Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced that he and Budweiser will be parting ways at the end of the 2007 NASCAR season. His personal services contract does run through 2008 but due to the fact that Hendricks Motorsports has commitments with other sponsors, all parties involved felt this was in their best interests.
Budweiser will still be active in NASCAR next season as they have their hopes pinned on signing Kasey Kahne, who drives for Ray Evernham. He is currently sponsored by Dodge.
“Budweiser has sponsored Dale Jr. for nearly a decade, and we wish him the very best,” said Tony Ponturo, vice president of global media and sports marketing for Anheuser-Busch Inc. “Budweiser will remain an active sponsor of NASCAR, and we look forward to building upon the legacy of the iconic Budweiser red car in 2008 and beyond.”
This what Dale Jr. had to say:
“Although Budweiser and I will be unable to continue our partnership beyond this season, I remain committed to driving for Bud the rest of this year,” Earnhardt said. “I’m a race car driver. All I can do is drive as hard as I can for my fans and sponsorship partners and give my best effort each weekend.”
Earnhardt said he had some regrets about splitting with the Budweiser brand, but he’s excited to see what new sponsorship deals the team will put together.
“We felt like we possibly only accomplished half of what we could do together, so that part of it’s kind of unfortunate,” Earnhardt said before qualifying at Chicagoland Speedway. “Sure, I would have loved to continue working with Bud. But under the circumstances, that’s not a possibility. We’ll have to change our frame of mind and see what the possibilities are for our primary sponsors next year. Those should be in line with what I like and what I enjoy, and I’m excited to put that together.”
Don’t worry though, Earnhardt said he will still drink Bud. Look for Little E to be sponsored by Pepsico next season.
