Dan River bedding a fun way to dream about NASCAR

Dan River and NASCAR are two names etched in the foundation of Americana, a grass roots sport born of the common man more than 50 years ago and a textile manufacturer that traces its roots all the way back to 1882 in rural Virginia. One of the sanctioning body's oldest licensees, Dan River is one of the leading manufacturers of NASCAR-themed bedding for children and accessories for the home.

"We've been working with NASCAR for over a dozen years," said Laurie Berkin, Dan River's Director of Marketing and Licensing. "About seven years ago, Dan River bought another company that was already a NASCAR licensee. That's how we became involved, and between the two companies, we've been in the market since around 1991. We've seen a huge surge in our NASCAR business over the past couple of seasons."

The majority of Dan River's NASCAR portfolio is focused on broad selection of bedding and accessories for younger race fans, including: quilts, comforters, sheets, valences, pillows and blankets.

Unlike many manufacturers of NASCAR merchandise, none of Dan River's products are driver-specific. The company employs generic car designs accentuate by the NASCAR logo -- and there is solid reasoning behind that.

"It's mainly because our NASCAR products are aimed toward kids," Berkin explained. "Most adults are pretty clear on who their favorite drivers are. Mom may like Dale Jr. and Dad may like Tony Stewart. Their kids, however, may not have formed an opinion yet-but they know they love NASCAR. Or they may pull for one driver now, and an entirely different driver in a few weeks. This way, Mom can decorate the room with a Dan River NASCAR comforter or sheet or pillow and maybe add accessories like lamps or things like that to reflect the child's favorite driver at the time without having to completely redecorate the room every few months. That's why we've been so successful with items that feature the NASCAR bar logo and race cars that aren't specific to one driver."

Traditionally, Dan River's best-seller has been a pattern it calls simply "NASCAR Race Car." It is an image of a generic race car that is the entire length of a comforter.

"We have some great race car patterns," Berkin elaborated. "In addition to NASCAR Race Car, we've had a lot of success with smaller images of cars on the track, like two cars racing each other. That sort of emulates what kids are seeing on TV."

Berkin is quick to note that Dan River's line of novelty pillows has also been very well-received by the NASCAR crowd. Most carry race car images, but one very unique design incorporates a checkered flag backdrop and the NASCAR logo into a pillow that replicates a race car dashboard in both graphics and shape.