For the first time since February 18, 2001, the number 3 will race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starting in 2014. Richard Childress Racing announced Wednesday during a break in testing at Charlotte Motor Speedway that driver Austin Dillon, grandson of team owner Richard Childress, will race the iconic number in NASCAR’s top touring series starting with the season opening Daytona 500 on February 23, 2014.
The number 3 has been synonymous with the late Dale Earnhardt Sr. Earnhardt began racing the number 3 after joining RCR in 1981. Childress and Earnhardt won six Sprint Cup titles racing the number and continued it until Earnhardt’s death on final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. The number appeared in the NASCAR Nationwide Series with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2009 and 2010.
Dillon began racing with the number in 2009 in the Camping World Truck series and carried the number to the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2012 MORE>>>
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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