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Start the printing presses, the ones ensconced in the U.S. mint.  The question is, will they be able to keep up with all the money that's about to be made?

Now that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has a new car number, new sponsors, and new colors, along with the previously announced new car owner, his divorce from DEI, Inc. is complete.  At least it will be at the end of the current Nextel Cup season.  And everyone associated with Junior and NASCAR, with the exception of DEI owner Teresa Earnhardt, will be richer for it.

Thanks to the tenacity of Junior's sister and legal counsel, Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, and the graciousness of car owner Robert Yates, Earnhardt will drive the 88-car next season.  The car's primary sponsor will be PepsiCo's Mountain Dew Amp energy drink, with the Army National Guard filling a secondary role.  The new green and blue color scheme will supersede the all-red Budweiser car Junior has been wheeling around the track since he first entered Nextel Cup racing in 2000.       

Earnhardt is the most popular driver in NASCAR, as voted by the fans for the past four years.  And although the relationship between Earnhardt and his current sponsor, Budweiser, has been extolled as a marriage made in sponsorship heaven, it's difficult to gauge the impact Junior has had on the sale of the company's products.  Budweiser was the leading beer brand prior to sponsoring Junior's ride, and is expected to remain so even after switching its sponsorship to Kasey Kahne next year. 

There's no doubt that Earnhardt can deliver brand exposure.  According to data compiled by Image Impact, producers of The Brand Impact Report, Junior delivered the most brand exposure of any NASCAR driver during the 26 races leading up to the Chase for the Nextel Cup, news that was not lost on PepsiCo.

According to trade publication Beverage Digest, sales of Amp make up approximately five percent of the rapidly growing $5 billion-per-year energy drink market.  In terms of dollars spent, BevNet, a privately owned beverage-oriented media company, ranks Amp as the sixth best selling energy drink in 2006, far behind such brands as Red Bull, Monster and Rockstar.  But therein lays the potential benefit of the sponsorship arrangement with Junior:  There's no place to go but up. 

The new sponsors are an indication of the maturation of Earnhardt as a person and a pitchman.  Coupled with his recent personal services contracts with Sony and Adidas, the new deals give Earnhardt broader appeal to the masses, especially the younger age group.  Can a 32-year-old stock car jockey relate to the Pepsi Generation?  Don't bet against it.  Junior has been called a natural - genuine and authentic - something that young people can identify with.  He was a Mountain Dew drinker even before PepsiCo stepped up to the plate as the primary sponsor of his new ride.

While the affect Junior will have on sales of Amp Energy drink may be in doubt, the impact on the sale of Earnhardt related merchandise isn't.  Junior is responsible for fully one-third of the merchandise sales in NASCAR.  With the new car number, sponsors, and colors next year, new and old fans alike will be queuing up in droves to purchase all manner of Earnhardt souvenirs. 

Earnhardt's new sponsors are also a potential boon to NASCAR.  The bloom is off the rose after NASCAR's meteoric rise to the top of the sports popularity charts.  TV ratings are down for the second year in a row.  And according to Nielsen Sports Marketing, an arm of the television rating service, only 3 percent of NASCAR's audience is between the ages of 12 and 17.  Combining Earnhardt's popularity with PepsiCo's marketing genius should do nothing but increase those numbers.

So all the pieces are in place for multiple folks to rake in wads of money.  And if I didn't say anything about winning races and championships, it was intentional.  This isn't about winning on the track, but off.  In that regard, virtually everyone, it seems, hit the lottery.