This Bud's for ... ? Dale Jr., longtime sponsor to split

JOLIET, Ill. -- 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.

How strange it will seem next year, when the ongoing transformation of Earnhardt Jr. will include new corporate colors. A full stable of sponsors for 2008 at Hendrick Motorsports will force Earnhardt to split with longtime backer Budweiser when he moves to the sport's top team next season. And a productive eight-year relationship that helped form much of Earnhardt's public identity will come to an end.

"That's part of my life," Earnhardt said Friday at Chicagoland Speedway, site of Sunday's USG Sheetrock 400. "The relationship I have with Budweiser and the partnership that we've had for all these years is a big chunk of my life that will always be very memorable to me. They will always be a huge part of that success and the races that we've won. When I look back on it in four years from now, I expect it to be really positive."

Hendrick's current sponsor lineup -- DuPont, Lowe's, Kellogg's, GMAC and the National Guard -- are all slated to return next season, leaving no room for even a successful, high-profile company like Budweiser. The brand has appeared on Hendrick cars before, backing the rides of Ken Schrader, Ricky Craven and Wally Dallenbach. But it won't grace the vehicle of a driver who took it to new heights.

"We have agreements in place with sponsors for the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, which prevent us from having a relationship with Budweiser," team owner Rick Hendrick said in a statement, using the name the circuit will take next year. "Honoring our commitments is important to us. The trade-off is missing an opportunity to bring Budweiser, a marquee brand synonymous with NASCAR and its fans, into the fold."

Earnhardt's association with the brewery will be completely severed after this season. A personal services agreement with Anheuser-Busch that was scheduled to run through 2008 will also end after this year. That means no more Budweiser commercials featuring a driver whose connection with the beer company served as a cornerstone of his rock-and-roll identity.

"I'll miss a lot about the whole deal," he said. "They had a great marketing campaign, a lot of great guys who work over there. Hopefully I'll still have those friendships, but you'll miss the working relationship, for sure. Shoot, we've been together for a long time. There's a lot about that partnership I'm going to miss. The national sales convention, typically for 80 percent or 90 percent of the sponsors in this garage, they're probably not a whole lot of fun to go to. But the Budweiser one is great."

Although his new sponsor -- believed to be a PepsiCo brand -- hasn't been announced yet, Earnhardt is already eager to get a look at designs for his new car's paint scheme, his firesuit, and souvenir apparel. And he wants to be as comfortable with the new company as he was with the old one. (Continued)