Earnhardt deliberately avoided reporters after finishing his qualifying lap Friday, leaving the garage area without speaking to the media.
Earnhardt drove into his garage stall, climbed out of his car and briefly talked to crew members before climbing over equipment to make his escape. He walked briskly in exiting through the garage’s back door, then headed for his motor coach.
By Terry Blount, ESPN.com
Hendrick Motorsports will not have the ability to field No. 8 entries for Dale Earnhardt Jr. when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver joins the organization in 2008.
Read More.. Auto Racing Daily
Aug 10, 2007
Earnhardt is leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of the season and had hoped to take No. 8 with him to his new team. His late grandfather, Ralph, used that number and Earnhardt picked it when he entered the Cup Series in 1999.
Although teams do not own numbers - they are leased through NASCAR - DEI had the first right of refusal on the No. 8, and Hendrick officials said Wednesday they were unable to reach an agreement that would have made DEI pass on choosing the number for 2008. JENNA FRYER, AP.org
Previous Stories…
Aug 05, 2007
You’ll see Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a No. 8 car unless something goes very wrong between now and the end of the year. Rick Hendrick and DEI will work out a solution that will be agreeable to all. One of the biggest plusses of the Ginn merger is it actually frees up the No. 14.
There aren’t many desirable numbers out there, they’ve got the No. 01. They have the No. 1. Then you’d have the No. 14 and the No. 15. It would be cool to see DEI let the 8 go with Dale Jr. Jeff Hammond, FOX Sports
July 26, 2007
Dale Earnhardt Inc. President of Global Operations Max Siegel said Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that the team hopes to finalize its 2008 driver lineup within two weeks and is preparing for a future that may not include long-time sponsor Budweiser.
“We’ve had a great relationship and would love to continue with the brand, but at this point, we’ve had to make contingency plans,” Siegel said Friday at the track.
July 26
This particular driver has been so associated with the fire engine red color and No. 8 on his door, that a commercial was made a while back mocking the whole thing. I can still recall with clarity in the ad Jr. at the podium, grinning slyly, and saying, “… I’m going to stick with ‘8’”. Cheryl Walker, CawsnJaws.com
July 24
Some Earnhardt fans will never want to see him in anything other than Budweiser red, marketers say. But his fan base is so large and loyal that most Dale Jr. devotees won’t back another driver as long as Earnhardt’s new sponsor seems to be a natural fit.
“If it’s true to who he is,” Boykin said, “I think fans will accept that.” JEFFERSON GEORGE, CharlotteObserver.com
July 23
Hendrick Motorsports and Pepsi are expected to announce the beverage company’s primary sponsorship of Dale Earnhardt Jr. under its Mountain Dew brand. Pepsi Co. reportedly pulled out of the ISC beverage contract to allow for more money and focus to be put into sponsoring a driver. sports.aol.com
July 21
Now, don’t misinterpret me as suggesting that Lil E is not a marketing boon: Any company that chooses to align themselves with him will reap huge rewards. That is just the natural order of things given his last name, age, and demeanor. Some other products would surely suffer should they divorce an icon such as him, but the history and scope of Budweiser as a product has it rising above and beyond any one individual…just as no one driver is bigger than NASCAR itself.
(Or, so the Frances would lead you to believe…) Jeff Meyer, Frontstretch.com
Everybody seems real jacked up about the Earnhardt-Budweiser connection being dissolved. Um . . . OK. But Junior and the brewer wouldn’t be the first high profile driver and sponsor to split, would they, Bill Elliott? The interesting subplot, though, is the rumor growing speed by the day that Kasey Kahne will be the next Bud man. Wonder how exactly the boys in St. Louis will shape him into the brand’s image.
If a driver’s imminent departure from a team or sponsor causes his souvenirs to fall to half-price, what does it mean that a fan could buy one Ryan Newman piece and get a second for 50% off?
Dave Kallmann JS Online
For the reported sponsorship package of $25 million per year, Pepsi could rotate brands depending on track location and time of year, making a very effective marketing program around the sport’s most popular driver. It will be kind of neat to see a Mountain Dew or Gatorade car back out on the track, and, with Junior’s affinity for the sport’s history, it would be right up his alley.
Jeff Findley, ClantonAdvertiser
Seeing Dale Earnhardt Jr. is seeing red. From his driving suit to his ball cap to his transporter to his racecar, he’s absolutely immersed in the fire-engine hue of the only primary sponsor he’s ever known. The color and the product it represents have become as synonymous with NASCAR’s most popular driver as his last name, his 5 o’clock shadow, and his North Carolina twang.
David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
In addition to festooning the sides and hood of Earnhardt’s car with its name and logo, Budweiser has used Earnhardt in commercials and at appearances. The company’s red color became the color of Earnhardt’s car and fan base.
“Bud and Dale Jr.,” said Don Hinchey, vice president of the Bonham Group, which is a Denver-based sports and entertainment marketing firm, “have been intimately linked ever since they signed the deal — on the track, on race-related merchandise and in the winner’s circle. It’s almost as if that logo was part of his skin. It was definitely a major part of his public image.”
JIM PEDLEY, Kansas City Star
It is expected, though not confirmed, that Earnhardt instead will be sponsored by a Pepsi brand or brands when he moves to the team.
Evernham Motorsports and driver Kasey Kahne are the front-runners to take over the Bud deal in ‘08, according to sources in the Nextel Cup garage.
Tom Jensen SPEED TV
Budweiser and Dale Earnhardt Jr. won’t be business partners after this season, and that’s a shame. If a driver ever worked well with a sponsor and if a sponsor ever worked well with a driver, it was the Bud-Junior relationship. There is nobody who oozes coolness in the Nextel Cup garage as much as Earnhardt Jr., and there’s no product as easy to endorse for Earnhardt Jr. as Budweiser.
Earnhardt Jr. doesn’t even have to wear a polo shirt with Budweiser on it when he is on the road – he was so well known as the Budweiser driver that the company just preferred him to look cool in a T-shirt and jeans. They should have found a way to stay together with Earnhardt Jr. moving to Hendrick Motorsports next season.
Bob Pockrass Scene Daily
