[vincesanity82]

The admittedly shy, too-small for football in high school Dale Earnhardt Jr. took another step toward raising his stature on Friday, announcing his second deal with a major international corporation.

Earnhardt announced a partnership with sports apparel maker adidas and his self-owned JR Motorsports team that fields cars in NASCAR's Busch Series and the Hooters Pro Cup Series.


Earnhardt last month sealed a deal with entertainment giant Sony and will continue his personal services contract with current Nextel Cup sponsor Budweiser through the duration of the contract at the end of 2008.


There has been much speculation that Budweiser will not move to Hendrick Motorsports with Earnhardt as his car sponsor next season. On Friday, he said there was nothing to report in that regard and didn't see any possible future conflicts with the brand -- but there is no shortage of companies willing to do business with NASCAR's most popular driver.


Thanks to his appeal and his marketability, Earnhardt's endorsement income alone is reported to exceed $20 million a year and the wave shows no sign of cresting.
"I never thought about, I never had that kind of vision as far as what I was going to do with my career," Earnhardt said. "I didn't know if driving would be able to accomplish things that it accomplishes for me.


"I akin this to a wave, if you're a surfer and you're looking for a good wave, you ride it while it's there and you enjoy it and make the best of it," he added.
"I've been in fortunate situations all my life. I've had some hardships, but for the most part I'm in very fortunate situations throughout my career. Every little notch we keep moving up. I'm very thankful for that."
Earnhardt said he has been an adidas fan for most of his life and wore the company's product while playing one year of soccer in high school in Mooresville, N.C.
"In high school, I was only 4-foot-8, 4-foot-9, maybe, when I was a freshman," he said.


"The dean was showing us around, we were driving down the road and I see the football players practicing and he said 'you like sports,' I said 'yeah, I want to play football' and he looked at the passenger seat and said 'I'll take you down here a little ways and introduce you to the soccer coach.'
"I thought I was going to be short forever."
Now at 6-feet tall, height is not a literal issue and certainly not a figurative issue as far as stature among people who sign checks.


Speaking of that, an adidas spokesman would not elaborate on the details or length of the contract other than to say it was long term. It centers around adidas developing footwear, apparel and accessories including Earnhardt's future driving suit and race gear for his JR Motorsports team.


Earnhardt joins NFL star Reggie Bush and international soccer star David Beckham as adidas clients. The company said it will debut the Earnhardt line for consumers next February around the Daytona 500.


Earnhardt inks deal with adidas | floridatoday.com | Serving Brevard County and Florida’s Space Coast

[McMurray26]

Air Earnhardt...

[Pepsi One]

Originally Posted by McMurray26

Air Earnhardt...

Im suprised a shoe market hasn't entered Nascar already, At least not that I know of, Nascar is an untapped market for shoe endorsments! Nike anybody!