Earnhardt's Race Team Reach Settlement

LEXINGTON, N.C. (AP) - The race team of the late Dale Earnhardt said Monday it reached a settlement with an insurer who had refused to pay the stock-car driver&#39;s life-insurance policy, ending a nearly monthlong trial.<br> <br> Richard Childress Racing had sought $3.7 million from United of Omaha Life Insurance Co., the amount for which the team had insured the popular driver. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.<br> <br> &#34;I&#39;m smiling, aren&#39;t I?&#34; Childress attorney John Morrow said as he left court.<br> <br> The racing team applied for the policy on its star driver shortly before the 49-year-old Earnhardt died in a last-lap crash in the 2001 Daytona 500. The insurance company declined to honor the policy, saying Earnhardt had not taken a required physical.<br> <br> Judge Kimberly Taylor ruled in favor of the race team June 13 after chastising the insurer for failing to provide key documents in the case. The only remaining issue to decide was how much the insurer would pay the race team.<br> <br> Morrow told Taylor before jurors were seated Monday the parties had settled the case.<br> <br> Rich Anderl, a United of Omaha attorney, said some of the company&#39;s customers had complained about their handling of the case after the death of one of the best-known drivers in NASCAR history.<br> <br> &#34;But we can&#39;t let that drive our legal decision,&#34; he said. <br> <br> The parties reached the decision over the weekend, according to a statement from United of Omaha. The deal allowed them to avoid any legal appeals that may have resulted from the case, the company said.<br> <br> The racing team was pursuing the money on behalf of Earnhardt&#39;s widow, Teresa, who now runs her own race team, Dale Earnhardt Inc. Richard Childress, who was in the courtroom on most days since the trial started May 24, did not attend Monday&#39;s session.<br> <br> © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.