Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s lack of competitiveness from race to race is starting to have an impact on his sponsors.

According to Joyce Julius & Associates, Inc., which measures sponsor exposure during race broadcasts, Earnhardt has fallen to sixth overall in NASCAR through the first 10 races this year after leading all drivers over the same span in 2008.

The No. 88 Amp Energy/National Guard Chevrolet has received 7 hours, 35 minutes and 44 seconds of air time this season through the Richmond race on May 2. That’s far below the 12:27:10 that Jeff Gordon has garnered to lead all drivers. Gordon has won one race and leads the points standings with six top-five finishes. Earnhardt, NASCAR's most popular driver and perhaps the most costly to sponsor, has not won and was 18th in the standings through 10 races with just one top-five finish. When he’s not competitive, he receives less air time than drivers battling for victories.

A year ago, Earnhardt was No. 1 with 12:00:45 of exposure for his sponsors through the first 10 races. He was third in the standings at that point.

Joyce Julius also measures the equivalent cost of buying that amount of air time during a race to come up with a value for that exposure. And that could be painful for sponsors, too.

Last year, when Earnhardt was No. 1 in exposure time through 10 races, the value of that air time was calculated to be $150.1 million. This year, the value of Earnhardt’s exposure for sponsors has dropped to $127 million. That’s still very high, second only to Gordon’s exposure value of $150.4 million so far.

But break down the numbers, and there’s a clear dropoff for Earnhardt’s sponsors as the year has unfolded. Earnhardt’s most rewarding race for sponsors was the Daytona 500, which generated 1:14:06 of exposure that Joyce Julius calculates would have equated to $64.4 million worth of advertising. In other words, he generated half of the value for his sponsors this season during the opening race alone, when ad rates are higher. And Earnhardt earned some of that exposure through his own miscues on pit road and the crash he triggered that took out the front of the field, angering drivers and some fans.

Ever since Daytona, where Earnhardt finished 27th, his performances have generated $62.6 million worth of value for his sponsors.