In 2003, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s fourth season of full-time Cup Series racing, he won NASCAR’s annual Most Popular Driver award and didn’t give it up for the duration of his career, which ended in 2017.
But in a testament to his ongoing popularity, the man can still sell cars.
Especially pint-sized model cars, known in the industry as die-cast.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Budweiser are set to reunite at the November 23 late model stock race at Florence. He will also drive the Bud No. 8 car in select races in 2025. pic.twitter.com/BzXAwJq3DV
— Dustin Albino (@DustinAlbino) October 22, 2024
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Lionel Racing has released the top 10 best-selling die-cast cars of 2024, and a Dale Jr. late-model Chevy topped the list. And not just any late-model race car, but one carrying the paint scheme and logo of the sponsor synonymous with Junior during the bulk of his career: Budweiser.
The King of Beers was Junior’s sole Cup Series sponsor through the 2007 season, back when season-long sponsors were much more common than they would become in later year.
Next on the sales list came another nod to driver popularity combined with some nostalgia: Chase Elliott’s Hooters-sponsored car he drove to a win this year at Texas Motor Speedway.
Less than three months later, Hooters, scheduled to sponsor Elliott for a handful of 2024 races, had its partnership with Elliott’s team severed for business reasons — that made the Texas victory die-cast an instant collector’s item.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Budweiser fuels Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s NASCAR win over Chase Elliott
