The NASCAR driver was a proud user of his sponsors product but it got their attention when it was more than any location in the entire state of North Carolina
At the height of Dale Earnhardt Jr’s fame, he drove the No. 8 car, sponsored by Budweiser. Yet, being the face of an entire sport meant that he wasn’t able to partake in his sponsors product without creating a public stir.
So what did he do? What any multi-millionaire would do.
Dale Earnhardt Jr took 300 acres of property in North Carolina and built an old western town. The town had a salon, mail facility, church, bar and even a fully working jail.
‘Whiskey River’ was Dale Earnhardt’s private location to hang with friends and drink lots of Bud Heavy. That’s where the jail kicks in as the rowdy friends would end up sleeping in the jail for the night.
As he told HBO’s Real Sports, “I wanted a place for me and my friends to hang out. And, I didn’t want to destroy my house. We would drink a lot of beer, hang out, have fun and stay up all night.”
A lot of beer is apparently a major understatement. Dale Earnhardt Jr and his friends drank so much beer that they had more delivered to his ranch than any one location in the entire state of North Carolina.
That got the attention of his sponsor, Budweiser…
Related: Dale Earnhardt Jr recalls the ‘most important moment’ with his father
Dale Earnhardt Jr’s race team gets a call from Budweiser
Ty Norris is the former vice-president at Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Norris explained, “I got a call from Tim Schuler from Budweiser one day, and Steve Uihlein, and they were like, ‘Hey, what’s going on over at Jr.’s house?’ “
“And I said, ‘What do you mean?’”
“Well, the local distributor just said, ‘The most beer I deliver to any retailer in the entire state of North Carolina is in Mooresville at Dale Jr.’s house.’ “
“They said ‘Is he selling it?’ “
“And you’re like ‘No, they’re drinking it.’ “
“He goes, ‘How the hell is he drinking so much beer? We’re delivering case after case after case and there’s not a store in the area, in the region, that’s consuming as much beer.’”
Dale Earnhardt Jr clarified the situation at the Ranch.
Dale Jr stated, “I had a lot of help drinking it.”
Related: The car from Juan Pablo Montoya’s famed jet dryer crash sits on Dale Jr’s property
Related: Dale Earnhardt Jr installed dashboard sticker; Bud asked him to remove it, during iconic NASCAR race
