Absolutely disgusting.
Everybody knows about the strained relationship between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt.
Teresa was the third wife of the legendary Dale Earnhardt, the niece of legendary NASCAR driver Tommy Houston who met the Intimidator at the track back in the 1970s before the two were married in 1982.
But on February 18, 2001, Teresa inherited another role that she never wanted: Executor of Dale Earnhardt’s vast empire and owner of his NASCAR team.
Now, it seems like Dale’s children have always had somewhat of a cold relationship with their stepmother. But that relationship further deteriorated after Dale was killed in the 2001 Daytona 500 and Teresa became the owner of Dale’s race team, DEI.
Longtime NASCAR fans know how the story ends: Dale Earnhardt Jr., who had driven for DEI during his entire NASCAR Cup Series career, wanted majority ownership of the team, and ended up leaving for Hendrick Motorsports when Teresa refused to give up control. The race team would shut down just a few years later.
And along the way there have been plenty of other battles between Earnhardt’s widow and his children.
Aside from Dale Jr.’s battle with his stepmom over his dad’s race team, Teresa also filed a lawsuit against Kerry over his use of the Earnhardt name when Kerry announced plans to roll out a line of homes and furniture called “The Earnhardt Collection.”
Then there was the commercial that Budweiser released to honor Earnhardt Jr. before his last race in the Cup Series. Fans quickly noticed that the commercial didn’t feature Jr.’s #8 on the car, or any of the trademarks of Dale’s DEI car that are still owned by Teresa, leading many to assume that Teresa refused to allow Budweiser to use the DEI trademarks in honoring Dale Jr.
So yeah, Teresa hasn’t exactly endeared herself to Earnhardt’s sons – or their fans.
Now, Earnhardt’s children – Dale Jr., his brother Kerry, and their sister Kelley Earnhardt-Miller – generally refuse to publicly bash their stepmother, choosing to keep their battles private until they’re forced to become public. But an article from last year published by the Washington Post really gave us a glimpse into just how bad things are between Teresa and her stepchildren.
At the time of Earnhardt’s death, he hadn’t updated his will since 1992, when Dale Jr. was just 18 years old. And it transferred his entire estate to his wife Teresa, including not only the rights to his name and likeness but his race team, trademarks, and all things Dale Earnhardt.
Kelley Earnhardt-Miller says that after Dale’s death, Teresa didn’t invite the children to look through their dad’s possessions, which obviously included sentimental family photos and items from their own childhood. And they also weren’t given any input into Dale’s funeral or his final resting place.
Instead, Teresa opted to have Dale buried at his estate in Mooresville, North Carolina, in a mausoleum located on what is now Teresa’s property.
The children were invited to view Dale’s grave after he was interred – but they haven’t been allowed back since.
Kelley says that it’s understood that they’re not welcome to visit:
“She’s so extreme that we might get arrested.”
Earnhardt Jr., however, admits that he may have visited the site once more – although it wasn’t by invitation and was fueled by what he said was some “liquid courage.”
Absolutely insane.
Now, Teresa Earnhardt apparently declined comment when asked whether Dale’s children were welcome to visit his grave. But it seems that the relationship between the two sides is so bad that Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t even allowed to visit his father’s final resting place.
If that’s true, what a horrible person.
