Beer and cigarettes. Food and drugs. Car parts and cellphones.

Race cars have been covered with advertising of all kinds during more than 50 years of NASCAR. But never liquor — until this year.

Associated Press
A member of Dave Blaney's crew works on a Chevrolet bearing the new sponsor of his car, Jack Daniel's.
Associated press
Robby Gordon didn't qualify for the Daytona 500, but he'll be giving Jim Beam sponsorship exposure all season.

The logos of Jack Daniel's and Crown Royal will rocket around Daytona International Speedway at 185 mph Sunday, when the stock car racing season begins with its premier event, the Daytona 500.

Millions of fans will see defending Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch driving the No. 97 Ford, decorated with the colors and logo of Crown Royal Whiskey on the trunk lid. The No. 07 Chevrolet driven by Dave Blaney will be blanketed with Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey logos.

Robby Gordon, who didn't qualify for Sunday's race, will showcase the Jim Beam logo on his No. 7 Chevrolet when he competes later this season.

NASCAR ended its long-standing ban on hard liquor advertising last November to create additional sponsorship revenue. Two teams — Blaney's and Gordon's — signed liquor companies to primary sponsorship deals, which can be worth as much as $15 million to $18 million per year. Busch's team added Crown Royal as a secondary sponsor.

Not everyone agrees that putting liquor decals on race cars is a good idea.

"We've spent 55 years trying to be a family-oriented sport," said Richard Petty, the sport's winningest driver and still considered the king of stock car racing in his retirement years. "And I think bringing liquor ads into NASCAR goes against the family values image we've been trying to project."

NASCAR counters that its new sponsors will convey a message to drink responsibly, using commercials, cars and drivers. Blaney's car, fire suit and helmet bear the phrase: "Pace Yourself, Drink Responsibly." That's also the message Crown Royal is putting in its race-themed commercials: "Pacing is everything, especially when drinking."

George Hacker, alcohol policies project director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, thinks NASCAR's posture is laughable.

"Having the liquor industry promote responsible drinking is like having Ronald McDonald promote healthy eating or Joe Camel promote smoking cessation," he said.

Even MADD isn't angry

The national organization MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) gave NASCAR's decision tacit approval.

"We're not against responsible alcohol advertising," said Misty Moyse of MADD's public policy department. "But what we would like to see are the same responsible marketing and advertising guidelines applied to all alcohol, not just distilled spirits. They would apply to distilled spirits, beer, wine, everybody."

Blaney, in the Jack Daniel's car, says he "seldom" uses his new sponsor's product.

"But I do," he said. "I'm not much of a drinker in the first place, so it's a seldom thing for me. But having a company like that, with the history they've had, it's an honor to be with them the first year in NASCAR."

And many race fans don't see a controversy.

"I have no problem with it," said Mildred Collier of Ormond Beach, Fla., a 30-year NASCAR fan who was wearing a Dale Earnhardt Jr. T-shirt while shopping at a beachside supermarket Thursday. "If you're old enough to buy a ticket, you're old enough to be responsible. What, people think teenagers don't drink? But it doesn't really affect me. Me, I'm a beer girl."

Fans reward sponsors

Since its inception in 1949, NASCAR had not allowed liquor sponsorship on its race cars because it wanted to project a positive image to its Southern grass-roots fan base. It did accept beer, cigarette and chewing tobacco sponsors. This year, Budweiser, Miller Lite and Coors Lite all sponsor cars, along with Victory Brand cigarettes.

Historically, the sport viewed hard liquor negatively, NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said.

Poston said "hard economic times" and the growing difficulty of attracting new multimillion-dollar sponsors led to the change. In recent years, several race teams that could not attract sponsors ceased operation. Others competed in races without decals and logos.

It costs about $15 million to $20 million to field a competitive team for the 36-race NASCAR season, and the ability to attract sponsors is vital to even the best teams.

Primary sponsorship, which gets a company a decal on the hood, rear quarter panel and TV panel (just above the rear bumper), costs $15 million to $18 million per season for a top team, and $6 million to $10 million for a less successful team. Associate sponsors will pay $200,000 for a decal the size of an index card.

Continued sponsorship is motivated by TV visibility during races and sales to a loyal fan base. According to a 2000 study by Performance Research, NASCAR fans choose to buy from race sponsors 71 percent of the time, rather than going to nonsponsors.

The right message

NASCAR sought input from the National Commission Against Drunk Driving and the Distilled Spirits Council of America before making its decision. It decided to allow liquor advertising "as long as their marketing and advertising campaigns were based on responsible behavior," Poston said.

Last year, Smirnoff Ice (considered a malt liquor) sponsored Matt Kenseth's car in the Busch Series. In a commercial, Kenseth reached into his race car to take a six-pack of Smirnoff inside to a party, and his pit crew came out of the bushes to take the wheels off his car. The message: Don't drive when you're drinking. NASCAR expects the same type of commercials from the three new sponsors.

The liquor companies will also take steps to keep products bearing their logos away from children.

Crown Royal will not produce a small diecast car for kids, Poston said, and Jack Daniel's will market its miniature cars only for collectors and not as toys.

T-shirts and jackets for the liquor companies will not be available in sizes smaller than "small adult," and purchasers will have their identification checked to make sure they're not underage.

Pit crew coach walks

That wasn't enough for David Smith, a longtime pit crew coach and manager of the Richard Childress Racing team, which includes Blaney's car. Smith quit his job rather than work for a team that endorsed Jack Daniel's.

"This is because of my testimony for the Lord, my Christian conviction," Smith said.

"I respect David for his opinion; he had the way that he wanted to go," said Childress, the team owner. "I think the message that Jack Daniel's is going to put out is pace yourself, drink responsibly, be responsible."

Guy Smith, executive vice president of external affairs for Diageo, which owns Crown Royal and about 300 brands of liquor, wine and beer, doesn't believe the hard liquor signage will inspire underage drinking.

He cites a 2002 study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, which showed that 65 percent of the alcohol kids get is from people older than 21. Fewer than 1 percent of teens said they drank because of advertising.

"There has been very minimal negative reaction," Smith said. "Most of it has been applause. Numbers of major alcohol policy organizations have endorsed it, and the reason is because they feel who better than a professional driver to give a responsibility message about alcohol."

Smith said critics were being intellectually dishonest. "They say the world's going to end because hard liquor is going to be a sponsor. And yet beer has been a very responsible sponsor of NASCAR for 25 years. Alcohol is alcohol."

The American Medical Association's philosophy is that any advertising is too much.

"NASCAR and other major sports already bombard adult and youth audiences with advertisements and branding for beer companies," AMA President-elect Dr. J. Edward Hill said in a statement. "NASCAR's unwise decision only makes matters worse. NASCAR is only helping liquor companies enhance their image — fast, risky driving in a cool car goes hand in hand with their product."