Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently expressed his willingness to reconcile with his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, with whom he had not spoken in a long time. It all started after the NASCAR Hall of Famer saw a few pictures from inside the Dale Earnhardt Inc. headquarters located in Mooresville, North Carolina.Teresa took over the ownership of DEI after the untimely demise of her husband and Dale Jr.’s dad, Dale Earnhardt Sr., back in 2001. She retained ownership of the team’s trademarks even after it merged with Chip Ganassi Racing due to financial difficulties. However, DEI shut down in 2009.Today, DEI is a museum dedicated to the life and legacy of the legendary driver. Fans can visit the shop from Thursday to Saturday (11 am to 2 pm) and purchase from an array of Dale Earnhardt merchandise and racing memorabilia.“I was just glad to know that stuff's still well taken care of,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on Dale Jr. Download. “It actually made me feel good that some of my cars are still there...like, in the front. They still celebrate all of the history.”“I haven't talked to Teresa in so long that I don't know really where they are emotionally about the relationship or the lack of a relationship. So, I was happy to see that some of my cars are still in there. Gives me some hope that there's a chance of reconciliation somewhere down the road,” he added, smiling.Dale Earnhardt Jr. himself drove the iconic No. 8 Budweiser Chevy for DEI in the NASCAR Cup Series from 1999 until 2007. Throughout his stay, the two-time Xfinity Series driver made 17 trips to victory lane, including the first of his two Daytona 500 triumphs.Dale Jr. left DEI in the fall of 2007, which stemmed from disagreements with his stepmother over contract negotiations and overall business direction. He joined Hendrick Motorsports after that and drove its No. 88 car until his retirement in 2017.When Dale Earnhardt Jr. blamed Teresa for not letting him run the No. 8 at Hendrick MotorsportsWhen Dale Earnhardt Jr. left Dale Earnhardt Inc. in 2007 and moved to Hendrick Motorsports, he wanted to take his cherished No. 8 trademark with him. But Teresa wouldn’t let him.She held on to the No. 8 trademark despite the best efforts of DEI president Max Siegel. Needless to say, Dale Jr. was disappointed. After all, he had visited the victory lane on 17 occasions with that number. He said in a statement (quoted by ESPN),"She either feels too personal about the number, or the rift between me and her is too personal. I'm not going to sit here and get personal about this. It's upsetting as hell and unfortunate, but that's just what happens sometimes. I'm not really all that surprised. I knew I wasn't going to get the number a long time ago.”However, that was until last year. Earlier this year, Dale Jr. regained the trademark rights for a different version of the number that his Xfinity team, JR Motorsports, had been using since 2019.