It’s something we use every day. We tell time with it, balance our checkbook and when our kids reach it we celebrate the benchmark of them growing out of the ‘terrible twos’.
But put a slant on it then put it on the side of a race vehicle on a NASCAR track and you have something very different indeed.
‘It’ is the number 3. And last Saturday night for only the second time since 2001 a familiar white number 3 was campaigned in one of NASCAR top touring series.
In NASCAR, the number 3 has become an iconic symbol of one of the sports legends; Dale Earnhardt Sr. the man who won seven championships and created a legion of fans who became known as the Earnhardt Nation.
Shortly after his tragic and untimely death on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, Earnhardt’s car number became the subject of a heated debate. On one side were fans that said the number should be retired, while others said that Earnhardt’s life wasn’t worth more than other drivers, and that those numbers still campaigned on the track.
Team owner Richard Childress, perhaps one of Earnhardt’s closet personal friends, silenced the debate when he quietly said that while he didn’t own the number (NASCAR assigns them on a yearly basis), he would be the one to decide when and if the number 3 would ever be displayed on a NASCAR race car again.
Out of respect for Childress perhaps, the debate was silenced and other then Dale Earnhardt Jr. running the number in a Busch (now Nationwide) Series race in 2002, the number 3 has been absent in NASCAR’s top three touring series.
Until last Saturday night at the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Iowa Speedway when young Austin Dillion entered the event in a Richard Childress Racing owned Chevy Silverado.
More then likely Childress would have been content to leave the number 3 off the track, but as any grandparent can attest, there is a certain weakness when it comes to grandchildren. So when Dillion, who happens to be Childress’ grandson, came to him a few years back and asked permission to use the number 3, the famous team owner gave his blessing.
Dillion has used the number in the Bandelaro, and Legends series and took it with him when he hit the dirt tracks racing late models. And while Dillion will be the first to admit that he understands the meaning behind the stylized number, early on he said that his main reason for wanting to use it was because his grandfather once did raced the number himself from 1976 until 1981.
As his progression has continued, Dillion used the number in the NASCAR Camping World East Series staring last year. So it was only natural that as Dillion continues up the ladder the number 3 goes with him.
So there was the familiar number 3 Saturday night as Dillion made his first ever start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Dillion started ninth, ran inside the top ten for a while but spun near the halfway point. He was able to rally back and finish 12th, a very respectable showing on one of the toughest racing series in America.
Not many NASCAR fans have ever heard of Austin Dillion, despite his Childress family heritage. But Saturday night the cheers were there for the young driver and no doubt many of those were for the slanted white number 3 on the black truck as much as they were for Dillion. Fans cheered not just for the young man, but also for the number and what it represents.
As Dillion continues his climb up to NASCAR’s Cup Series, many are hoping that number, a simple slanted number 3 on the side of a racecar will continue to follow.
When Dillion does reach the top series, there will be no debates, no arguments over the number among the fans, because Childress himself has given his blessing.
The roar of the fans will no doubt drown out the thunder of 43 stock cars as the number 3 takes the green flag in a Cup Series race for the first time since Earnhardt took the green flag on that fateful February day in 2001.
And the Earnhardt Nation, and maybe all of NASCAR will once again have a reason to cheer.
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Comments
I for one will not cheer unless Jr. drives the #3 on the track before it is passed on to someone else. At least drive it around the track in a father/son tribute. I believe RCR owes it to Dale Sr. to do that.
NO!!!!!!!!!!
This from a real EARNHARDT FAN!!!!!
If this was in Cup then it could be an issue but what does it matter if someone has a 3 on a truck? Earnhardt never drove in the Truck series so having a truck out there with the 3 on it means nothing. As far as the 3 being in Cup, that is up to Childress. Earnhardt was not the only driver to drive the #3 car in Nascar history. Remember Earnhardt but saying no one can use that number is plain stupid.
i see where ya'll coming from...been a earnhardt fan for 25 years still am..richard pays NASCAR every year in all 3 series..i would like too see it back on the track..i know richard said only a earnhardt would drive it but we do have jeffery earnhardt coming up..dale might but as of now has no intentions too drive the number 3 number car...
Having been a fan for quite a while, it was my understanding that if a number that had been assigned to a team was not used, the number reverted back to NASCAR so they could assign it to whoever wanted to use it. I am not certain what the time limit was, but I don't think it was 8 years of non-use. If another team requested the number 3, would NASCAR be obligated to assign it to them if RCR decided not to put it on a car?
Once and for all, NASCAR should retire the number 3 from the Sprint Cup Series. They should have done it in 2001, and they should still do it today.
Dale Earnhardt is one of the greatest drivers in the history of NASCAR and did so much to take the sport from being a regional sport to the national sport that it is today. Retiring the number would be a fitting tribute to one of the most important figures in NASCAR racing history!
I hope the kid does good, i'd love to see the #3 back in Victory Lane
i for one think its high time to bring th e number 3 back. ya'll im a dale sr. fan like the rest of you but look jr ain't gonin to race that number anytime soon he him self said that if anyone wants to drive it to go right ahead. i mean no one even looks at the kids stats he ain't his grandpa he is better no one is even looking at the fact that the truck doesn't have gm goodwrench on the hood so just let it be and iof the kid wants to drive it let him drive it
I don't have a problem with 3 being used in Truck or Nationwide. But when it comes to Cup, it needs to stay quiet until Dale Jr. uses it.
Dale Jr. says he is not using it, because he does not have the skills his father does, and does not want to tarnish his father's history. I can respect that. Junior is still chasing the ghost of this father...when we gets that straight, he will be consistant again.
Oh, and if you recall, the number 8 was Dale Jr's grandfather's number and Teresa Earnhardt would not let him take it with him due to the money that number collects each year. So I can't see striping Jr. of the right use the 3, as long as he can't at least have his 8.
I think Petty should have kept his number quiet too. Now you see the 43 and just think a so so car/driver. Not the STP Petty 43. I don't want to see the 3 do that too!!
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