When you stop to think about how your respond to numbers think of the trick used by retailers. Why aren’t things priced at $20.00 flat, instead of $19.99? Psychologically, a person thinks there is a much greater difference between $20.00 and that one penny difference. Numbers! Give a thought to the lottery and when you pick your numbers. We just had a winner from my home town who won FOUR HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS. Nope, wasn’t me, but that is a huge sum of money, made so by all those “worthless” zeroes.
Frankly, numbers have been one of the biggest problems of my life. I was never good in math. I barely made it through high school because of math while I made “A”s in every other subject. I took the most simple math courses allowed just to get through because I simply could not grasp anything beyond simple division and multiplication. Don’t even mention Algebra or Trigonometry to me. That part of my brain just does not compute (Jeff, Bopper, keep your comments to that to yourself).
I am going into this number discussion tonight because of a picture that, as I understand it, first appeared on another well known racing site earlier this week. That picture was of a number “3” Chevrolet with Cheerios Sponsorship with the implication that the Chevy would be driven in Cup competition next year by young Austin Dillon, grandson of Richard Childress. I have seen so many negative remarks and some downright crass, about that number returning to Cup competition. I recall somewhat lesser outrage when young Dillon showed up in the Nationwide Series with that number in the same font previously used by Childress and his driver Dale Earnhardt, Sr.
For each of you listening to me tonight, or who will read this later on our homepage, please understand the following is an expression of MY feelings and are not intended to reflect the sentiment of this website. Neither am I attempting to speak “for you” or “at you”. I’m just airing out somethings about which I have strong feelings.
Let me begin by saying that I have nothing whatsoever against Dale Earnhardt, Sr. I remember watching that Daytona 500 in 2001 and seeing the accident. I knew, from Ken Schrader’s reaction, that things were not good but I never expected to see Mike Helton before the cameras saying “We’ve lost Dale Earnhardt.” Yes, that hurt, not only because we lost another race driver, but because we had also lost an iconic part of what racing was at the time. As I sat there after Helton’s announcement, I thought back to my early days of watching Dale’s father Ralph, run Columbia Speedway every week. I recall a young Dale, probably 14 or so, flying through the infield on a bicycle and running into me as I came around the corner of the concession stand. I don’t recall exchanging words then and I only knew it was Dale Earnhardt because I was usually at the track and watched Ralph unload the car so I knew the kid on sight. Speaking of Ralph Earnhardt, he had a reputation of “rattling” a lot of cages so we can’t fault Dale, Sr. for that. I guess that gene missed being passed along to Dale, Jr.
Dale Earnhardt was the hero of the masses. Part of his appeal was his “down home, common man” persona. Nevermind the extravagance of his Palace in North Carolina, the “Sunday Money” yacht, and other trappings of extreme wealth. He worked for it, he earned it, and to my knowledge he didn’t flaunt it. He came from a working background and earned his way into racing history. It was not an easy journey for Dale, Sr., but he persevered and deserves all the accolades that go with that. But, and this is what this Legendtorial is all about, Dale Earnhardt does not need to be defined by the number “3”.
Let’s consider a few things here. My reference material (Greg Fielden’s “Forty Years of Stock Car Racing”) indicates the first appearance of the number 3 was in the third Strickly Stock race run by NASCAR. Date was August 7, 1949, and the number three was a Chevrolet driven by Bill Snowden who finished fifth. Johnny Rogers would finish 36th in a number 3 Oldsmobile in the next Strickly Stock race. Throughout the early days of the sport, the number 3 was appearing on a variety of cars with many, many drivers. Smokey Yunick fielded a number 3 for a couple years with Paul Goldsmith as one of the primary drivers. Ray Fox picked up the number which was driven by several pretty awesome drivers including David Pearson and Junior Johnson. In fact, Junior Johnson and the white number 3 Chevrolet from the 1963 season were a terror on the track. When Richard Childress came to Grand National racing big time, he took over the number 3 as his own car. So, over the history of the sport, in the Grand National (now Cup or Premier Division) of NASCAR, that number has been used by many.
When Dale was killed in the car carrying that number, there were calls by many fans to “retire” the number. Let’s examine that with just two other drivers killed with iconic numbers. Was it ever discussed to retire number 22, the number made famous by Fireball Roberts when Fireball was killed from burns in that car? Or, how about the number 8 owned by Bud Moore in which Joe Weatherly lost his life? Oh, Joe ran many different numbers in his career, but it was the number 8 in which he won two back-to-back championships and he died behind the wheel. And, what about Richard Petty? He ran the 43 all those years and as I heard the story, he was told by NASCAR, after running the number 44 for Rick Wilson in the 1993 season, to either put the 43 back on the track or lose the number. Oh, I know, that was Richard’s retirement and is not the same as Dale’s circumstances, but it still warrants discussion.
When Dale Earnhardt, Sr. died, it changed the face of NASCAR racing in many ways as certain safety measures now in existence probably would never have become NASCAR requirements had it not been for Dale’s death. I know many, many fans who walked away from the sport when Dale died, my niece and her husband included. I understand that. Nothing has been the same for me in racing since my driver retired, but I do still hang around the sport. Dale was a great driver. Dale left a legacy for the sport that is difficult to match with even today’s best drivers.
My problem here is all the comments from “fans” pertaining to RCR bringing back the number 3. There were comments, by the hundreds, all negative and very critical of both Richard Childress and Austin Dillon for even considering such a thing. Let it be known, that, according to an “official” statement from Childress, that the photo of the car making the rounds causing all this explosion of emotion is nothing official. Whether or not Childress floated that out there to judge reaction I have no way of knowing. But face the facts. NASCAR, as I understand it owns the numbers and sells the rights to those numbers to the teams. Apparently Childress has been paying for the rights to that number since 2001 just to keep it. It is, therefore, something that belongs to Richard Childress racing.
Now, before I go into this, I reiterate that Dale Earnhardt was a great driver and is due the respect of that accomplishment. But I refuse to view Dale Earnhardt, Sr. as a “God” who drove a race car. Consider, for instance, that there is legal terminology for a “conflict of interest” which will, many times, cause a Judge to recuse himself from a case as his personal interest would, or could, be reflected in the decision of the trial. Many have stated that Dale Earnhardt was “blocking” for his two cars, Michael Waltrip and Dale, Jr. in that 500. Dale Earnhardt drove for Richard Childress Racing. Waltrip and Junior for Dale Earnhardt Racing. If Dale was indeed blocking for HIS two cars at the cost of his RCR car losing the race, it is my opinion that Childress should have fired him immediately after that race. These days, I guess NASCAR would have a thing or two to say about “manipulating a race finish”.
Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was unique, obstinate, and, at times a down right dirty driver. How many races did he win by taking out the competition? Certainly more than one, but again, he learned that craft from his Daddy. Did you know that once upon a time at Rockingham, Dale purposely wrecked his Bud Moore Ford in practice on Friday so he could get away from the track and go hunting? Absolute fact. What about refusing to listen to his owner about “breathing the engine” at Talladega to keep from blowing it? Didn’t listen so you can guess the consequence. He was called “Ironhead” by many and that is a title well earned for sure, as was “The Intimidator”. He once banged up a car on the very first lap of a race a Martinsville with no more reason than to express his dissatisfaction of instructions from the owner not to wreck the car.
Dale Earnhardt became, by Mike Helton’s own admission, a couple years before the fourth turn wreck that took his life, that Dale Earnhardt was NASCAR’s
“franchise driver”. Knowing NASCAR’s penchant for having rules to best serve their agenda, how much did Dale get away with that other drivers couldn’t? We will never have an answer for that unless Richard Childress decides to tell all in a book some day. We know there is no one in NASCAR going to tell us.
I will end this by reiterating that I hold no animosity towards Dale Earnhardt and certainly none as to Richard Childress. I wish Childress and his grandsons the very best in their future endeavors in the racing world. I refuse, however, to elevate Dale Earnhardt to the position of Sainthood by not accepting the return of the number 3 to Cup competition. I also refused, at the races I attended in 2001,to hold up three fingers on the third lap of each race as so many did. For those of you who revere Dale, that is your right and privilege and I’m happy for you. But in my long association with NASCAR racing, there are many right there equal with Dale and some above him worthy of honors not because they are associated with any number, but because of who they are and what they represented to the sport. I spent this past Saturday with many of those.
I will look for Austin Dillon and the number 3 Chevy in the Daytona 500 should Childress chose to run that number. The history of the number 3 is worthy of remembrance but not only because of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. Hopefully, Dillon will once more make that number a winner.
