Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Lawsuit Against Teresa: The No. 8 Trademark Fight

Dale Earnhardt Jr. never filed a lawsuit against his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt. The dispute between Dale Jr. and Teresa played out in contract negotiations, boardrooms, trademark filings, and public interviews rather than in a courtroom. At the center is control of Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) and the Earnhardt name, and the origin of the rift is a will Dale Sr. signed in 1992 that left everything to Teresa and nothing directly to his children.¹

The 1992 Will That Set Up the Conflict

Dale Earnhardt Sr. signed his will in December 1992, when DEI was a small Busch Series operation. By the time he died in the 2001 Daytona 500, DEI had grown into a three-car Cup Series team, but the will was never updated. It awarded 100 percent of DEI’s stock to Teresa, along with all property, trademarks, and the power “to retain and carry on any business or property” in which he held an interest. Probate filings in Iredell County, North Carolina, confirmed Teresa’s sole ownership.¹

The structure was likely a tax strategy. Leaving everything to a surviving spouse avoids estate taxes that would have hit if ownership had been split among the children. The practical result was that Dale Jr., Kelley, and Kerry Earnhardt inherited no stake in the company their father built. It was widely believed Dale Sr. intended for his son to eventually run DEI, but he never revised the will to say so.¹

That single document explains why no lawsuit followed. Because Teresa owned DEI outright, there was nothing for Dale Jr. to contest in court. His only paths were to negotiate for a stake or to walk away.

Why Dale Jr. Left DEI Instead of Suing

Dale Jr. drove for DEI for seven full-time seasons, winning 17 races including the 2004 Daytona 500 and earning four Most Popular Driver awards.² Under Teresa’s management the team began to slip. After a 2005 crew shake-up and what he called a “horrendous season,” he failed to make the Chase and publicly acknowledged DEI could not keep pace with top programs like Hendrick Motorsports.³

During contract negotiations, Dale Jr. sought at least a 51 percent ownership stake. Teresa reportedly set the price at roughly $75 million, a figure widely characterized as inflated.⁴ He later said the two sides “never even got close,” describing a fundamental “difference of opinion” about the company’s future.³

On May 10, 2007, at a press conference at JR Motorsports in Mooresville, North Carolina, Dale Jr. announced that 2007 would be his last season with DEI. By June 13 he had signed with Hendrick Motorsports, where he raced until retiring after the 2017 season.² His sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller helped orchestrate the move and later described the split as a breaking point after years of tension with Teresa.⁵

DEI collapsed in the wake of the departure. Budweiser and the U.S. Army sponsorships followed Dale Jr. out, and Teresa agreed to merge DEI with Chip Ganassi Racing in November 2008.⁶⁷ By 2014, Ganassi bought out Teresa’s remaining share and dropped the Earnhardt name.⁸

The No. 8 Trademark: Dale Jr. and Teresa’s Closest Legal Skirmish

When Dale Jr. left DEI in 2007, the No. 8 he had made famous stayed behind under Teresa’s control. He switched to the No. 88 at Hendrick in part because Teresa would not release the number. The iconic slanted No. 8 logo sat unused but trademarked under DEI for years.

That changed in 2024. Teresa did not renew the DEI trademark for the No. 8 font, and it expired on June 3, 2024. Dale Jr., through his company DEJ Holdings, promptly filed a new trademark application. He said he would be “totally comfortable and happy” if Teresa chose to re-acquire it herself but did not want the mark to “end up somewhere else.”⁹ Teresa separately renewed the trademark for the DEI No. 1 logo, keeping it active through 2031; she had already abandoned the No. 15 trademark years earlier.¹⁰

A separate challenge came from NFL quarterback Lamar Jackson, who had trademarked “Era 8 By Lamar Jackson” for apparel and argued that a simpler No. 8 logo Dale Jr. had also filed for was too similar. Dale Jr. agreed to abandon the contested simpler version. The bolder, slanted DEI-era logo Teresa had let lapse was not part of Jackson’s challenge.¹⁰ Teresa did not sue Dale Jr. over the filing, and he did not sue her.

The One Earnhardt Trademark Lawsuit That Did Happen

Teresa did take one of Dale Sr.’s children to court, but it wasn’t Dale Jr. In May 2012 she filed a trademark opposition against Kerry Earnhardt, Dale Sr.’s eldest son and her stepson, after his company licensed the name “Earnhardt Collection” to Schumacher Homes for a line of custom homes.¹¹ She argued before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that consumers would confuse the brand with merchandise she sold under the “Dale Earnhardt” name, and that “Earnhardt Collection” was primarily a surname and not eligible for registration.¹²

In February 2016 the Board ruled for Kerry, finding no likelihood of confusion and reasoning that adding “collection” moved the mark beyond a bare surname.¹¹¹²¹³ On remand, according to reporting in 2019, the Board concluded that “Earnhardt” could not be trademarked as a standalone surname and that Kerry could continue using the name.¹⁴

The Personal Rift and the Gravesite

The conflict between Teresa and Dale Sr.’s children extends well beyond business. Dale Sr. is buried on Teresa’s private property in Mooresville, North Carolina, a site secured by tall fencing, screening, and cameras.¹⁵ Dale Jr. has said he visited the grave once, roughly 20 years ago, fueled by “liquid courage,” and has not returned since. Kelley Earnhardt Miller said the children were not invited to go through their father’s belongings after his death and had no input on the funeral or burial location. “She’s so extreme that we might get arrested,” Kelley said of any attempt to visit.¹⁶ Lawyers for Teresa declined interview requests and did not respond to inquiries about whether the children are officially prohibited from visiting.

Dale Jr. also recounted a conversation shortly after his father’s death in which Teresa told him that “missing someone you love is selfish, because you want them there for you.” He said the remark stuck with him for years.¹⁶ Kelley has said processing the loss required “a lot of therapy,” driven not only by grief but by “the lack of family support and relationship with Teresa and everything that I felt my dad worked hard for watching it all fall apart.”¹⁷

Many of these accounts surfaced publicly through the four-part Prime Video docuseries Earnhardt, which premiered in May 2025 and features extensive interviews with Dale Jr. and Kelley.¹⁶

Where Things Stand Today

Dale Jr. and Kelley have built JR Motorsports into one of NASCAR’s most successful organizations. Under Kelley’s leadership as CEO, the team has won multiple Xfinity Series championships and expanded into the Cup Series for 2025.⁵ Teresa has largely retreated from public life, rarely speaking to the media and allowing several DEI trademarks to lapse while maintaining tight control of her late husband’s property and estate. The family remains estranged, with no public indication of reconciliation and no lawsuit between Dale Jr. and Teresa on any court’s docket. The situation is often cited as a cautionary tale about a family business passing through a will that was never updated to reflect the founder’s evolving wishes or the company’s growth.¹

1
Racing-Forums. Earnhardt’s Will Left 100 Percent of DEI to Teresa
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Golf Channel. Dale Jr., Dale Earnhardt Inc., Hendrick Motorsports
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Cleveland 19. Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Leave DEI After Season
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Autoweek. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Quits DEI
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Essentially Sports. Dale Sr.’s Daughter Ousts Teresa Earnhardt in Blunt Interview
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The Express. Dale Earnhardt Dad Widow Teresa Dispute
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ESPN. DEI and Chip Ganassi Racing Announce Merger
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Racing News. Teresa Earnhardt Effort to Take Control of Earnhardt Name
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On3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Motorsports Trademark DEI Font 8
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Fox Sports. Lamar Jackson vs. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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ESPN. Stepmother of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins Small Victory in Trademark Case Against Stepson Kerry
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Justia. Earnhardt v. Kerry Earnhardt, Inc., No. 16-1939
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Courthouse News. Family Fight Over Dale Earnhardt’s Surname Sent Back to Trademark Office
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Essentially Sports. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Living in Fear of Being Arrested
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Athlon Sports. Dale Jr. Fearful of Arrest Visiting Dad’s Grave
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Whiskey Riff. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Says His Stepmother Teresa Told Him It Was Selfish to Miss His Father
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Whiskey Riff. Kelley Earnhardt Miller Says It Took a Lot of Therapy