Dale Earnhardt Jnr attends a news conference in Mooresville, North Carolina yesterday. Earnhardt said he will be leaving the company founded by his late father and looking to join another NASCAR team next year. - Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters):

DALE EARNHARDT Jr. said yesterday he will be leaving the company founded by his late father and looking to join another NASCAR team next year.

After contract negotiations collapsed between the popular driver and Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI), run by his stepmother Teresa, he decided to take his services elsewhere.

"We both worked extremely hard to find a common ground," Earnhardt told a news conference at the JR Motorsports race shop in Mooresville, N.C. "But as the negotiations continued, one thing became evident. We both want to be and get to the same place ... we both simply had different visions on how to get there."

A bidding war is likely to ensue to land Nascar's biggest name, whose contract with DEI concludes at the end of the season.

"What team I drive for next season I don't know," the 32-year-old driver said. "We'll see what opportunities I have. "We'll see who wants to hire me, who's interested for me to drive their race cars and we'll decide from there."

Preserve legacy

Earnhardt was rebuffed after asking for 51 per cent ownership of DEI.

"It's important to me that my father's legacy continues," he said. "I would like nothing more than for DEI to continue building its future around good people, hard work and relentless determination, the same characteristics that were so evident in the man that built the place."

Earnhardt said he would like to remain riding in a Chevrolet.

Dale Earnhardt Sr. won a record-tying seven Nascar championships and 76 races during his illustrious career. He died in a crash on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

"While we are very disappointed that Dale Jr. has chosen to leave the family business, we remain excited about our company's future," Teresa Earnhardt said in a statement. "Our aggressive expansion and diver-sification plans have not changed. This company has continued to thrive since Dale left us in 2001, and it will thrive following today's announcement."

Earnhardt Jr. is still looking for his first NASCAR title and currently sits in 12th place in the Nextel Cup standings.