Autoblog

Click image to enlarge

The U.S. Navy and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are partnering on a national recruiting program that'll officially kick off when Junior pilots the above #83 car in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on May 24. On that very same day, prospective sailors will also be able to visit their local recruiting stations and sign up to be a part of the new "Dale Jr. Division" being formed at the Navy's Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, IL. We are not making any of this up.

This new boot camp division is limited to 88 slots, a nod to the number worn by Dale Jr.'s NASCAR Sprint Cup ride. The Navy will support the new recruiting effort with a full media offensive, and Earnhardt Jr. will be on hand to christen his namesake division when its recruits report in August. Junior will also make a return trip to visit the group when it completes the basic training course. We eagerly await the logical next step in this high-profile partnership with Dale Jr. -- a Navy announcement that funding for a high-banked oval at Great Lakes has been approved.

[Source: Navy NewsStand]

Joining the endless ranks of officially-licensed Barbie dolls (tie-ins have ranged from Harley-Davidson to the X-Files and literally everything in-between) are a pair of new plastic fantastic NASCAR fangirls-- Jeff Gordon Barbie and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Barbie.
The Jeff Gordon NASCAR Barbie sports a #24 t-shirt, a DuPont jacket, jeans and cowboy boots, while the Dale Jr. Barbie rocks a #8-logoed minidress, a read headband, red go-go boots and a Dale Jr. flag for her to wave from the imaginary grandstand. You'll be fascinated to learn that both dolls use the Model/Muse body sculpt. Too much information? Clearly, but it's the kind of thing that will likely remain in your "useless information I can't forget" memory banks until the reaper calls your name.

Adding the dolls to your permanent collection will run you a somewhat ridiculous $34.95 a pop. Hey, Mattel's got to recoup that (undoubtedly) sizeable licensing fee they paid NASCAR, right? Call us when a Richard Petty edition comes out, and maybe we'll talk.

[Source: Mattel via The Car Connection]

The only Bud connection other than the closing logo shot in the commercial is that the beer is the primary sponsor of driver #8's Monte Carlo. No matter, we love this spot that sees Dale Jr. blast across the country in his vintage 'Vette to give his girlfriend back the lipstick she left in his ride. Thing's aren't as they seem, however, and things get awkward for Jr...

Watch and enjoy after the jump.

[Source: YouTube]

GM will certainly be making its presence felt at SEMA this year, arriving with 27 vehicles in tow. Naturally, the new Silverado is going to be well-represented, with a monster off-road concept done in conjunction with Dale Jr., an OCC-themed lowrider, and best of all, a Silverado 427 concept with the Z06's LS7 V8 underhood. They're joined by a bevy of tricked-out GMC Sierras, making for one big happy pickup truck family.

If trucks aren't your thing, not to worry. Look for performance goodness like a '69 Camaro by Reggie Jackson, a facelifted Solstice GXP called the GXP-R, and a Saturn Sky by Gravana. Many Lucernes will be present, headlined by the Lucerne CXX Luxury Liner concept, and even the new Saturn Outlook will be there sporting an "Adventure" package.

And there's much more, like an E85 HUMMER H3 and a canvas-topped H3 as well. Naturally, Caddy will represent with an Escalade and an SRX, and GM is playing coy with the details surrounding a celeb-sponsored high-performance car. There's plenty to go around, no matter what kind of vehicle interests you have, and the General will be showing off its latest bunch of factory accessories to boot. Fun will be had by all. Read about the GM SEMA roster in more detail in the attached press release, and for now, whet your whistle with the three Silverado sketches GM's released so far.

(Press release, photos after the jump)

[Source: GM]

After selling his very sweet MINI Mania-suped MINI Cooper S to the highest bidder for $33,800.00, Dale Jr. is in the process of unloading another of his magnificent stable inhabitants, a 2005 Corvette C6 with paint work of cherry red and flames and only 2,096 miles on the odometer. As a side note, he might want to start thinking about another venue besides eBay... the aftermarket upgrades alone probably cost close to the bidding price, minus the actual car. At any rate, the bidding is up close to $70K and Jr. has even offered to sign the hood, so pony up the cash (and save some to redo the paint if fire isn't your thing).

"Looking to upgrade his car collection," hmm? We're furiously scanning the tabloids for more information on the reason for Dale's fire sale, we'll keep you posted.

[Source: eBay]