Show your support.
Buzz this article up.
CIA Stock Photo
It is widely speculated that PepsiCo. is the leading candidate to sponsor Earnhardt through its Mountain Dew brand, but sources with knowledge of negotiations say National Guard is also a top candidate as part of a split sponsorship package.
National Guard currently sponsors Hendrick’s No. 25 car, driven by Casey Mears.
Sources say the combined deal will be the richest team sponsorship in NASCAR history, somewhere between $25 million and $30 million annually.
July 31, 2007
Earnhardt said last week that Navy will continue its sponsorship of JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Busch Series entry in 2008, but sources said that would not conflict with a potential National Guard association in the Sprint Cup Series.
As for the other key piece of the Junior puzzle—his car number—DEI and Hendrick are actively negotiating. Hendrick has submitted a proposal to DEI. This is an intricate proposal that carries obvious emotions.
July 29, 2007
Earnhardt will be the only NASCAR driver whose personal company controls the licensing of his team’s merchandise and apparel. Jeff Gordon at one time had his own company that handled his team licensing, but that operation has since rolled into HG Licensing, a joint venture between Gordon and team owner Rick Hendrick.
HG handles licensing for Hendrick’s other cars as well but will not have control over Earnhardt’s licensing, which is believed to generate $30 million or more in revenue annually. Earnhardt’s licensed goods account for about a third of all NASCAR merchandise sales, experts in the industry say.
Michael Smith - Sporting News
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 23
Sources say that officials with Hendrick Motorsports and PepsiCo Incorporated have plans to announce at Indy this week that Dale Earnhardt Junior will drive the No. 5 Chevy sponsored by Pepsi’s Mountain Dew and AMP energy drink brands in 2008.
The deal was finalized during the off week for the Nextel Cup series.
The Mountain Dew brand became famous in NASCAR when it was the primary sponsor for team owner Junior Johnson with driver Darrell Waltrip in 1981-1982. Pepsi branded the car as the ‘Pepsi Challenger’ in1983. Budweiser took over a primary sponsor in 1984.
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
Dave Kallmann JS Online: 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?
Jeff Findley, ClantonAdvertiser: 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.
David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM: 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.
JIM PEDLEY, Kansas City Star: 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.”
Tom Jensen SPEED TV: 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.
Bob Pockrass Scene Daily: 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.
