Dale Earnhardt Jr. signed a six-year sponsorship deal
with Budweiser beginning with a five-race Winston Cup
schedule in '99, according to Ron Green of the CHARLOTTE
OBSERVER. Earnhardt will join the Winston Cup circuit full-
time in 2000, when he will drive a car owned by his father.
Don Hawk, President of Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI), who
negotiated the deal: "This is the biggest sponsorship
contract there is in auto racing. It's probably bigger than
his dad's and Jeff Gordon's." Hawk, who "would neither
confirm nor deny" the reported $10M per year price of the
deal, said that "four other major national corporations had
been in discussions with DEI about being Earnhardt's primary
Winston Cup sponsor" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 9/22). The AP's
Joe Macenka puts the deal at $10M per year and writes that
what makes the financial scope of the package "even more
unusual" is that Earnhardt, 23, "has yet to drive on stock
car's top circuit." A-B VP/Marketing August Busch IV:
"We're not bothered in the least bit by Dale's lack of
Winston Cup experience. This is an exciting day for us"
(AP, 9/22). Earnhardt plans to fulfill his current Busch
Grand National contract through next season with ACDelco
remaining as the sponsor for that team (R-T-D, 9/22).
