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3+8=38 and Other Car Number Math

Aug 27, 2007 – 8:49 AM
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Bob Dilner reported last night that Hendrick Motor Sports has requested the #38 from Robert Yates Racing for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

I think he's on to something ... but the chatter in my inbox suggests that RYR offered the #38 up to HMS and will acquire the rights to the #89, which is currently assigned to Morgan Shepherd but hasn't been run in 2007. Yates would then have the #88 and #89 in Sprint Cup and the #90 in the Busch Series.

Since he can't get the #8, I have to guess that having his daddy's number along side his own has got to be the next best thing for Junior. That ought to even satisfy the fans that continually beg him to drive the #3 made famous by Dale Earnhardt.

Can he still make a connection to his grandfather in the #38? Well, Ralph drove a 1938 Chevrolet making a name for himself on the short tracks of North Carolina. That ought to count for something.

I don't suppose I need to mention the difference between 8 and 3 is 5. Rick Hendrick, for whom the #5 holds sentimental value, will still have that number in Busch to honor his son, the late Ricky Hendrick, who, incidentally, ran 38 Busch Series races in his career.
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