When Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced a few months ago that he would compete in a No. 3 Chevy this Friday in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona it was met with roars of approval by millions of NASCAR fans.
The No. 3 was the same number campaigned by his father Dale Earnhardt Sr. for many years and is still recognized by many as a symbol of the years when the legendary Earnhardt Sr. dominated the sport. It’s also a number that has galvanized fans, especially after Earnhardt Sr. lost his life on a last lap crash in the 2001 Daytona 500.
It wasn’t long after that terrible incident that many fans began to call for NASCAR to retire the number; still others hoped that his son Earnhardt Jr. would take over the number and ride at some point in his career.
As it turned out since NASCAR doesn’t actually ‘own’ the numbers on racecar’s the talk of ‘retiring’ the number faded. Earnhardt Jr. did race with the number on a Nationwide Series car and will do so again this Friday, this time with a paint scheme reminiscent of one his father raced with years ago.
"This will be a special weekend for us. We got together with Richard (Childress) and Teresa (Earnhardt) and put this deal together to honor my dad and his induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame,” Earnhardt said. “We're bringing back this Wrangler paint scheme because it's kind of what started his whole persona as being the tough guy that he was. We have a lot of memories of the No. 3 Wrangler car, and I think all my Dad's fans will get a kick out of seeing it on the track again."
However, Friday night could very well mark the last time fans see an Earnhardt behind the wheel of a No. 3 racing in NASCAR.
"This is a one-time deal,” Earnhardt said. “ I have no intensions of making it a habit to run special paint schemes with my dad's number every year, and I'm pretty sure this will be the last time I drive the No. 3. It's my dad's number. We are borrowing it this weekend to honor him, and I hope the fans remember him when they see this blue-and-yellow car on the track. Plus, it's cool to get together with Richard and Teresa on cool projects. So I'm looking forward to this weekend. Hope we can give it a good run."
After Earnhardt Jr. races Friday night with the Nationwide car, his older brother Kerry will be in England over the weekend driving the No. 3 Chevy carrying another familiar paint scheme; a black GM Goodwrench layout on the Chevy that Earnhardt Sr. drove to victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 1995 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Once the weekend has ended, fans might never again see a No. 3 race in NASCAR; at least with an Earnhardt behind the wheel. That doesn’t mean that there will never be a No. 3 racing in NASCAR however.
Austin Dillon, grandson of Earnhardt’s former team owner Richard Childress, is a young up and coming driver who has been racing the No. 3 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and there are plans for Dillon to eventually move his way up into NASCAR’s top tier Sprint Cup Series. Whether the No. 3 follows remains to be seen but Childress has said on more than one occasion that if his grandson wants to run the number he will be able to.
So while fans may get their final chance to see an Earnhardt race a number 3 Friday night, it’s a pretty good bet that it won’t be the final time the number 3 races in NASCAR.
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Comments
I read somewhere that this whole project was put together to sell seats for the summer Daytona races.
I read somewhere that this whole project was put together to help JR. sell more T-shirts, because JR. Motor sports is broke. Without the GO DADDY money that Danica brings in to JR Motorsorts, they would have either have to Start and Park or close down. How ironic, the owner of the Go Daddy car pimping a ride in a knock-off of a car his daddy made famous.
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