Dale Earnhardt Jr’s last paint scheme is a throwback to his Dale Earnhardt Inc days

Dale Earnhardt Jr is set to run two throwback paint schemes. The first was announced a few weeks ago. It’s his former NASCAR Busch Series paint scheme. A car that guided him to the championship that year. Now, that paint scheme will be re-born at Darlington Raceway.

That’s a paint scheme from a DEI car driven by Dale Jr.

Yesterday, another throwback paint scheme was announced. It’s a big one. The famous red paint scheme from his early NASCAR Cup Series career with DEI. It will be run in Dale Earnhardt Jr’s final race as a full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver.

Another DEI car.

Relate: Dale Earnhardt Jr’s final car

Dale Earnhardt Jr has run several retro paint schemes to his dad. However, those paint schemes weren’t originally run a DEI cars. Because, Dale Earnhardt Sr never drove for DEI.

When Dale Earnhardt died, everything he owned was transferred to his wife, Teresa Earnhardt. She has since taken that gift and converted it to power.

How will Teresa Earnhardt feel about Dale Earnhardt Jr using a DEI paint scheme?

I’m fairly sure Dale Jr hasn’t done this before. Likely, Teresa isn’t going to like it.

In 2006, Teresa Earnhardt made bold claims that she owned the name ‘Dale Earnhardt Jr’. She did. Technically, Dale Sr did. But in the tragic event of his death, the trademark rights to the Dale Jr name was naturally transferred to the widow.

The rights to his birth name were eventually transferred back to Dale Earnhardt Jr. It was a dispute. But level heads prevailed and Dale Jr was allowed to use his name. It’s amazing that was even a trademark court case.

Now, Dale Earnhardt Jr is going beyond simply naming. He’s now using a full DEI paint scheme, two of them.

On the final car… the Budweiser logos are lacking, the 88 replaces the single 8. But it’s still, quite clearly, a DEI wrap.

Does she have any case? Maybe. I hope not.

Any decent human would see this as a paint scheme that means a lot to Dale Earnhardt Jr’s career. Surely, he has the right to use it. Especially, given DEI went under in 2014.

But Teresa Earnhardt has been in a court dispute with Kerry Earnhardt for the last several years. That dispute is over the use of ‘Earnhardt Collection’ for a brand of custom homes. Teresa Earnhardt believes that by Kerry Earnhardt using that name, people are led to believe the homes are from her. That case was thrown out of court.

Related: Teresa Earnhardt and her effort to control the Earnhardt name

However, she’s still at it. Less than a week ago, Teresa had a small win in trademark court. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Teresa Earnhardt. The ruling urges the trademark courts to re-hear the case.

Related: U.S. Court of Appeals rules in favor of Teresa Earnhardt

Related: Earnhardt family responds to court case ruling

I hope, for the sake of JR Nation’s sanity, that nothing comes from the use of the DEI car.

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