#3 Back in NASCAR's Cup Series

[RED-85-Z51]

Take a piece of Black paper, print the Iconic #3 on it...and ask random people who drove with that number, and who it represents...Sauter, Dillon, Skinner, Ricky Rudd...or Dale Earnhardt...

Case Rested.

[RED-85-Z51]

indeed, multiple drivers used the number before Dale, but Dale Made the number, the Team, the Owner, and the SPORT...FAMOUS, using it. IT should be considered Sacred, he died using it, no one in Cup Racing should be allowed to use it, not even Jr. I also feel like the #43 should have been retired when PEtty retired.

[bsmith]

Childress has the right to use it for his grandson.

What will happen with the redneck "favorite driver" vote now?
Will Dillon get it or Jr?

[RED-85-Z51]

Originally Posted by bsmith

Childress has the right to use it for his grandson.

What will happen with the redneck "favorite driver" vote now?
Will Dillon get it or Jr?

If you have to ask...

[RED-85-Z51]

I actually supported Dillon, up until they reported he intended to bring the #3 back to Cup Racing.

Time heals wounds, but those wounds go deep, seeing and hear the #3 in cup racing again, is going to be tough.

[bsmith]

Originally Posted by RED-85-Z51

If you have to ask...

If Dillon actually wins races in the black #3...he'll be popular.

[RED-85-Z51]

He will be popular...but he will never be an Earnhardt. Much like Harvick who stepped into the car...he had fans, but never close to Earnhardt fans.

[bsmith]

Originally Posted by RED-85-Z51

I actually supported Dillon, up until they reported he intended to bring the #3 back to Cup Racing.

Time heals wounds, but those wounds go deep, seeing and hear the #3 in cup racing again, is going to be tough.

It's been damn near thirteen years...move on.
nascar doesn't retire numbers.

[RED-85-Z51]

Originally Posted by bsmith

It's been damn near thirteen years...move on.
nascar doesn't retire numbers.

Rule book is written in pencil...they make it up as they go, why not make an exception now?

[bsmith]

Originally Posted by RED-85-Z51

Rule book is written in pencil...they make it up as they go, why not make an exception now?

What about Petty, Neil Bonnett, Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott?
13 years is plenty of time to grieve.

[RED-85-Z51]

I think its just the Sacredness behind the Number...in the series.

108 other numbers, and he wants that one...

[Giraffe (He/Him)]

Case Rested.

CLOSED! CASE CLOSED! WTF!

[Fasglas]

Originally Posted by datawiz

Yep.

I'm totally for it. Big E would not have accomplished what he had without Childress. It's Richard's grandson, and even Little E has given his support for the decision. I don't see the problem.

"Little E"?

I doubt he has much input which matters. Seriously.

[RED-85-Z51]

If he wanted to...Dale Jr could buy and sell Richard Childress and his Company...Literally. Jr is Worth 300Million, Childress is only worth 200 Million.

If Jr had an issue with the number, or how it was used, and he really wanted to, he could just buy the whole company...lol

Jr has said he doesnt want the number, the Number represents his dad, and his dads accomplishments, that he wants his own number, and identity to represent his own.

Austin Dillon...Not quite that Classy.

[jaxgator]

Originally Posted by RED-85-Z51

Austin Dillon...Not quite that Classy.

I am sure that Austin has no say in the matter.

[RedLS1GTO]

Originally Posted by jaxgator

I am sure that Austin has no say in the matter.

Given that he is R.C.'s grandson and has been running the #3 his entire career, I'd guess he actually had a pretty big say in all of it. They've been running commercials for the last couple of seasons not-so-subtly hinting that it was coming.

Would I want to see someone like, say, Tommy Baldwin Racing put a start and park guy in a #3 car? Hell no.... but as I said before, as someone who grew up as a huge Earnhardt fan, I have absolutely no problem with the grandson of Richard Childress driving the 3, even in black. If ANYBODY respects that number for what it is, it is Richard Childress and that entire organization. Notice that every Kevin Harvick car to this day has had the "3" on the side still.



Some apparently think it should never see the track again, I say just the opposite. Just like the Wood Brothers 21 and the Petty 43, the RCR 3 should be on the track, not just in a museum and a banner on the wall.

[jaxgator]

Originally Posted by RedLS1GTO

Given that he is R.C.'s grandson and has been running the #3 his entire career, I'd guess he actually had a pretty big say in all of it.

That may be true, but I just think of it as RCR's number. The Grandson wanted to drive and RCR had the rights to that number so that's what he used. Doesn't matter either way though.

I never noticed that #3 on the side of Kevin's car. Thanks for pointing that out.

[C5SilverBullet]

Originally Posted by RedLS1GTO

Notice that every Kevin Harvick car to this day has had the "3" on the side still.

I was about to mention that. The 3 has been in use ever since Dale died, it has never left the car.

[C5SilverBullet]

Originally Posted by jaxgator

That may be true, but I just think of it as RCR's number. The Grandson wanted to drive and RCR had the rights to that number so that's what he used. Doesn't matter either way though.

I never noticed that #3 on the side of Kevin's car. Thanks for pointing that out.

It has been somewhere on all of his cars.

Right behind the 29 on this one.

[RedLS1GTO]

On a side note, I think it will be really good for KH to get out of that car. Since day 1 he has been "The guy who replaced Dale". That has to be a damn imppossible standard to try to live up to.

Originally Posted by C5SilverBullet

It has been somewhere on all of his cars.

Yup. ...and as I mentioned before, that goes to show just how much the number means to Childress and that team. There is no way in hell that he is just going to toss some random driver in that car. I have no doubt that Austin Dillon knows EXACTLY the magnitude of what driving that car means. His entire life has been around it.