NASCAR Fans Show Their Loyalty Proudly — Especially For Junior

You’ve seen him before — that unsightly looking fellow with favorite beverages in both hands, stumbling and staggering to his seat for the NASCAR Nextel Cup race. His white cotton T-shirt, robbed of all elasticity as it unsuccessfully attempts to hide the beer gut below, screams what driver he’s pulling for.
This garment usually carries gaudy and tacky printing, with a name, number, car, signature and whatever else can be squeezed onto the front and/or back.
“We have what we call loud and proud T-shirts,” said Jenny Schafer, a representative with Motorsports Authentics, the leader in NASCAR merchandise that manages 60 of the souvenir trailers stationed at every race track.
The NASCAR nation is loud. It’s proud, too. And it’s a gold mine for merchandise sellers that take up shop outside the race track.
It’s a farmer’s market of sorts, but instead of vegetables and woven baskets, vendors sell NASCAR merchandise. From T-shirts and sweatshirts to decals and diecasts, with a ball cap in between, fans make their way through rows of trailers, picking and choosing exactly what they want.
John Lison, of Cape Coral, Fla., spent an afternoon earlier this season at Darlington Raceway shopping for himself in the hot South Carolina sun. He had his eye on the latest gear from Hendrick Motorsports drivers.
“Whatever you want is here,” Lison said. “(My family) can spend a whole day just looking at what’s out there. I don’t like the crowds, though.”
Souvenir City, as it’s commonly known, consists of rows of merchandise trailers tightly packed together each weekend at the race track. Each driver and team is represented —from Haas CNC Racing’s Johnny Sauter to the king of all merchandise, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Each trailer is easily identifiable by the same colors and logos a driver’s race car carries. Want a Martin Truex, Jr. fishing hat? Look for the Bass Pro Shops booth. Want a Kasey Kahne Dodge Dealers golf shirt? Look for the red No. 9. Want a trendy button-down that backs newcomer Juan Pablo Montoya? It’s there, too.
“A lot of the clothing lines are geared toward the hard-core race fan,” Schafer said.
A trailer’s position in Souvenir City is determined by sales, and it all starts with Earnhardt.
Earnhardt, of course, is NASCAR’s most popular driver. The former Daytona 500 champion and longtime driver for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. announced in May he’ll be leaving his late father’s company next season for Hendrick Motorsports.
He has five souvenir trailers at the track, and there’s another that carries the likeness of Junior and his dad. Nearly everyone else has only one. Earnhardt’s souvenir sales rocketed 107 percent in the first week since the announcement but have leveled off since.
“I knew people were going to collect. I knew they were going to want a piece of his legacy,” said Chris Williams, director of trackside sales for Motorsports Authentics.
“His daddy wanted Dale, Jr. to win a championship at DEI, and people want a memento from that part of his career. Now, if he should start winning races and get into championship contention this season, his sales are going to be like nothing we’ve ever seen before.”
Earnhardt makes up 30 percent of the market, with Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart ranking second and third in sales. Motorsports Authentics can never put an Earnhardt trailer across from Stewart or Gordon because shoppers would clog the lane.
“(Fans) park in the same locations, walk into the track through the same entrances, follow the same routine,” Williams said. “Since the market shows a high percentage want to buy Junior’s merchandise, you hit all the high-profile areas with his trailers. The places that draw the most volume, interest and sales is where you put two or three of his trailers.”
Indeed, Earnhardt’s Red Army is getting gear while it can.
“It all has sentimental value now,” said Lee Madison of Asheville, N.C. “He’s part of history. The red Budweiser 8, get it while you can.”
The merchandise presentation is a pick-and-choose structure. There is clothing tightly wrapped around square boards one after the other, but well-dressed mannequins make appearances, showing the fan how an item might fit and feel. Instead of merchandise stacked on the sides of the truck, everything is in plain view for everyone to see. And instead of gear partial to only the driver, there is team and sponsor merchandise as well.
Based on the research of tons of data, Motorsports Authentics presents a product line to teams, and based on their wants, needs and specifications, MA produces all of it. Already, Motorsports Authentics is toying with the 2008 line.
Everything from a $3 novelty item to a $20 T-shirt to an $85 diecast model — a true collector’s target —is in the planning and design stages.
“It’s a huge undertaking,” Shafer said of preparing for 2008. “We have lines for men and women, a bunch of hats and all of the little things that go with it.”
There are independent vendors, too. They can be found in white tents and trailers, getting as close as they can without being on speedway property.
But it’s Souvenir City where the debit cards take a beating.
“If you want it, you have to buy it,” Lison said.