NASCAR’s Most Hated Team Owners: Part 2

Let’s start with team owner Theresa Earnhardt, who is universally known in NASCAR for her handling of DEI. The face of greed itself and the face of lawsuits, she’s done more than anybody to milk the death of NASCAR’s most beloved Dale Earnhardt Sr., and directly led to the downfall of his old team, the up-and-coming DEI.

Dale Jr. came through DEI’s ranks, winning two Busch Series titles with the team his legendary father owned. And later winning 17 Cup Series races, including the 2004 Daytona 500. Plus, he almost won the 2004 title with DEI. Showing that the team his father built for him would have tremendous success.

Only for the new owner and Dale’s now widowed wife, Teresa, to turn the team into a soap opera that collapsed overnight. As contract renegotiations with Dale Jr turned into a fight over many things. But most notably, who owned the legal rights to the name Earnhardt, rights Teresa later won.

Later, Dale Jr. and his sister, Kelley, entered negotiations to fully take over DEI, as Dale Sr. had always wanted. But Teresa refused and drove Dale Jr away from his dad’s own team and into Hendrick Motorsports. While DEI immediately over-expanded and couldn’t handle the financial burden of losing the sport’s most popular driver.

A Few Years After DEI Was Merged

And only a few years later was merged into nonexistence. Not to mention, as part of the rights to the Earnhardt, there were rights to the historic eight, which had been in the Earnhardt family since the 50s.

And fans campaigned to let Junior race it at Hendrick. But Treasa instead gave it to the car, which would be split between Aric and Mark Martin all year.Years later, while Dale Jr had finally begun winning races at Hendrick, Teresa was suing the family members she was doing business with.

After DEI’s collapse, Kerry Earnhardt, the half-brother of Dale Earnhardt Jr., and his wife started a home and furniture business called “The Earnhardt Collection.” But then Teresa sued Kerry for using his last name for his business, arguing it didn’t suit Dale’s legacy.

Kerry did win this lawsuit and, thankfully, the right to use his own name years later. But she didn’t stop there. When Dale Jr. announced his retirement, the company that sponsored him during his time at DEI was Budweiser. Did a commercial as a tribute to him, which has gone on to be one of NASCAR’s most beloved commercials.

The Ad That ruined her rep!

But look closely during the heartwarming ad, and you won’t see the iconic Junior eight. Because Teresa totally blocked its use, she put an unnecessary damper on one of NASCAR’s best moments. And then there’s the Kannapolis Intimidators, now known as the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers.

A minor league baseball team based in Kannapolis, North Carolina, where Dale is from, and who named themselves after the nickname of Kannapolis’s most famous resident, after he himself purchased a minor stake in the team. Because Teresa, who owned the name, decided to revoke it for no reason, further tarnishing Dale Sr’s legacy.

Along with other petty and bizarre acts like cutting the kids out of the business completely over contract disputes, and won’t even let them visit his grave. Anyone who’s a fan of any of the Earnhardts hates Teresa, and since that’s most NASCAR fans ever. It’s made her a universally hated owner.

Rick Russell And 2nd Chance Motorsports

Owner of 2nd Chance Motorsports, not to be confused with Chance 2 Motorsports, which was Dale Earnhardt Jr’s old Busch Series team, which won titles with MTJ. 2nd Chance Motorsports was never close to that kind of success, and Rick Russell isn’t as well-known as any of the Earnhardts. But he did make sure everyone who did know about him hated him.

Rick Russell worked with Specialty Motorsports in the Nationwide Series, a team for which he was later fired before deciding to become the team owner of 2nd Chance Motorsports. Deciding he could do it better himself.

The team was a total backmarker, driving alongside forgotten drivers like Tim Andrews and Chris Lawson. With the team’s highest-ever finish coming at Auto Club, where they climbed to the dizzying heights of 30th. With 2nd Chance Motorsports rarely finishing races.

But if the team was remembered for anything, it was for the petty dramas of the underfunded team. Rick Russell only entered some of the final races of the 2010 Nationwide Series season to better set up his team for 2011. Where they’d be full-time with the much less obscure driver Jennifer Jo Cobb.

How Crashing at Las Vegas Changed Everything

They entered but failed to qualify for the opening race at Daytona. The team’s second and final ever DNQ. She did qualify in dead last for Phoenix, the only race the team ever finished, in 32nd position. And that’s because this is where things start to go downhill. In Vegas, Kyle Busch ended up spinning on the frontstretch of his home track.

This caused the cars behind it to stack up, which led to a wreck of its own. One that involved Jennifer Jo Cobb and Rick Russell’s 79 car. Damage like this is always a major detriment to small teams that can’t afford many cars. But it’s no excuse to break promises. Jennifer Jo Cobb, a proud racer looking to prove herself at a higher level, didn’t want to race for a start-and-park team.

A team that only races a few laps, so they don’t risk tearing up their cars, making costs cheaper, so they can show up to the next race with no problem. Team owner of 2nd Chance Motorsports, Rick Russell, promised her they wouldn’t be doing any starting and parking in 2011.

Broken Promises and Unnecessary Tension

But this promise was about to be broken. In the next race at Bristol, tension was already starting to seep into the team, as rumors were swirling that team owner Rick Russell wanted to replace Jo Cobb after one wreck. But she kept pushing after Russell promised she’d race the whole way as long as she ran a very conservative race.

And to ensure she wouldn’t start and park, she even bought the team’s tires for Rick. But ten minutes before the engines fired, a NASCAR official came over and told Jennifer that the team would mandate she start and park, or they would black-flag her.

And that her time with the team ended after four races of a five-race deal. Fired by a team owner who didn’t even have the gall to fire her himself. Jennifer was, of course, furious, so she decided not to race for them at all, instead walking away from the whole team.

But not before furiously ranting about the situation on ESPN, which was broadcasting the race and caught wind of the unfolding drama.”It’s Jerry Maguire in NASCAR, I tell ya, I was told 10 minutes before the race started that I would be forced to start and park by the owner, mandating a black flag.”

Russell’s Run-In With ESPN

“So the car could be ready for California, then I was told that he was breaking the contract with me and that I would not be racing in California, and I feel like god has given me the opportunity to race in NASCAR, and I owe it to the fans, sponsors, and I’m not a start and park driver.

” I’m here to race, so I spent all weekend taking care of this man’s car, trying to make me start and park and break a contract with me, and I thank God gave me the strength to just walk away.”

Team owner Rick Russell was confronted by ESPN, but he pretended he couldn’t hear the reporter and said nothing in his defense. Instead, the team’s old driver, Chris Lawsen, had failed to qualify that weekend with another team.

Stepped in the car and did a few laps before putting it back in the garage for a 41st-place finish. Later, Rick Russell accused Jo Cobb of Larceny, despite her saying there was an agreement for her to store parts during their partnership.

Tim Andrews Became Russell’s Saving Grace At 2nd Chance

The team went on, with Tim Andrews returning to pilot the 79 again for a few weeks, and got that 30th-place finish at Auto Club. Finishing ahead of Jo Cobb, who had gotten a ride with RWR. He stayed with the team for seven weeks, finishing not a single race. Then the team came to a bizarre end after Chicagoland.

It started when the team’s crew chief, Kevin Eagle, told owner Rick Russell he’d be leaving the team soon. But the race was looking promising regardless, with Andrews quickly going from 37th to 27th, making him one of the race’s early biggest movers.

But they still started and parked, finishing in 34th.After the race, things got crazy out of nowhere. As Rick fired everyone and told them all they’d have to find their own way back to Charlotte.

Police were even called as he began making threats towards his now ex-employees and wouldn’t even let them get their own stuff from the hauler. They even had to rent a van to get all of them home. A bizarre ending for a bizarre team created by a bizarre man.

Jim Stacy!

The most infamous team owner and scam artist in the history of American Motorsports. His greedy and selfish ways affected many future legends of the sport, such as Mark Martin, Neil Bonnett, Sterling Marlin, Tim Richmond, and even future seven-time champion and one-time champion Dale Earnhardt. But even without the intimidator, that’s quite the All-Star roster of drivers to screw over.

Before he became a NASCAR team owner, he’d made his name known in a few different businesses and even in different countries. Starting with his own construction company in 1951, he then made his money in coal mining.

He then took an interest in the tech itself, starting a business in the Netherlands with the Rijn-Schelde-Verolme shipbuilding company, manufacturing thin-seam coal-mining machines. Lastly, he even started his own multivitamin company called Stacy-Pak.

He began his racing journey by buying out a team that had a Winston Cup title under its belt in K&K Insurance Racing. He even inherited the team’s driver, Neil Bonnett, and together they each got their first two Winston Cup wins ever in the team’s first season.

That’s where the good times ended, though. This is when he started to stiff people on pay. Later, in 1978, team owner Stacy expanded his operations to two cars and hired Ferrel Harris to drive alongside Bonnett. With everything starting out normally that season.

Lawsuits and Impending Doom

Then the lawsuits came. As Harris and his crew chief, Harry Hyde, sued Jim Stacy for not paying them. With Harry even alleging that Stacy hadn’t paid rent for the shop they shared in NC. The legal process grew ugly so much so that someone had made a car bomb that was supposed to blow up when Stacey’s limo reversed, although cops stepped in before anything could happen, and no one was hurt.

This left a giant black eye on his reputation, and he initially stepped back as a team owner. But Stacy is a very brave man or stupid, depending on how you look at it. So he’d return in a big way, buying Rod Osterlund’s Cup team after he ran into financial trouble following the recent recession.

This was another championship-winning team, a team that was supposed to defend its title. One, they won with a very young Dale Earnhardt, who had won his first career title in only his second full season. But he quickly caught on to his shady ways and left the team after only four races. Saying the team no longer met his expectations.

Being replaced with Joe Ruttman for the rest of the year. But he was replaced at the end of the year by a rising star and future International Motorsports Hall of Famer, Tim Richmond. Tim started in 1982 in a big way, sponsoring seven different cars in the 1982 Daytona 500.

The Turning Point For Stacy!

Many of these teams later complained that Jim stiffed them on pay and basically tricked them into sponsoring their car for the biggest week of the season. 1982 ended on a downer, though. Tim Richmond left the team due to financial instability.

In 1983, he’d hire another future NASCAR legend, Mark Martin, but that went south quickly. Mark Martin became another driver who left his team mid-season because he hated working with him. “That’s not a nice thing to say. He was tightening his belt. Things were not as rosy as they had been.” Mark Martin, speaking about Stacy’s operation and finances.

He replaced him with another talented driver in Morgan Shepard, finishing the season earning many top fives and tens together. But after that, Jim Stacy left NASCAR forever, leaving a trail of missing checks, bitter memories, and crazy stories in his wake. Thanks a bunch for reading!