Should NASCAR retire #3?

check this out: Retire #3 Petition (http://www.petitiononline.com/DaleE3/)

Yea, i think they should retire #3.....
Let the legend go on...

Definitely.

RIP

Of course, didn't follow it too much...but knew he was a heck of a driver

RIP

You are damn right they should retire the number!.Also i think they should name an award after him,a hard charger award,but don't just give it out every year.Only give it out if there is a driver who is worthy of it that year,keep it true.Nascar ,or Earnhardt fan or not,you have to admit he was a great drive.period.

#3 should definitely be retired. I made a separate post for DH called a moment of silence to help ensure that it was seen by more viewers who don't know that he was #3.

#3 Definately needs to be retired.

My brother and I would always fight because of him being a fan of earnhardt and I being a fan of gordon. I still think that he should have the #3 retire, because it would not be the same. Even if they did not use it, I am sure nobody would ever use it again. :(

R.I.P. #3

Ahkmid.

They should retire the #3, usually when you retire a players number it is because they were the best and need to be remembered.

R.I.P.:(

Definately, there's not another driver out there that deserves to drive with the #3 on his/her side. Earnhardt was an icon, and a piece of the sport died with him. Retired it like a true champion's number should be.

Let Nascar,Richard Childress,and Dale's family decide on whether the #3 should be driving it.

Yes they should, Dale is one of America's heros.He is one of the famous sports stars.His number and colors need to be retired.:sun:

Don't think nascar should retire the Number. I have heard rumors about dale Jr getting that Number but don't think they are true.

Dale Jr. uses the #3 for Busch Series and as far as I know has no plans to change from the Budweiser sponsored #8 as Budweiser does not own #3.

I could be wrong on this I have not followed Nascar much since Dale died at Daytona.

Yeah, thats about the same thing i have heard.

thats a NO BRAINER

Retire it, or let his son carry on the legend. Earnhardt Jr. is doing damn well for himself.

agree, but i think it should be retired

jr is doing well with the pressure of living up to his dads legacy. but he doesn't need to have the added pressure by drivin his dads number. definetly retire it.

I agree with all the posts above, but I think that other drivers numbers would be brought up if the #3 was retired....

-Davey Allison
-Alan Kulwicki
-Neil Bonnet
-Adam Petty
I could go on and on.... do you understand what im getting at. The reason why the "silent lap 3" was ended cause people griped that there were no "silent lap 45, 28, etc...". So I think that if the #3 was retired that there were be some major contraversy with some other numbers. I could be wrong, but thats the way I feel.

I have the upmost respect for all dale sr. fans, in fact my step mom is one of the biggest fans. She has bought everything that was made after his death and even has some original glass pop bottles **i think 7up** that celebrated his rookie of the year honors in 79.

i think the fans would go crazy if junior drove and rcr #3. I would be ok if he got it. But they didnt retire the #28, #7 or #51 so as much as i think they should, it wont be done.

Originally posted by AstroLuin
I agree with all the posts above, but I think that other drivers numbers would be brought up if the #3 was retired....

-Davey Allison
-Alan Kulwicki
-Neil Bonnet
-Adam Petty



you forgot kenny irwin jr. 28#

Originally posted by fordjay16


you forgot kenny irwin jr. 28#

Point proven...

and donny allison and on and on and on til half the numbers are retired.

can i take my dog to nascar

what about also #28?

I don't think it should be retired b/c it would not be fair to the fans of adam petty, kenny irwin, donny allison and such. I really don't think anyone will ever use it again anyway, Mike Skinner and Bang Racing wanted to use it this year in the Truck Series, but fans complained so Skinner changed his number(to 42 i think).

Its time for #3 to retire
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/95396PICT0006.JPG

The bottle of beer in the background explains everything..

I think they should retire it but since NASCAR has never retired a number, they probably want, but Richard Childress is the person who decides if the #3 is used again or not, since he owns the rights to it, so I'd say as long as there is an RCR, they wont be any #3, unless of course Dale Jr. decides to race it (Richard Childress has said many times that Dale Jr. has an open invitation to join RCR and drive teh #3 Goodwrench Car)

As for the comments about if #3 was retired then the other drivers numbers should be retired, well I mean no disrespect to the other drivers who were killed, but Dale Earnhardt was THE driver.

If I saw any number that should be retired I'd have to say #3 is one of them. With the voice of the fans I believe the #3 is unofficially retired. You just can't have another #3 driver in this generation, the fans will be either shocked, disappointed, and/or outraged.

RIP

I think it would be a total shame and a slap in the face to the families of all the other great drivers that have died if they retire the # 3.

How about the Petty family? The Petty family has done so many good things for racing yet they have paid the ultimate price, the loss of a son, but they continue to give it all they can.

Alan Kulwicki, a man who did it the hard way, a single car team, limited resources. Yet won a championship pretty much by himself.

The Allison family has lost two sons (one in a helecopter accident at Talledegga Speedway) and still in interviews always has good things to say about the sport of auto racing.

And thats just a few of the drivers that have given so much for a sport that can take it all away in the blink of an eye.

So I say, if you retire the #3 you should, out of respect for others, retire several other #'s. Or put that # back on the track and give it and the drivers the respect they deserve.

In case you get the wrong impresion or message from this post I am, and always will be, a Dale Earnhardt fan. I think the face of racing has changed since his departure and it downright sucks that he is gone.

If we can't have Earnhardt back can't we at least have the #3 ?

no doubt they should retire..... but maybe jr. could take the 3 and then when martin treux jr. comes to nextel he should take the 8.... but they should retire it too. either way is cool with me

They should not retire numbers for drivers who died driving. If they ever decide to retire some numbers, I think Richard Petty's 43 and Dale Earnhardt's 3 should be the two. Retiring a number is a sign of legendary status. Those two have won 7 Cups each. Nobody else is close. Most of those who have died racing did not acheive legendary status. Dale did.

NASCAR aksed Richard Petty if he wanted his number retired when he retired. Richard said no, for several reasons, the primary two being that he wanted to keep the publicity associated with #43, and he would have had to lose the team owner points for that car based on the previous year's standings, which would have meant no provisional starts.

For #3, NASCAR allowed the owner points for the #3 to be moved to the #29 car.

I don't think the number needs to be retired. IMO it would be PR suicide for anyone else to run #3. I believe, though not 100% sure, that the rights to #3 in Nextel Cup and Craftsman Truck are still owned by RCR, and they will not use it. The rights to #3 in the Busch series are owned by DEI. The net result is that even if someone wanted to run #3 in one of these divisions, they would have to get teh approval of those race teams, and to my knowledge, only Dale Jr has run #3 since.

my dad was a big dale fan, me and him both think his number should be retired

If #3 was retired, then not only are they paying a tribute to Dale Earnhardt, they will also be paying tribute to Ricky Rudd, Richard Childress, Bobby Isaac, Charlie Glotzbach, and John Soares Jr. The other drivers who use the #3 on their cars dating back to 1975 and who knows who had the number before that time. Granted Earnhardt and Childress had the number the longest in that span (24 years) but if they really want to give Dale a true tribute, place his name at Daytona where he died along with the other names of the legends that are displayed there.

Hell Yes!!!

first of all, to clear up a few things for all of you...other than adam and some other guy i don't remember, dale was the only one who died in a race on the lists above. That, along with his legendary status (moreso than the death) is why his number should be retired. Also, Richard Childress does have the rights to 3 for trucks and nextel cup, however if he doesn't use them for a while the rights could go to someone else who wants to drive the 3. That would be rediculous, so they should just retire the number.

And no, it wouldn't stand for any of the other drivers who rode 3 before him, because the font on the 3 is copywritten, and everybody knows that that 3 belongs to dale, no one else.

Let Dales number RIP with him.

- Kevin

Edward Glenn 'Fireball' Roberts!
Dale was a great driver but if we start retiring numbers now it will not be fair to all other drivers who were great in the more dangerous pioneering days of NASCAR and died because of on track incidences.I don’t want to see the number on track any time soon but it should return in the distant future. And if retiring the number will not be honoring other drivers of the number 3 because of “The Font” why not retire the font number combination and let the number 3 return in another font.

I think the number 3 should be retired. When people think of the number 23 in basketball, everyone thinks Michael Jordan. When people see #7 in football, they think John Elway. Also in NASCAR, when you see #43, you think Richard Petty. Though #43 is not retired, you still associate the person who made that number famous. Retiring a number is a way of honoring that person, especially if that person is deceased. The greatest honor to be give to Dale is to retire his number and have a banner placed on his favorite track, Daytona. That way, fans will know when they visit the famed track that this was Dale's place and his memory will forever live on.

JR WILL be in the #3 car in the next 3 years...mark my words, i know from a very reliable source

yes let it retire. dale was a legend, the driver you loved to hate.
when he died I was shocked. I wasn't a earnhardt fan, but I liked his driveing. I miss seeing him on the track, nobody can fill his seat in a car.

Retire it or not, I can't see the #3 being used anyway. At least not while Richard Childress is alive. Nobody in Nascar can fill that seat! Although it might be kinda nice to see the black goodwrench #3 ride again in the allstar race. Maybe driven by Jr.?

Racin just isn't the same! And never will be!

For someone that did so much for this sport, I think its not only a good idea, but one that would show a lot of class and respect on Nascar's part.

i think they should retire it i grew up listening to my grandfather cheering him on


and as for jr driving #3 does no one remember the whole reason he drives #8 in the first place?because his grandfather drove #8 it would be disrespectful to him if jr just decides to change his number.so i say it is unlikely he will change his # however if jr has a kid maybe in the future there will be another #3 but it wouldnt be the same



retire it rip #3

they dont necessarily have to retire it IMO, but no one should be alowed to have it, unless its a decendant of earnhart

I'm a mixed bag on it.

One side says definately retire it. But the other sees drivers like Stewart as of late really looking alot Sr. did in the day. Especially at Texas, starting from the back, blazing forward, fist shaking out of the window, it'd be cool to see.

But, it was erie to see it out on the track again when Childress drove it when Chevy was honoring it's top series drivers.

NASCAR could, but they have to set a certain criteria for it, or else they would end up with serious problems.

What about other legends like Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, etc.? Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart when they retire? NASCAR could retire so many numbers that they couldn't field a group of 43 cars with double-digit numbers in a few decades.

Maybe because he died in the car? OK, NASCAR would probably have to go back and retire a few more numbers. That would take numbers away from teams that are currently using them. Usually retired numbers don;t get used for 25 years by someone else until the number is retired. Also, there are other issues. Does dying in practice count (Neil Bonnett)?

I like the status quo. RCR owns the number, and Richard Childress won't put it on a car.

My :2cents: