Should NASCAR retire #3?

[catback23]

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

[Mike@DRH]

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 ?

[PHPh8sPSR]

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

[SabreKhan]

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.

[kfoote]

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.

[1986Z28]

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

[AWP9521]

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.

[1yesfan]

Hell Yes!!!

[Loudue3]

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.

[TaNK_Em]

Let Dales number RIP with him.

- Kevin

[bhoke]

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.

[theFREAKnasty82]

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.

[spdrcr8]

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

[pissboy]

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.

[NOVA71]

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!