Dale Earnhardt Jr. Driving Dad's No. 3 for Last Time

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The blue-and-yellow No. 3 hats and T-shirts greet you from every Daytona Beach drugstore and supermarket display window -- Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon souvenirs be damned this weekend.

The image of the bright blue and yellow No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet once famously driven by the late Dale Earnhardt seems to be everywhere. And on Thursday, a particularly large concentration of No. 3 T-shirts was gathered around a remote Daytona International Speedway garage stall typically used only by long shots and start-and-parks.

There, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s race team is preparing a retro-look No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet for a one-of-a-kind appearance, a likely final tribute run to his father in Friday's NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

"I have no intentions 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,'' Earnhardt said.

"It's my dad's number.''

The deep emotional connection NASCAR fans have with car numbers is equaled by an extreme reverence for everything Earnhardt, the popular seven-time champion who was killed in an accident during the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

Earnhardt's No. 3 has never been used in a Sprint Cup Series race since his death that February afternoon and has been borrowed only a handful of times since in NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck series competition.



Share Earnhardt drove the blue-and-yellow Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet for the last half of the 1981 season as well as from 1984 through 1987, winning his second and third championships in the car in 1986 and 1987. GM Goodwrench replaced Wrangler as Earnhardt's sponsor in 1988 and from then on he drove the black No. 3.

This week's car is being fielded thanks to joint cooperation by Earnhardt's widow Teresa, his former Cup owner Richard Childress and Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports Nationwide team. They have come together to honor the champ's May induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class.

"This is a one-time deal,'' Earnhardt said.

"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.''



The significance of choosing Daytona's famous high banks for the occasion isn't lost on anyone. It's where Earnhardt was killed -- in the final turn of the final lap -- but also where he enjoyed his greatest success.

"In his (Junior's) mind, in some ways this puts a closure on things, and I think maybe for him, that's needed to happen for a good long while,'' said ESPN broadcaster Dale Jarrett, a former NASCAR Cup champion and friend of both Earnhardts.

"It's something that really needed to happen and this is the perfect time.

"He's making a charge toward the Chase (NASCAR's playoffs) and it gives him a bit of a boost at a time people have kinda been beating him up a bit. It serves a lot of purposes.''

Earnhardt, who missed qualifying for the 12-driver Sprint Cup Series playoffs last year, is currently ranked 13th, only three points off the cut with nine races remaining until the Chase for the Championship field is set.

In Thursday afternoon's Nationwide Series practice, he was third fastest. Qualifying is Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. with the race set to start at 8 p.m.

Veteran Mark Martin is the only current Cup competitor who actually raced against Earnhardt in the No. 3 Wrangler car and he conceded, with a wide grin, that just seeing the car in the garage brought back memories.

"I know a lot of our fans weren't around during that era but a lot of them were, too, and for all the ones that were, they really get it,'' Martin said. "I certainly share the same feelings and it's good to see Junior in it and it's good to see it happening.

"I think it's really an awesome sight.''