MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP) -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. has not backed down from his demand for majority ownership in his late father's company, his sister said Tuesday.

"Fifty-one (percent) is the right number because that gives us control," said Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, Junior's sister and business manager. "We'll take 75 or 95 or whatever we work out. At the end of the day, 51 gives you control.

"And we want control."

Earnhardt is in the final year of his contract with Dale Earnhardt Inc. and has made owning a share of the company a major issue of his negotiations. He raised the stakes even higher in February when he said he actually wanted 51 percent of DEI -- not just a piece of the team.

Contract talks were briefly halted after Earnhardt Elledge had surgery last month to remove a tumor near her pancreas. Although still recovering, she said she recently resumed talks with DEI president Max Siegel, and the brother-sister tandem is still asking for majority ownership.

The company has been run by Earnhardt's widow, Teresa, since his death in the 2001 Daytona 500.

"The idea is that the company would be left to the children, and we want to make sure that there is a formidable business left there and we can take on for our generation and then our children and then on and on," Earnhardt Elledge said. "It's very important to us. It's just a matter of us getting on the same playing field."

Earnhardt Elledge said her brother wants control of DEI so he can turn it into a championship contender. Although he's won races for DEI, the organization has not won a title since his consecutive Busch Series championships in 1998 and 1999.

He made the Chase for the championship in 2004 and 2006, but had an abysmal 2005 when he failed to qualify for the Chase after a career-worst season that saw two crew swaps.

"The business is not where it could be over the last several years," Earnhardt Elledge said. "It's going to take something to get that back and we're in a position of time. We want Dale to drive 10 or 12 more years. We've got to get on the race track and win and get competitive and win championships. We have to have a situation that provides that for him."

Earnhardt Jr. is NASCAR's most popular driver and has leverage on his side. If he should leave DEI, every team in the Nextel Cup garage would fight to sign him and Budweiser, his longtime sponsor. Budweiser is closely associated with Junior and its contract with DEI expires at the end of this season.

Earnhardt Elledge said the ownership stake was not the breaking point of negotiations, but that time could run out for a new agreement to be reached. Siegel has said he believes a decision can be made by May, and Earnhardt Elledge said the next two months are crucial.

"There is no breaking point except a day, a timeline," she said. "We've said it to each other. Max and I are very honest with each other. It's like at some point, we've got to get to 2008. They do with sponsors and teams and drivers and we do. So at some point, the breaking point will be time. I'd say 30-45 days."

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This article proves Kelly is a sound business person with these comments I think.....also - 75-90% ownership? I had no idea the figure was getting up that high, I thought the most they would get is 55-60.  Sr. raised his kids well it seems.