Johnson drops out of the Gilette Young Guns

Jimmie Johnson has dropped out of the Gillette Young Guns so that he can be marketed as a two-time champ and have a farther reach.  He wants to broaden his appeal beyond the track by using his on-track success as a marketing strategy.

It seems that even with his on-track success since breaking into the top series, he doesn't have the fan appeal that he would like.  He's not garnering the fans in the huge numbers like his teammate Jeff Gordon, or even other drivers like Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Sure, he has the Hendrick Motorsports fan base, but as an individual driver, he seems to be falling short of what they expected, even with his success.  While he is the fourth best-selling driver as far as merchandise, they expected more with his success and they seem to think a new marketing strategy will work.

I guess this goes to show that while winning is what they all go for week to week, it isn't everything with the fans.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. tops the merchandising market of current drivers and he didn't even have a win this season, in fact he had a horrible season, the other two ahead of Johnson are Gordon and Stewart.

I think the biggest thing that's holding Johnson back is personality, he comes off with an "I don't care" attitude and fans just don't like that.  Jr., while I'm not a fan seems to have the good ole boy personality and Stewart has the passion and fire, Gordon, well, not sure what the draw on him is exactly since I've never been a fan of his and all I hear about him is his wins and his record.

So, why hasn't Johnson garnered the hoards of fans that the others have?  If you go by merchandise sales, which the articles I read did, he's falling short even though he's had a success career in the Cup Series so far.  Is it personality?  Can he be marketed better to garner the number of fans that the others have?

Your thoughts?