Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Earnhardt takes over No. 88 in new deals

Stephen Hawkins Associated Press

DALLAS – Darrell Waltrip won 24 NASCAR races driving the No. 88 car. That was before his consecutive season championships in a car with a different number sponsored by Mountain Dew.

Now, the No. 88 and Mountain Dew will be together on the same car driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s most popular driver.

Months of speculation ended Wednesday when Earnhardt announced deals with PespiCo. – the maker of Mountain Dew and the brand’s AMP energy drink – and the National Guard to sponsor his No. 88 Chevrolet next season at Hendrick Motorsports.

“I’m excited about the number. He had only one ‘8’ before. Now he’s got two,” said Waltrip, whose wins in the No. 88 came from 1977-80, and his season titles in 1981-82. “I used to show up, and they’d say are you with the show. I’d say, ‘No, I am the show.’ Well, today, I’m just glad to be with the show.”

This is definitely Earnhardt’s show now.

Earnhardt owns about 30 percent of the NASCAR retail market. A limited amount of T-shirts and baseball caps with his new number and sponsor went on sale Wednesday. Preorders for diecasts also are being accepted, and QVC sales were set to begin Wednesday night.

But Dale Jr. isn’t the first Earnhardt to drive the No. 88 in NASCAR. His grandfather, Ralph, drove a No. 88 Oldsmobile 88 for Petty Enterprises in the 1957 Virginia 500.

Junior’s memory of No. 88 includes drivers like Waltrip, Bobby Allison, Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd and Dale Jarrett, whose last win at Talladega in 2005 was the last for a No. 88 car.

“This number is very respected,” Earnhardt said. “Numbers have personalities. Numbers do talk. Numbers do kind of reach out and grab you. Some of the other options just didn’t do that. This sort of came out of nowhere.”

Earnhardt has driven the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet full-time for DEI since 2000, and he tried to take the No. 8 with him to Hendrick. But stepmother Teresa Earnhardt refused to give up her rights to it.

Wanting to have some form of No. 8 for his new car, Earnhardt representatives approached Robert Yates Racing about the unused No. 28. But Yates went one better, offering Earnhardt the chance to have two 8s on his car.

“Younger fans don’t realize I built cars and raced against Ralph. I also had a very close relationship with Dale Earnhardt Sr.,” Yates said in a statement. “I’m proud to transfer this number to Dale Jr., and let him know how much I appreciate the friendship and competitive racing I’ve always enjoyed with this family.”

When Jarrett took over driving the No. 88 for Yates in 1996, he won the Daytona 500 in his first race. That is among 65 victories for the No. 88, the ninth most among car numbers in NASCAR history.