Rumors are it's No. 88 for Dale Jr.

[rchaze60]

 
Associated Press, Updated 5 hours ago                           
 
LOUDON, N.H. (AP) - Dale Earnhardt Jr. will unveil his new look next week, when his 2008 car number and sponsor are announced in Dallas.

The Charlotte Observer reported Friday that Earnhardt will drive the No. 88 next season ? the same number he uses for the Busch Series car he owns ? but Junior dismissed it.
"It would be cool," he said. "But Robert Yates owns that number and it would be difficult for us to get."

It's been widely speculated that his sponsor will be a product of PepsiCo Inc., with Mountain Dew and the Amp energy drink the leading candidates. Team owner Rick Hendrick has said Earnhardt's new number will include an 8, but nothing more.

Earnhardt wasn't giving any hints on Friday.

"I've done about as good as I can do about narrowing it down," he said. "It's going to be a lot of fun to really see the reaction of the fans and I hope that they really enjoy what we're going to do. We've been having a lot of fun with design and with the approach and sort of forming what our identity is going to be on the race track and off the race track.

"It's going to be lots and lots of work."

Hendrick has applied for trademarks on the Nos. 38, 81, 82, 28 and 51.

Meanwhile, Earnhardt has extended his deal with Wrangler.

Wrangler first aligned itself with the late Dale Earnhardt in the 1980s as the primary sponsor of his blue and yellow "Wrangler Jean Machine" and Junior picked up an endorsement deal with the apparel company in 2004.

"When a company like Wrangler acknowledges relationships and history, it really means something," Earnhardt said. "That's why they continue to be a really special sponsor for us."

NASCAR's most popular driver has picked up two new deals for 2008, with Sony and Adidas.

Budweiser, his longtime partner, is not going with him to Hendrick Motorosports and is expected to sign with Kasey Kahne and the No. 9 Dodge. Earnhardt is also leaving his beloved No. 8 at DEI.

LEAD ERASED:In a pre-2004 world, Jeff Gordon would be heading into Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup race at New Hampshire International Speedway with a 312-point lead over runner-up Tony Stewart.

But, since the Chase for the championship came into existence four years ago, whatever margin the series leader has built is nothing but an afterthought once the first 26 races are in the books.

Before this year, NASCAR reset the points for the top 10 drivers in the Chase, putting them in order of their "regular season" finish, each separated by five points. A year ago, it was Matt Kenseth with a five-point lead over eventual champion Jimmie Johnson and in front of 10th-place Kasey Kahne by 50 points going into the Sylvania 300.

A couple of tweaks in the Chase format this year added two more drivers to the championship lineup and cost Gordon the lead going into the stock car playoff. Each victory this season was worth a 10-point bonus that was used in seeding the title contenders.

Johnson, who wound up the first segment of this season fourth, 410 points behind Gordon, finished with two straight wins, totaling six for the year. Gordon, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and a four-time champion, won four times.

Therefore, Johnson leads Gordon by 20 points and begins the Chase 60 points ahead of 12th-place Clint Bowyer, still winless in his Cup career. Stewart, with three wins, is third, 30 points behind Johnson.

"We knew going what the rules were," Gordon said Friday. "I kind of accepted the fact that it could happen. Jimmie and those guys did a great job, winning the last two, and now we just have to go out and make up what we lost."

Right now, the driver who is out front after 26 races gets no reward for accomplishing that feat.

"There's one champion, that's at the end of the year," Gordon said. "I do believe there could be some type of incentive or bonus or reward that could be given to the regular season leader, if that's what you want to call it, in the points. But, right now, we just have to accept what it is and go out there and race."

THIS BUD'S FOR YOU: With Kahne poised to land Budweiser as his new sponsor, Dodge Dealers will be leaving the hood of the No. 9 car.

Mike Accavitti, director of Dodge's brand marketing, said the automaker will use the opportunity to increase its assistance to all of its teams. The Dodge logo has been on the No. 9 and No. 19 hoods since 2001, and Gillett Evernham Motorsports will announce a new sponsor on Tuesday.

"When Dodge made its return to NASCAR ... a key component of the program was the sponsorship of the 9 and 19 by our Dodge Dealers," Accavitti said. "That partnership with Evernham Motorsports has produced significant on-track results and has been a viable platform for our dealer group to showcase the Dodge DNA of power and performance."

But the growth of the Dodge program - there are 10 full-time teams using the Avenger and Charger this season - means Accavatti can now take the leftover sponsorship dollars from the No. 9 and apply it to the entire brand.
 
   
 
"Additional sponsorship support of the No. 9 ... in 2008 gives Dodge the opportunity to redirect valuable resources toward the challenges facing all our teams," he said. "This does not change our commitment to be the manufacturing leader in NASCAR's premier series, win races and consistently contend for the Nextel Cup.

"We now have the opportunity to apply additional resources to areas that can directly impact the on-track performance of all our teams and expand marketing opportunities for our dealers."

Budweiser has been with Earnhardt Jr. since 1999, but is not going to Hendrick Motorsports with him next season.

HE SAID IT: "Hopefully, and I said it last year, we were laying a down payment on the championship. Now it's time to get some equity back." - Jeff Burton on his chances of winning his first Cup title in this year's Chase for the championship.

[Realtree]

Dale Jr has a huge following, that is for sure RC ! There are thousands, maybe even millions of folks hanging on every word about Jr and what his team/sponsors/number will look like next year. I believe that 2008 is gonna be a major point in Dale Jr's career and in his fan following. We will now see just how talented (or untalented as the haters are hoping to prove) Dale Jr really is as a race car driver in his own rights, out from under the shadow of his father and the company he founded.