Dale Earnhardt Jr. open to compromise on #8 trademark ownership if Teresa wants continued control under DEI

JR Motorsports owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. opened up about the #8 DEI trademark, previously owned by his stepmother Teresa through the company. The trademark expired on June 3, with Dale Jr. expressing his desire to acquire the iconic number.

Dale Earnhardt Inc. was created by NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt in 1980, fielding cars in the Xfinity Series in its early days. It later expanded to the Cup Series fielding the #1, #15, and the #8 Chevies. The latter is synonymous with Dale Earnhardt Jr., who drove the car from his debut in 1999 to 2007.

The trademark for the iconic #8 font has expired recently and Teresa Earnhardt has not renewed its ownership. Junior has acknowledged the current status of the trademark and expressed his and his sister Kelley's desire to acquire it.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. also revealed that he was comfortable with his stepmother renewing the trademark, as he ultimately wishes that it remains in the Earnhardt family. He doesn't want the #8 DEI font to end up with someone else.

"I either want Teresa to have it, and if she were to come in and re-up, I’d be totally comfortable and happy about that or I would like to have it." he said on Dale Jr. Download. [at 26:34]

The 49-year-old NASCAR Hall of Famer expressed his complete faith in his stepmother and lauded her efforts and commitment to protecting the Earnhardt legacy.

"There’s one thing I’ll say about Teresa is in terms of owning a trademark and protecting things like that, protecting our legacy and our family name, I have a lot of trust in her around those things," Junior said. [at 26:52]

"She’s very smart, very savvy, always thinking, she takes emotion out of business decisions and says ‘this is what’s fair, this is what’s right.’ And so in terms of this, I would be completely fine if she re-acquired the trademark."w

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. opens up about his intentions with the #8 trademark

Dale Jr. said that he has not yet had a discussion with his sister Kelley about what he would do with the trademark if they ended up acquiring it. However, he teased that he would release a limited edition #8 shirt and hat.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added that he is not interested in flooding the NASCAR ecosystem with #8 merch, but will release merchandise in small batches.

"I would not be interested in spamming the NASCAR ecosystem with vintage, retro 8 gear. I know that there are fans that would like to have some things, so maybe would do a small batch of select – one shirt, one hat. Just figure out something sort of nice and tasteful." [at 28:42]

Junior also expressed his wish to use the #8 in his CARS Tour series, with the permission of a few stakeholders at JR Motorsports.