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Home > BizTimes Daily > Archives > February 13, 2007
Bud sidesteps Miller's NASCAR challenge
Published February 13, 2007 - BizTimes Daily
When pressed by SBT to respond to Miller Brewing Co.'s recent NASCAR challenge, Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. today sidestepped the issue and deferred to its racecar driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Milwaukee-based Miller announced last Friday that it had sent a letter to Anheuser-Busch president and chief executive officer August Busch IV, attempting to raise the ante in the long-standing "battle of the beer cars."
If Earnhardt finished higher than Miller Lite driver Kurt Busch in the point standings for the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup, Miller offered to change the name of Miller Park in Milwaukee to Busch Stadium for a weekend series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers in 2008.
In return, Miller asked that if its driver finished ahead of Earnhardt, then Anheuser Busch would agree to change the name of its stadium to Miller Park for a weekend.
Anheuser-Busch had not responded to the challenge. That is, until this morning, when a company spokesman sent the following response in an e-mail to SBT: "When it comes to these types of things, we like to let our driver do the talking."
The spokesman attached the following statement, which he attributed to Earnhardt: "Racing is my job, not a bet. My only priority is to build on last season's success and win the NEXTEL Cup."
