Saturday, Jun. 09, 2007

Will Junior be the best thing to happen to boat racing?

By Jody Moore, Hydro.commentator

Folks, I've been giving a lot of thought here lately to a lot of racing subjects, and I'm starting to wonder if the departure of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. from DEI might be the best thing that could happen to unlimited hydroplane racing.

Just in case you've been living in a cave with a NASCAR-proof bag over your head, let me explain. Junior is the hottest of NASCAR's hot. A superstar in his own right, with a pedigree a country-mile long in the form of his late father and six-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt.

Senior started Dale Earnhardt, Inc. before his tragic death in Daytona in 2001, but Little E really put his team on the map. After barnstorming through the Busch series with two consecutive championships in 1998 and 1999, he gave DEI its first Cup win in 2000, and has earned 17 of the organization's 23 victories at what is now the Nextel Cup level.

Dale Earnhardt was a popular driver. His relentless driving on the track belied the true gentleman he was off the track. Junior's affable personality and more gentle driving style have vaulted him to almost rock-star status in stock car racing circles.

So it came as a bit of a surprise to some when Dale Earnhardt, Jr. announced that he was leaving DEI at the end of the season. The stated reason was to find his way to a team that was winning and would provide a shot at a national championship, something he never accomplished at DEI. But the undercurrent of the decision no doubt stemmed from his well-publicized feud with stepmother Theresa, matriarch of the Earnhardt legacy and president of the house that daddy built.

Wondering how I got to my opening statement from here? Let me explain further.

In the weeks after Junior announced his free agency, there has been a kind of media mass hysteria of epic proportions. Countless columns have been written about where NASCAR's No. 1 superstar and favorite son might end up. It's been analyzed, reanalyzed and beaten to death.

One of the emerging favorite teams expected to court Earnhardt, Jr. is Joe Gibbs Racing. The team owned by the Washington Redskins coach has two national championships with driver Tony Stewart and a very lucrative marketing campaign going on with driver Denny Hamlin and sponsor FedEx.

And Gibbs has a former championship team that is in dire need of rehabilitation. Let's face it. The No. 18 hasn't been the same since Bobby Labonte left. I'm not saying anything here, but if I was J.J. Yeley, I might be a little worried.

So how does hydro racing fit into all of that? That's the easy part. Let's back up a little bit again to 2003. Miss Budweiser owner Bernie Little had dominated unlimited hydroplane racing for more than a decade, but that came to an end with his death in April 2003.

The team soldiered on for another year under the guidance of son Joe Little, but then it shut its doors for good at the end of the 2004 after Budweiser announced it was dropping the sport's longest-running sponsorship to focus its motorsports marketing efforts on NASCAR's premiere class.

And the driver that they were sponsoring? If you guessed Earnhardt, you get a star. Junior has been driving a red No. 8 with Budweiser decals on its flanks since he ascended to the Cup level in 2000.

I've written in previous columns about the dollar potential for Budweiser in this deal, so I won't repeat myself. But it's been a lucrative partnership. And with Little E poised to leave DEI, you'd expect that the sponsor would follow, as did NAPA Auto Parts when Michael Waltrip left the team two years ago.

But that might not be the case, especially if Junior lands with Gibbs as has been predicted. Gibbs, devoutly religious, has pledged that his team will be family oriented. That includes no alcohol sponsors on the car.

There's little doubt Gibbs will attract another top-flight sponsor with Junior. With Bud out of the way, companies will be lining up with checkbooks in hand to get a slice of that pie.

And with the subject of its monetary adoration headed somewhere else, Budweiser will no doubt be rethinking their marketing strategy. DEI hasn't exactly been attracting star power outside of the family.

DEI driver Martin Truex, Jr. just earned his first Cup win in Dover last weekend, but he hasn't found the success that led him to two consecutive Busch series championships. And DEI's third team is helmed by the often-forgettable Paul Menard.

So what's a sponsor to do? Sure, Budweiser might stick around and see what else DEI dishes up. But their Busch program is non-existent, and there really isn't anyone inside the organization that could or would fill the empty seat in the No. 8 car, at least not like Junior has.

The sirens' call that led Budweiser away from unlimited hydroplane racing and drag racing and all the other places it had spread its dollars may soon be ending. And while it is a long shot, there could still be hope that maybe -- just maybe -- Budweiser might consider dropping some money back into our sport.

Plenty of people decried the dominance that the Big Red One used to have in the sport. But I'd have to think a virtual lack of major sponsors would be an even more difficult situation. And at this point, we could use the legitimacy of another national sponsor.

By its actions, unlimited hydroplane racing has gotten a little more affordable since Little's death and the closure of the Bud shops. Teams are making do with less by necessity. It's a better environment for the return of Budweiser, and countless other sponsors that have fled the sport in the past two decades.

So I might be way off- base here, but let's just close our eyes and use our imaginations for a minute here. Competition in the sport is at its finest right now. A major problem we had before was the disparity between Budweiser's dollars and the lack of money inside other organizations. Any growth from here would have to be restricted by the American Boat Racing Association to control the difference between the haves and have-nots.

Perhaps Budweiser comes back in with a reasonable dollar figure and finances one team. As long as growth stays even between different teams, that might just be proof positive to other sponsors that the sport is still viable. And if more sponsors enter the sport, then the sport benefits.

So do you see what I mean? Dale Earnhardt, Jr. could very well be the best thing that ever happened to us.

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