Budweiser to follow Earnhardt to Hendrick?
ESPN reports that Budweiser officials are shopping around for their best sponsorship option in NASCAR, a clear indication that the beer company will not sponsor Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports next season, sources confirmed Tuesday.
It's expected that PepsiCo Inc., possibly with the Mountain Dew brand or a combination of Pepsi products, will sponsor Earnhardt next season in the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick.
And Anheuser-Busch is negotiating with Evernham Motorsports to possibly move the Bud sponsorship to Kasey Kahne's No. 9 Dodge next season.
Budweiser officials also have contacted officials at Lowe's Motor Speedway about the possibility of holding a news conference at the Lowe's Speedway Club next week if a new team sponsorship agreement is reached.
An Evernham Motorsports official said Tuesday that no agreement has been reached with Budweiser and that the Evernham marketing department was talking to several other companies about potential sponsorships for 2008.
Team owner Ray Evernham has an agreement with Dodge, through the Dodge Dealers, to sponsor both Kahne's car and the No. 19 Dodge of Elliott Sadler through 2010.
The Dodge dealers would have to sign off on any deal to allow Budweiser to move to Kahne's car.
One source close to the negotiations told ESPN.com that it's still possible Budweiser could stay at Dale Earnhardt Inc., depending on whom DEI signs to replace Earnhardt. More at ESPN.com
06/28/07 Tony Ponturo, the vice president of global media and sports marketing for Anheuser-Busch, minces no words when talking about how badly Budweiser wants to remain as sponsor for the cars driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. “Every day I wake up that’s what I’m working toward," Ponturo said this week at The Associated Press Sports Editors annual convention in St. Louis. “When you have the most popular driver for the past four years, that’s something that we helped build. If, and underline the if, that ends up being impossible, we’ll talk about Plan B."
06/13/07 Officials with Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser brand, current sponsors of Dale Earnhardt Jr., released a statement saying the beer company is looking into its future options with the driver and Hendrick Motorsports following today's announcement that the driver would join that team in 2008.
Earnhardt Jr. answered questions about his future team this morning by announcing he will join Hendrick Motorsports. Now the next question is whether his long-time sponsor, Budweiser, will follow NASCAR's most popular driver. The company has a personal services contract with Earnhardt Jr. through 2008.
"Anheuser-Busch has enjoyed a remarkable relationship with Dale Earnhardt Jr. since our sponsorship commenced back in 1999," said Tony Ponturo, vice president of global media and sports marketing for Anheuser-Busch. "Dale Jr. is an excellent ambassador for the sport and our company, and we look forward to exploring options with Hendrick Motorsports and JR Motorsports to continue Budweiser's relationship with him as he enters this new stage of his racing career."