Sponsors in NASCAR play a significant role, as they are the biggest source of revenue for the teams. Owing to NASCAR’s popularity, brands also get the desired limelight. While a sponsorship might start as a business investment, it has often grown to become a strong relationship between the driver and the company. In NASCAR’s history, there have been some legendary driver/sponsor pairs. Be it Jeff Gordon and Dupont or seven-time cup champion Jimmie Johnson and Lowe’s, the winningest sponsor in NASCAR (84 wins).

However, one pair that cannot be missed from this list is Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Budweiser. The brand sponsored Junior in his initial days in the Cup Series, and the pair took victory lane on 17 occasions. The iconic duo is making a comeback after a decade and a half, and it has taken Dale Jr. down memory lane. In a recent podcast episode, Junior reminisced about the old days and shared an incident, including him, Budweiser, and his father, the legendary Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the Budweiser days

Budweiser is one of the two (the other being Busch Beer) flagship brands of Anheuser-Busch. The brand has long been in NASCAR, be it with Kevin Harvick or most recently with Ross Chastain. However, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s red, black, and white #8 Budweiser car is one of the most iconic. It was in 1999 that the veteran drove the car in the Cup for the first time. After five race starts in 1999, he drove the car for a full season in 2000. Budweiser continued to be with Dale Jr. till 2007, when he was part of the Dale Earnhardt Incorporated team. And even his last Cup race at Homestead Miami in 2017 was in a throwback edition of his Budweiser car.

Now the pair is making a comeback, not in NASCAR but in Late Model Stock Cars, where Dale Earnhardt Jr. is currently active. The car would be seen in the South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway. “Budweiser and I had some great memories with that iconic scheme and number,” Junior said, sharing the news. From the long list of memories, he recently shared one where he got a valuable lesson from the intimidator. This was from Budweiser’s national sales convention; it is an event attended by all their athletes and employees.

In the October 22nd episode of Dale Jr. Download, Junior said, “I remember the very first one that I got invited to I had no clue that there was going to be 10,000 employees…And I’m with Dad and they’re like you you’re going to get called up on the stage you’re going to go up on stage you’re going say a few words about how excited you are about this opportunity to drive for Budweiser. And so dad’s a pro, he ain’t nothing like this he done this all the time I’m nervous. And so we go up on stage and dad says something pretty normal and what you would expect him to say. And I said so they hadn’t won races in a while and I said we’re going to back we’re going back to Victory Lane that’s what I said and they like that. 

While the commitment his son showed impressed Dale Sr., he made sure the then-young Dale Jr. knew the gravity of those words. “I come off the stage and Dad goes well you better deliver on promise. I guess you going to go up there and say that talk to talk, you’re gonna have to go do it now.” 

Dale Earnhardt Jr

It’s a value Dale Earnhardt Sr. has always cherished, making him one of NASCAR’s most decorated drivers. And Junior did stay true to his word. As he earned 17 wins, 76 Top-5 finishes, and 121 Top-10s while driving the red No. 8 Chevrolet in 291 NASCAR Cup Series starts. Jr’s wins have played a big part in making Budweiser the 5th winningest sponsor in the Cup Series, with a total of 64 wins.

The veteran truly cherished his time with the brand and loved going to events like this sales convention.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. shares his fondest memories from the events

Junior further in the podcast episode dwelled on what he liked best in the event. He said, “The best thing about going to those events man was all of the people that they all of the other spokesmen or spokeswomen or all the other ambassadors would be there. And so man you’re sitting in you’re and they set us all together at these events and so it’s a big giant room stadium seating and we would all sit together and it would be if you think of any spokesman or ambassador that buds had in from 99 to 2007 and they were sitting there.” Athletes from different sports, actors, and comedians attended the event. And Dale Jr. enjoyed interacting with them.

“And I mean it was neat you got to rub with some pretty cool people and yeah I’ve had that this is definitely going to be fun bringing back some nostalgia and some good memories,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.

He also loved watching all the new Budweiser commercials they showed at the event. “It was a lot of fun to be honest with you because you’re going to see all these commercials right. And so you were going to see the Super Bowl commercials and all of the funny commercials that they had planned before anyone else and it was really entertaining. 

Evidently, the two-time Xfinity Series champion is pumped to take the wheel of his iconic car and is hoping to get a good finish with it at Florence. Sharing his excitement, he said, “It is an incredible opportunity for me to be able to reunite with Budweiser and the No. 8… We’ve always supported each other over the years. It’s going to be really special for me to be able to represent that brand on the racetrack again.” Hopefully, Jr. can also take the car to the victory lane; that ought to be a great comeback.

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