Dale Earnhardt, Jr. To Take the Wheel of the No. 88 Realtree Chevrolet at Bristol Motor Speedway

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will take the wheel of the No 88 Realtree Outfitters Chevrolet under the lights Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.  The Food City 250 for the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) will mark Earnhardt, Jr.’s first appearance with the Realtree Outfitters colors on his own JR Motorsports (JRM) entry.

 Bristol, Tenn (August 18, 2010) – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will take the wheel of the No 88 Realtree Outfitters Chevrolet under the lights Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.  The Food City 250 for the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) will mark Earnhardt, Jr.’s first appearance with the Realtree Outfitters colors on his own JR Motorsports (JRM) entry.

“Going to be a busy weekend for us,” said Earnhardt, Jr.  “But I have the opportunity to race with Pops (crew chief Tony Eury Sr.) under the lights at Bristol, and we’ve got a bad-ass Realtree Outfitters paint scheme on this ol’ No. 88, so it’s all good.  Bill Jordan of Realtree has been a friend for years, and he’s been involved in the sport a long time.  We usually go on a hunt once or twice a year, so if we could win this Bristol race Friday night, it would make for some helluva good stories to tell in some hunting lodge somewhere.”

“I enjoy driving my own equipment from time to time, he concluded. “And to be able to do it with Pops is always fun.  We won Daytona with Tony (Eury) Jr. as my crew chief, and I know how competitive they are with each other, so it’s pretty important for us to run well this weekend so Pops can have some material to go back at Tony Jr. with.”

This is the third time this season that Realtree Outfitters has emblazoned the hood of the No. 88 race car.  Elliott Sadler debuted the distinctive paint scheme at New Hampshire in June. Rookie Steve Arpin was in the driver’s seat in late July at Iowa Speedway.

Earnhardt, Jr., a two-time NNS champion with 23 wins in the Series, will be recognized by Nationwide Insurance as the Driver of the Week during pre-race festivities Friday night. In addition to being honored during driver introductions prior to Friday night’s race, fans can get an up-close look at Earnhardt, Jr. in the Realtree Outfitters Chevrolet via in-car camera during the race.

In addition, a video interview with Earnhardt, Jr. conducted by Matt Yocum is available for viewing on NASCARNationwideSeries.com as well as a written interview with Raygan Swan on the site, there will be wallpaper of Earnhardt, Jr. and the No. 88 Realtree Outfitters car available for fans to download.

Earnhardt, Jr. will participate in a video chat on August 31, 2010 on NASCARNationwideSeries.com. In conjunction with the chat, the site will feature a flip-cam video from the race weekend at Bristol for fans to enjoy.

JRM co-owner Kelley Earnhardt will do an audio chat on the NASCARNationwideSeries.com site on Wednesday in support of the Realtree Outfitters program.

The Realtree Outfitters/JRM five-race relationship was announced in June in conjunction with Delta Apparel – a leading activewear and headwear manufacturer.  Realtree, the camouflage brand made famous by its long-running outdoor-themed television programming, recently signed Delta Apparel to an exclusive apparel and headwear licensing deal with its Realtree Outfitters brand.

About Realtree®:
Realtree is the world's leading camouflage designer, marketer, and licensor with over 2,000 licensees utilizing the Realtree camouflage brand. Thousands of outdoor and lifestyle products are available in Realtree camouflage patterns. In addition, Realtree is committed to supporting individuals and groups that work to ensure our outdoor heritage, the conservation of natural places, and the wildlife that resides there. In fact, Realtree is one of the nation's leading contributors to conservation groups such as Ducks Unlimited, the National Wild Turkey Federation, and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Realtree promotes its products and relationships widely on ESPN2, Outdoor Channel, and other television networks, as well as through Realtree.com and many other outlets. For more information on Realtree, visit www.realtree.com.

About Delta Apparel, Inc.:  

Delta Apparel, Inc., along with its wholly-owned subsidiaries, M. J. Soffe, LLC, Junkfood Clothing Company and To The Game, LLC, is an international design, manufacturing, sourcing and marketing company that features a diverse portfolio of high quality branded and private label activewear apparel and headwear. The Company specializes in selling a variety of casual and athletic products through most distribution channels for these types of goods. Its products are sold to specialty and boutique shops, upscale and traditional department stores, mid-tier retailers, sporting goods stores, screen printers, and private label accounts. In addition, certain products are sold to college bookstores and to the U.S. military. Its products are also available direct to consumers on its websites at www.soffe.com, www.junkfoodclothing.com, and www.deltaapparel.com. The headwear products can be viewed at www.2thegame.com. The Company's operations are located throughout the United States, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico, and it employs approximately 6,500 people worldwide. Additional information about the company is available at www.deltaapparelinc.com.