Unilever Goes from Popular NASCAR Driver Kasey Kahne to Even More Popular Dale Earnhardt Jr

Company Leaving Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM) for JR Motorsports (JRM) in 2009

As of right now, JR Motorsports (JRM), which is owned by NASCAR's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., is like much of the teams in the garage area of the NASCAR Nationwide Series and scrambling to find full time sponsorship. JRM moved a little closer to comfort as they recently announced that Unilever would be sponsoring #5 car for 10 races in the 2009 Nationwide Series. Unilever owns brands such as Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise, Ragu Pasta Sauce, Lipton Tea and Klondike Ice Cream Bars. All will be riding shotgun on the #5 Chevy in 2009. JRM's delight is Gillett Evernham Motorsports (GEM) disgust, as Unilever leaves the team (GEM) after a long-standing relationship (source: nascar.com).

Unilever makes no bones about it. They are making the switch due to the popularity of Dale Earnhardt Jr. After all, Dale Jr. is probably the only driver that is more popular than the young Kasey Kahne. For the past several seasons it was Kasey Kahne that anchored the drivers that shared time with Unilever products on the hood of the #9 GEM Dodge. Unilever's director of integrated marketing Marc Shaw said, "We had a phenomenal partnership with Kasey Kahne and the whole Gillette Evernham team, but to have a chance to get in with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and JR Motorsports to help him build this team was just too good to pass up." It all comes down to what is known as brand loyalty (source: nascar.com). Fans of NASCAR are some of the most passionate fans to be found (for sure) and that translates into hundreds of thousands of fans that will buy products, just because of the driver behind the wheel. The products being acquired all depends on the company riding along on the hood. So it is easy to see why Unilever would opt to go with the more popular Earnhardt.