Sponsors have always been at the forefront of making NASCAR a huge success. The partnership goes hand in hand; it gives teams and drivers the support to race every weekend, while brands can tap into the massive following of the sport to promote their business. In fact, there have been a few notable driver-sponsor partnerships, Dale Earnhardt and Coca-Cola’s collaboration is just in a league of its own.

Heck, the soft drink giant even made soda machines that featured Dale Sr during his racing days. These soda machines are popular even to this day, so much so that there have been reports about them being stolen from convenience stores. So you see, it’s just hard to get your hands on the Dale Earnhardt Coca-Cola machine. Luckily, her daughter Kelly Earnhardt got her hands on the soda machine front, featuring the intimidator’s iconic collaboration with Coca-Cola.

Dale Jr shared the pictures of the final product that made it to her sister’s office through his X account with the caption, “Sister @EarnhardtKelley found an uncut soda machine front with dad and framed it for her office. Solid repurpose. 👍🏼”. Back in the 1980sCoca-Cola was the official soft drink partner for NASCAR. And now we have the likes of Liquid Death taking over the role.

As soon as the NASCAR community caught a glimpse of their favorite driver’s memorabilia, they took to the comment sections to share their memories of this partnership. Surprisingly, some of them even had these soda machines stored in their garage, in working condition even after all these years.

NASCAR fans take a trip down memory lane

One fan shared a story about his early working days in a convenience store when these soda machines were a huge hit. “Outstanding. We used to have a Dale Earnhardt Coke machine at the grocery store I worked at as a kid. I bought anything that had his likeness on it. That man could sell me ice in Antarctica”.

A lucky fan who had been successful in getting his hands on this Coke machine, reacting to Dale Jr.’s post on X, wrote, “We have an old Dale Earnhardt Coke machine in our garage!”, Another ardent Dale Earnhardt fan chimed in, stating, “I have one framed in oak in my home. Uncut and perfect”.

Coke commercials were a hit back in the day, featuring the intimidator. However, one fan couldn’t help but share his memory of Dale Earnhardt’s Halloween commercial after seeing the iconic machine online on X. “Fantastic. One of my favorite commercials was the Coke Halloween with your dad chasing people around with a bat on a stick.”

Dale Earnhardt won the Rookie of the Year award in 1979 winning six races. Sun Drop, another beverage company linked with NASCAR, had rolled out special bottles celebrating Dale Sr’s success in his first season. Interestingly, one of the fans still had one of these Sun Drop bottles in pristine condition. “My dad and I were going through my late grandmother’s things out in the garage and stumbled across this carb display and a rookie of the year Sun Drop bottle that’s never been opened”.

Apart from Coke, Mellow Yellow was also a big NASCAR sponsor during the good old days. Sharing his fond memories of Kyle Petty’s collaboration with the beverage company, a fan replied, “These and the Kyle Petty Mellow Yellow machines were the best”.

Priced at $2,000, these Coca-Cola Dale Earnhardt vending machines don’t come cheap. So it is indeed a luxury for those who still have it or can use it at nearby gas stations or convenience stores.