Jan
25
Jeff Gordon Thinks Junior Will Say Bye-Bye to DEI
January 25, 2007 | Posted by VroomDude
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Jeff seems to think that things have gone past the point of no return at DEI, with Junior likely leaving to join another team or starting his own team when his contract expires.
“I think that if he’s smart, he’ll do what’s best for him and I hope that’s at DEI, I really do,” Gordon said during a press event for Hendrick Motorsports. “Is that reality? I think it’s gone too far. When it gets ugly in the media, it’s usually very, very difficult to rebound from that.”
“I think that you’ve got a little stubbornness going on there,” Gordon said. “Junior is in the seat to be able to write his own ticket, he can do whatever he wants. He can go to any team, he can start his own team, he’s got the sponsors who are going to back him, the fans that are going to back him.
“He’s really in the power position, and if Teresa is not recognizing that, then shame on her … if she doesn’t recognize that DEI will have a tough time surviving without Junior, I think she’s making a big mistake.”
Hard to argue with that, on all sorts of levels. It’s pretty rare to see any contract situation in professional sports that has escalated to public sniping at one another like that get resolved happily in the end.
One of ‘em probably has to go at this point, and Teresa doesn’t seem too eager to simply turn everything over to Junior, so it may very well be Junior that leaves DEI for new digs, whether with another team or starting a team of his own.