Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Kasey Kahne

AWARENESS

Percentage of respondents who are aware of the sports celebrity by name or face.

• RANK | SCORE
• 1. Jeff Gordon | 51.1
• 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 50.2
• 10. Kyle Busch | 21.5
• 11. Kasey Kahne | 18.9

Earnhardt's score puts him on par with former baseball player Willie Mays, actress Elizabeth Hurley and comedians George Carlin and Dana Carvey.

Kahne's score puts him in a group with golfer John Daly, New York Giant Jeremy Shockey and Olympic snowboarder Shaun White.

APPEAL

Measures celebrity's likeability.

• RANK | SCORE
• 1. Carl Edwards 79.4
• 2. Kasey Kahne 77.9
• 15. Reed Sorenson 73.6
• 17. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 73.3

Kahne's score mirrors that of comedian Chevy Chase, actor Ben Stiller and actress Mary Tyler Moore.

Earnhardt's score mirrors that of actor Kelsey Grammar, New York Giant Michael Strahan and actress Heather Locklear.

TRENDSETTER

Reflects the respondents’ opinion as to the celebrity’s position in regards to trends in society.

• 1. Kasey Kahne | 74.5
• 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 72.5

Kahne's score matches that of former NBA player Michael Jordan, actor Leonardo DiCaprio and actress Drew Barrymore.

Earnhardt's score matches that of singer Shania Twain, comedian/actor Robin Williams and actress Nicole Kidman.

TRUST

Indicates level of trust respondents place in celebrity's words and image.

• 1. Carl Edwards | 74.8
• 4. Kasey Kahne | 72.3
• 12. Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 69.1
• 12. Kyle Petty | 69.1
• 12. Kevin Harvick | 69.1

Kahne's score mirrors that of former golfer Arnold Palmer, golfer Tiger Woods, actor director Ron Howard and former baseball player Tony Gwynn.

Earnhardt's score mirrors that of comedian/actor Adam Sandler, New England Patriot Tom Brady and singer Shakira.

INFLUENCE

Measures the degree to which respondents believe the celebrity is an influence in today's world.

• 1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 75.6
• 2. Kasey Kahne | 75.5

Both drivers' scores put them in a group with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (below), skateboarder Tony Hawk and comedian Bill Cosby.

DOVER, Del. -- Her fingernails red and white, Sue Wormald felt blue.

BUDWEISER 8 decorates her digits and honors Dale Earnhardt Jr., but Wormald worries about next season when her favorite driver changes sponsors.

"I'm not so crazy about putting Mountain Dew on my fingernails," the New Hampshire resident said.

Too many letters.

Whether it's a paint scheme, sponsor or even fingernail polish, Earnhardt fans will have to adjust to their driver promoting Mountain Dew's AMP Energy drink next season instead of Budweiser. Just as jarring could be Kasey Kahne as Bud's new pitchman.

AMP and Budweiser's big challenge is refining the image of their new drivers. Can Earnhardt, seemingly a natural fit for the Budweiser crowd, coax people to buy an energy drink? Will beer drinkers take Kahne seriously?

Both sponsors will spend millions of dollars to answer those questions. AMP is trying to grab a greater share of the energy drink market. Budweiser wants to maintain its popularity with a lower-profile driver.

Kahne faces the more difficult challenge. His fan base can't match Junior Nation. Some fans at Dover International Speedway for today's NASCAR Nextel Cup race even question Kahne as Budweiser's next driver.

"I don't really like the idea of Kasey selling the beer," said 49-year-old Cathy Lambert of Marlboro, Mass. "I realize that he's of legal age to drink, but he's a fresh-faced kid."

One who soon will be promoting beer.

High expectations

PepsiCo officials expect Earnhardt to raise AMP's status. It ranks sixth among energy drinks with 3.6 percent of the market share, according to Information Resources Inc.

Top-ranked Red Bull owns 41.5 percent share of an energy drink market that saw nearly 200 new drinks debut last year in the U.S, according to the Mintel Global Products Database.

Earnhardt's success next season won't be measured in race wins but in cases sold.

"We'll look at it literally on sales," said Dawn Hudson, president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America, on how the company will grade its multi-million dollar deal to sponsor Earnhardt.

"It's one thing to create a partnership with Dale Earnhardt Jr., but it's our job to make sure that partnership means something to the AMP drinker and the Mountain Dew drinker. We've got to make sure we have promotions that make them want to buy more of our products."

Earnhardt can deliver. He rates high on the Davie-Brown Index, which measures a celebrity's ability to influence brand affinity and consumer purchase. Earnhardt ranks as effective a pitchman as actors George Clooney and Jennifer Aniston.

Earnhardt's impact was felt shortly after he announced Wednesday that AMP and the National Guard would be his sponsors next year. D.J. Hughes of Milton, Del., saw the energy drink in a store later that day and bought a can.

"I'll buy more," the 31-year-old Earnhardt fan said. "I'm not going to buy cases just because of it, but I'll buy more than I would if he wasn't driving for them."

Who is this guy?

NASCAR fans know Kasey Kahne, but his notoriety is limited outside of the sport. More people recognize Michael Waltrip, Kyle Petty and Kyle Busch than Kahne, according to the Davie-Brown Index.

Steve Lauletta, president of Chip Ganassi Racing and a former Miller Brewing Co. sports marketing executive, said Budweiser has a challenge going from Earnhardt to Kahne.

The biggest issue could come with beer distributors. Budweiser will have to inspire them with Kahne and get them to display Kahne's cardboard cutouts, inflatable cars and other signs at bars and stores like they did for Earnhardt.

Kahne knows he has a lot of work ahead of him to help Budweiser maintain its place as among the nation's best selling beers -- something Earnhardt and his fan base helped reach.

"You can't compare me to Dale Jr.," Kahne said. "You can't compare anybody to Dale Jr. That guy is in a league of his own."

Budweiser won't. The beer company will try to distance itself from Earnhardt.

"Will [Kahne] be the typical Bud guy from decades before? No," said Tim Schoen, vice-president, sports and entertainment marketing for Anheuser-Busch. "He's going to be the new Bud guy. So, I think we're going to see new marketing initiatives ... slightly different than what you've seen in years past."

Gotta win

Both Earnhardt and Kahne come into these new deals off disappointing runs. Earnhardt is mired in a career-long 53-race winless streak. Kahne ranks 22nd in the driver standings. Both failed to make the expanded Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Losing the sport's most popular driver in Earnhardt could be a downer for Budweiser. Trading him for Kahne, who has five top-10 finishes in 27 races this season, might not thrill everyone -- at least until his performance improves.

"[Budweiser] could get over a lot of on-track issues and lack of performance because it was Junior," Lauletta said. "Now they really need to look at it as a total package that even though Kasey Kahne is a really strong personality in the sport, it's going to have to be matched up with that on-track performance in order to really be a success."

Earnhardt faces similar issues with his new ride at Hendrick Motorsports. Should Earnhardt succeed and his popularity grow, he'll make it tough on other teams and sponsors.

"Let's put it this way," said Geoff Smith, president of Roush Fenway Racing, "if he has a bigger reach popularity-wise that's complimented by improved performance, we're going to see the same economic phenomenon that was the way his dad worked, which was every sponsor made a call over to Dale Earnhardt Sr. to see what was available before they moved anywhere else."