The darker side to Dale Earnhardt Jr’s Budweiser commercial

The Budweiser One Last Ride commercial was released today

The Budweiser One Last Ride commercial aired for the first time today. It’s in honor of Dale Earnhardt Jr’s final race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Watch the video below.

Budweiser nailed this one. It’s takes you back, all the way back. If you’ve been a NASCAR fan for any length of time, the moments in the video will give you chills.

The video features scene from the days when Dale Earnhardt Jr drove for Dale Earnhardt Inc. However, when Dale Earnhardt Sr died on February 18, 2001 the company was handed over to the widow.

Dale Earnhardt Jr’s stepmom became the owner. In 2008, Dale Earnhardt Jr left the company his father start to drive for Hendrick Motorsports. DEI closed it’s doors in 2009.

Budweiser Dale Earnhardt Jr - One Last Ride Commercial
Budweiser Dale Earnhardt Jr – One Last Ride Commercial

No DEI / No #8

There’s a darker side to this to this video. Not just the obvious chilling moments.  If you look closely, Budweiser went out of their way to avoid using the trademarks of both DEI and the #8. Those trademarks are owned by a certain someone.

A certain someone that obviously had no intention of helping in the making of Dale Earnhardt Jr’s One Last Ride video.

They did a good job. As you can tell, the angles used on the car never show the number. Then, the #8 that was typically shown on the front headlight, is purposely missing.

The actual video highlights, do show the side of the car. However, in regards to several scenes, the number is blurred. As shown below:

Blurred out #8 in Budweiser commercial
Blurred out #8 in Budweiser commercial

Bitter, until the very end. Budweiser could have canned the whole idea. Instead, someone or likely a team of people went through an incredible amount of trouble just to please one individual.

For that, I say thank you to Budweiser as I’m on my way out the door to pick up a 12 pack.

In no way do the edits tarnish the video. In an uncertain way, it actually makes this video more special to me. The required edit produces a deeper personal tribute.

Dale Earnhardt Jr will start his last race as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver on Sunday. It’s the final race for the 2017 NASCAR season. It takes place at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Related: How will the DEI throwback go over with Teresa Earnhardt?

Related: Teresa Earnhardt vs Kerry Earnhardt (court audio)

Dale Earnhardt Jr – Budweiser
One Last Ride Commercial

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Dale Earnhardt Jr | Budweiser | DEI | NASCAR

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