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The questions about who Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s sponsor will be, plus which car number will he have, are fun things to speculate about.  A tantalizing bit of info recently came from Darrell Waltrip, who given his close relationship with Dale Jr. probably already knows but isn't letting on... at least not directly...

Based on DW's hints, here are a few possibilities I'll throw out there:

Monster Energy Drink.  Already working with Dale Jr. in that they sponsor Jeremy McGrath in a JR Motorsports car that occasionally runs in the Late Model series.

U.S. Navy.  Bit of a stretch, since all DW said was "it'll probably be something you could drink" along with "and it won't be in a red can."  However, in theory you could drink a tiny bit of sea water.  Smaller Navy ships are referred to as cans, if I remember correctly (Marc, help me out here!).  And the Navy already has a relationship with Dale Jr. from their Busch sponsorship.

NesQuik.  The dumbest thing Nestles ever did in this country was ending their sponsorship of the #10 in the Busch series a few years ago.  Didn't matter who was driving it or how it was doing.  The moment a kid saw that souvenir trailer at a track, Mom and/or Dad knew they'd be reaching for some cash or a credit card in the next few minutes.  Dale Jr. in a car with the NesQuik bunny on it?  Living proof that a milk cow can also be a cash cow when you toss a little cocoa into the mix.

Folgers or variation thereof, including Starbucks.  A coffee company sponsoring Dale Jr.  Just imagine the "wake up with Dale Jr." ad campaign.  And the accompanying several million hyperventilating ladies imaging the same thing... sort of.

Pepsi.  I know they're tight with Jeff Gordon.  However, that wouldn't necessarily stop them from going to a full-time sponsorship for someone else.  They could run Dale Jr. and Jeff ads similar to what NAPA used to do with Dale Jr. and Michael Waltrip.  And what company could resist having Dale Jr. as a spokesperson?  Immediate money in the cash register time.  As a side note to this, Steve over at the On Pit Road radio program (which has yet to have me as a guest -- what's up with that?!!) makes an interesting case for Mountain Dew being the sponsor.  As a side note to the side note, said beverage is a Pepsi product.

Kickapoo Joy Juice.  If you recognize the name, you just confessed your age... as I have (sigh).