Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s business ventures have extended well beyond the racetrack over the years. However, one of his commercial partnerships nearly derailed NASCAR's plans for a league-wide sponsorship agreement, potentially costing a huge commercial sum.

On the Business of Motorsports podcast, Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Mike Davis reflected on a business conflict from 2007 regarding a partnership with Adidas that created significant friction with NASCAR.

At the time, they were unaware that NASCAR was simultaneously in the middle of negotiating a league-wide deal with a direct competitor of Adidas. 

“We were working on a deal with Adidas, and a lot of people will remember that for Dale Jr. and our company, not knowing that the sport was working on something with a competitor that would encompass all of the drivers and whatnot.

We were kind of going on our own to do something, and I didn't read between the facial expressions or something from a meeting and got caught out about it later.”

Continuing in the podcast, Kelley did not identify the competing brand or disclose the financial terms involved, but her comments suggest NASCAR's planned series-wide partnership ultimately fell through after Dale Jr.'s independent Adidas agreement was reached, as she said, “It killed their deal. I don't know what was in it for us. I really don't. But it killed their deal."

Kelley did not name the rival brand, but many reports at the time suggest that the competitor brand could have been Nike. In 2007, Nike, through its Starter brand, was actively trying to establish a major NASCAR apparel presence. It worked with Joe Gibbs Racing and wanted to pursue broader rights.

Ultimately, in mid-2007, Adidas had announced signing a multi-year deal with Dale Jr., as part of which his racing suit, driving shoes, and off-track apparel would be made by the European sports goods maker. 

Earnhardt’s racing gear with Adidas debuted in the 2008 season opener at Daytona, which was also accompanied by the news of his switching to Hendrick Motorsports from Dale Earnhardt Inc. 

The origin behind Dirty Mo Media

In another episode of the Business of Motorsports podcast, Mike Davis and Kelley Earnhardt reflected on how Dirty Mo Media, admitting that early projects were technically unpolished and lacked production value.

However, it became a hallmark of their early success because fans prioritized relatability and a raw, honest connection with Dale Jr. 

“I don't recall how it came about, but I do remember there being an opportunity for all of us to sort of chew on, and that was whether Dale Jr. would go do another show, like fire that thing back up and do it in a much bigger way. The economy was also tanking at the time, and nobody had any money to do anything," said Davis. 

"We weren't going to go do anything without money, but it did sew the seeds of content generation and our responsibility to tell the Junior Motorsports story well. I would start some; I can't even watch JM 360s because they're so hard to watch for me.”

He added, “We didn’t even know how to white balance. Our production team would really be upset with the production.”

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Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason