earnhardt, NASCAR’s highest-paid driver at more than $20 million a year, based on estimates by Forbes magazine, emphasized that money was not his priority in choosing a team.

At 32, Earnhardt says, he wants a championship, something his legendary father achieved seven times before he was killed in a crash at the Daytona 500 in 2001.

His widow Teresa Earnhardt, Dale Jr.’s stepmother, inherited the racing team after the senior Earnhardt’s death. But Teresa and Dale Jr. have always had a chilly relationship, and their contentious contract talks spilled into public view this year, when she questioned his dedication and he replied that driving for her “ain’t a bed of roses.”

Both were restrained in their remarks Thursday, however.

“The decision is made today based solely on my driving career,” Earnhardt said. “Over the last year or two, I’ve shortchanged my fans.”

Teresa Earnhardt said in a statement that her team was “very disappointed that Dale Jr. has chosen to leave the family business,” but added, “We remain excited about our company’s future.”

Earnhardt didn’t outline precisely what attributes he sought in a new team, which, he says, he hopes to choose by late summer. But he added, “It is time for me to compete on a consistent basis and contend for championships now.

“We’ll see where we feel we would be the most comfortable.”

One likelihood, though, is that he will no longer drive the No. 8 car. Car numbers are owned by their teams, and the No. 8 is “probably something Teresa would prefer to have stay at DEI,” he said.

But Earnhardt said he did prefer to keep driving Chevrolets, making the top three Chevy teams -- Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing -- the front-runners for his services.

They have the deep pockets to afford Earnhardt, but there are caveats.

Consider:

* Hendrick is NASCAR’s dominant team this season, with four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon, reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Casey Mears.

But all are under contract at least through 2008 and, starting next year, NASCAR rules will prohibit Cup teams from having more than four cars. Hendrick officials declined comment on Earnhardt’s availability.

* Many think Childress might be Earnhardt’s next team, because the senior Earnhardt -- even after starting DEI -- drove for Childress in the legendary black No. 3 Chevrolet.

Childress still owns that number and said early this year that if the younger Earnhardt were to leave DEI, “I’d like to talk to him.”

Childress declined comment about Earnhardt’s announcement until today. His current Cup drivers are Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer, so there’s room for one more.

* Gibbs also has three drivers: two-time champion Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and J.J. Yeley. Team President J.D. Gibbs wasn’t available for comment, but has said his team was opposed to having alcohol-related sponsors.

Many speculate that wherever Earnhardt goes, his primary sponsor, Budweiser, will go with him.

Tony Ponturo, a vice president of Budweiser’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, said in a statement, “We look forward to discussing our future with Dale Jr. and DEI in the weeks ahead.”

Earnhardt’s fans will follow too, despite the breakup of the family business, predicted Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon.

“He retains the equity [of fan devotion] and it’s one of the reasons he’s making the move now,” Swangard said.

Other teams that might try to lure Earnhardt include Ginn Racing, which also runs Chevrolets, and Penske Racing, which races Dodges. Then there’s Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, which persuaded former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya to join NASCAR this year and drive its Dodges.

It’s also possible that Earnhardt could develop his own Cup team within his JR Motorsports. But his sister and business manager, Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, who joined him at the news conference, said that was the least likely scenario.

They also declined to reveal details of the failed negotiations with DEI, although Earnhardt said, “We weren’t really close.” Earlier this year, he said he wanted to acquire a controlling 51% of the team as a condition of renewing his contract.

But it’s winning a championship, Earnhardt said, that counts most.

“It’s important to me that my father’s legacy continues,” he said, that legacy including “life lessons that he taught me: Be a man, race hard and contend for championships. Since that is what I plan to do, I feel strongly that I would have my father’s blessing.”

In the meantime, Earnhardt said he would keep trying to win in the red No. 8 -- starting with Saturday night’s race in Darlington, S.C. -- even though he was not sure his current crew chief and cousin, Tony Eury Jr., would move with him next year.

“My motivation to climb in the race car each week is to satisfy my fans and give them what I feel they deserve,” Earnhardt said.

He added, “When I’m behind the wheel, I’m racing, man.”

james.peltz@latimes.com