Anheuser-Busch races to stores with NASCAR graphics on cans and bottles

Through November, Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, is offering a metallic red aluminum bottle and a 12-oz aluminum can for Budweiser—the official beer of NASCAR racing—with the winning, “racy” graphics of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., his No. 8 car and logo, checkered-flag silhouettes and his signature. Wrapped in a red color scheme, the bottle has been available since July in a four-pack carrier and a 15-pack loose box. While Dale Jr.'s image has appeared on Bud's plastic and shrink-wrapped bottles and 16-oz cans before, the move to Budweiser's primary packaging and the aluminum bottle, from Exal Corp. (www.exal.com), will be a first for the driver. The cans are provided by one of A-B's own companies, Metal Container Corp . (314/957-9500).

“I love the new aluminum bottles. It makes a cold Bud seem even colder,” Earnhardt says. “To have the number eight on them is pretty cool, and it's always humbling to see my name on the Bud packaging. Right now, we're focused completely on making this year's Chase for the Cup, and I hope the special packaging will help excite the fans for our race for the championship.”

Dale Jr.'s image, car and red No. 8 will grace the main panel of the 12-oz Budweiser cans and will be distributed only in race markets within 30 days of the final 16 races of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season. The program began on July 10 in Indianapolis in advance of the Allstate 400 on Aug. 6. “Budweiser and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are enjoying tremendous success this season on and off the track, and incorporating the Budweiser No. 8 car and Dale Jr. into our packaging program is a tremendous way to honor that success,” says Randall Blackford, director of Budweiser marketing, Anheuser-Busch.