NASCAR Scene

December 6, 2006

Earnhardt Jr., Budweiser top exposure chart

Dale Earnhardt Jr. may not have won the Chase For The Nextel Cup, but his Dale Earnhardt Inc. team put sponsor Budweiser on top of the sponsorship exposure chart, according to measurements by the Joyce Julius research firm, Street & Smiths SportsBusiness Daily reports.

Budweiser topped the chart with $183.1 million in exposure value through Earnhardt Jr., with 68.8 percent that related to team exposure, as NASCAR's most popular driver by fan votes finished fifth in this year's championship.

Lowe's, sponsor of 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, followed with $143.6 million comparable exposure.

Cingular Wireless (driver Jeff Burton, $116.6 million), Home Depot (driver Tony Stewart, $98.6 million) and DuPont (driver Jeff Gordon, $88.9 million) rounded out the top five.

Completing the top 10 were: Miller Lite (Kurt Busch, $71.1 million), NAPA Auto Parts (Michael Waltrip, $68.6 million), DLP (Tony Raines and Terry Labonte, $64.4 million), DeWalt Tools (Chase runnerup Matt Kenseth, $64.4 million) and Subway (Greg Biffle, $63.3 million).

Joyce Julius rates exposure values based on clear in-focus time and mentions received by each brand and then calculates the commercial value of that exposure during the telecast.