Souvenir makers hopeful Junior's decision comes in summer

Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn't set a timetable for his eventual move to another Nextel Cup organization. But the people tasked with preparing merchandise, collectables and apparel in his new team colors -- if those colors change at all -- would love to see NASCAR's most popular driver make a decision by mid-summer.

That would give Motorsports Authentics enough time to finalize its design concepts and have Earnhardt's 2008 collection ready to sell when fans and competitors descend on Daytona International Speedway for next year's opening race. Earnhardt will leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. when his contract expires after this season, an impending transition that leaves his car number and primary sponsor -- two things that have become as closely tied with the driver as his last name -- subject to change.

Uncertainty with Jr.'s move from DEI

Experts in the licensing industry aren't sure what will happen with sales following Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s announcement to leave DEI after this season.

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Those are no small details to Motorsports Authentics, the company created in 2005 through a joint venture between racetrack empires International Speedway Corp and Speedway Motorsports Inc., which manufactures die-cast cars, T-shirts, and everything else bearing the likenesses of NASCAR drivers. Earnhardt Jr. is the top seller in the sport, owning more than a quarter of the souvenir and merchandising market.

That means there will be plenty of people looking for Earnhardt merchandise after the move to his new team -- right now, most likely either Richard Childress Racing or Joe Gibbs Racing -- is complete. Ideally, an announcement in the next few months would give Motorsports Authentics the lead time it needs to supply it.

"I'd love to have it done by mid-summer," said Ruth Crowley, president of Motorsports Authentics. "Every year at this time, there are changes, so it's up to us to be flexible with the business and with the teams."

Even Earnhardt is aware of the retail ramifications of his decision. The driver's merchandise sales brought in a reported $20 million annually to DEI, the team founded by his late father and now run by his stepmother Teresa.

"Motorsports Authentics, or whoever we're working with, I guess the die-casts and hats and shirts people, and my sister [manager Kelley Earnhardt Elledge], and the owner of the team are going to want to do it in X amount of days," Earnhardt told reporters at Lowe's Motor Speedway last week prior to the Nextel All-Star Challenge. "So we've got this much time to get this much done. But to me, it's about making sure it's the right decision. And no matter when that happens, I'll be very, very happy."

And so likely will be merchandisers selling Earnhardt's new gear, especially given how the current apparel has been flying off the shelves since the announcement of his split from DEI. Crowley's people are ready to move, already preparing graphics and concepts that can be used regardless of where the driver winds up, and working on "about 17 different solutions" to try and stay ahead of where he'll eventually land.

Junior leaving DEI

Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he will leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of this season.

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For marketers, that's the key. Motorsports Authentics can make tweaks to next year's collection as late as October, something that's common in NASCAR given how often associate sponsors are added and the degree of authenticity demanded by fans. But for a collection that promises to be as popular and wide-ranging as Earnhardt's, plans are in the works months ahead of time.

Crowley compares it to her time at Harley-Davidson, where she served as vice president of general merchandise before taking over at Motorsports Authentics on March 1. If she were still with the motorcycle manufacturer, she'd be putting the finishing touches on the collection for fall 2008. Next month, she'd begin work on spring 2009.

"We'd always have a last-minute dance with some of the numbers as teams add secondary sponsors," she said. "But that's part of the assortment. It's not the whole assortment. Anybody who has been around the retail market before who's not working on '08 right now is crazy out of their minds."

Crowley insists there's no "drop-dead date" by which time Earnhardt will have to make a decision to get his 2008 apparel and memorabilia collection completed in time for next season. Like everyone else at Motorsports Authentics, she'll wait -- and then go to work.

"Sometimes life isn't always comfortable," she said. "The only time I'll drop dead is when I deliver what everybody wants in Daytona. There's always time to make things work. That's not the ideal, but that's our job. The ideal would be I'd have everything finished by mid-summer."