Already ahead of the curve with Junior merchandise (cont'd)

"It's complicated in that you have a lot of different pieces that you want to bring to market, from a decal to a bumper sticker to a floor mat, T-shirt, hat, die-cast car, all these different items," Lavielle said. "As the negotiations kept going on longer and longer, we kept having to sort things out, not necessarily on the deal points, but in terms of getting marketing programs and logos ready. It's been a nail-biter. We're working as hard as we can with our licensees to get the products out there for Daytona, if not before."

Dale Jr. to No. 88

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As for the sign-off process, Lavielle said it was fairly streamlined.

"There are internal processes between Hendrick and JR Motorsports ... JR Motorsports controls and runs the licensing of Junior's Cup and Busch teams, but we work very closely with Hendrick on that to make sure it has the right look and feel."

The group doing this pedal-to-the-metal project is an experienced one, with lots of hands from the old Action Performance and Sports Image days on staff. Even so, the process left Lavielle and Mattes gasping for breath.

"It's full-boogie-tilt, pedal to the metal," Lavielle said with a laugh. "Joe and I were joking around the other day, as we were pulling our hair out, we said, 'just think, it's only going to get worse!' It's nice to be able to talk about it freely, so we can focus on getting the product out and serving everyone who has supported us."

Earnhardt Jr. himself had a hand in some of the designs, including the paint schemes for the cars, and he exercises some control over products which bear his name, Lavielle said.

"[Earnhardt's] totally easy to work with," she said. "We produce so many items; he doesn't look at all of them. Specific to adidas, for example, he looks over the line because it's a personalized Dale Jr. line of lifestyle clothes. He'll look at that, and not necessarily nitpick, but have suggestions.

"On every race fan T-shirt, he's not going to put his thumbprint on all of them, but he does definitely put his thumbprint on certain items that are particular to him."

Wednesday's announcement was a definite thumbprint from Driver 88, and its mark will be left on the industry as a whole.

"I do know where Dale Jr. falls into [that $2 billion number], in terms of pushing items out the door, and that's a good position to be in," Lavielle said.