THE FUTURE OF A NUMBER

It was just about two months ago that we,
the family of NASCAR fans, lost one of the greatest drivers to ever wheel a car
around the tracks of this country. Although the pain has lessened and seems to
be going away, the unbelievability of the event still lingers on. It is still
hard to believe that the black number 3 car will no longer be an ominous sight
in the rearview mirrors of drivers anymore. It’s hard to believe that the
scariest sight My Man will see on the track from this time forth will the orange
Home Depot car coming up behind him on pit road.

Now there is a push on, amongst the fans
of the Intimidator, to have one of two things happen. Either retire the number,
which NASCAR has already said won’t happen or bring back the black number 3 as a
rolling memorial to the man who drove it for these last many years, which
Richard Childress says he won’t do. Both seem like logical desires and would
seem to be great ideas that would be backed by fans everywhere. Both seem great
on the surface but, I don’t think the answer lies in either one.

Should we retire the number? We didn’t
retire Alan Kulwickis’ or Davey Allisons’ numbers when they were taken from us
and some would argue that they were every bit as popular as Dale. Whether that
is the case or not is not for argument here in this column or anywhere else for
that matter. Richard Pettys’ 43 is still circling tracks everywhere the green
flag is thrown and I suspect it will continue to do so after The King has gone
to see his grandson and father.

The retiring of numbers in other sports
has gotten to be so bad that jerseys are hanging from rafters and walls in every
single stadium and ballpark of this country. Some were retired for legitimate
stellar careers but, others were retired for what appear to be nothing more than
landing the highest paying contract in a given year. Retiring of numbers is so
commonplace now that retiring the 3 would really mean nothing.

One of the best things about the sport of
stock car racing in this country is the fact that it is so unlike any other. We
don’t have drivers or crew chiefs holding out for multi- million dollar
contracts. Well, except for Robbie Gordon but, we all know he’s not a real
NASCAR driver. We don’t have owners locking teams out and taking three or four
months to settle disputes. Our drivers race their way to their paychecks and if
they don’t do well enough this week, then there’s always next week. We’ll get
them there.

We don’t need to retire the number 3
because Dale was so much more than a number. I would suspect that he would put
down any idea of retiring the number for any reason. Although he would never say
so out loud, I think Dale would rather we just remember him as the meanest
son-of-a-gun that ever sat in a Winston Cup race car. I’d be willing to bet that
he would even be uncomfortable with all the talk going around right now about
how he stopped his limo to sign an autograph for a fan or how he gave his
leather jacket away to a pregnant lady. He didn’t do these things for the glory
or the accolades from his fans. He did them because he was a genuinely nice guy
who loved his fans and knew that without them he would never have attained the
success that he did.

Should the black 3 be brought back to the
tracks of this country? Again, I have to say no. Do you want to be the one
tapped to drive the number 3 Goodwrench car on the circuit? You couldn’t pay me
enough to take that job. You couldn’t pay me enough to get out on the track with
those other 42 crazies but, that is a whole different story in and of itself.

Kevin Harvick has been given the job of
driving the Goodwrench car now and for the time being, seems to be doing a
pretty good job of it. However, it is going to be the toughest thing he’s going
to do over the rest of his career in NASCAR because he is always going to be
thought of as Dales’ replacement driver as long as he drives for Childress. It’s
great that the paint scheme has been changed and that the number is different.
It will give Kevin a fighting chance to make a legend of his own, rather than
live in the shadow of another.

I can remember Kenny Irwin and Ernie Irvan
being compared to Davey Allison and always being thought of as inadequate in
terms of the job they were trying to do. And the same thing will happen to Kevin
sooner or later. No matter how well he does in that Goodwrench car, he will
always be compared to a seven-time Winston Cup champion and unless he surpasses
that mark, short-sighted fans will say he just doesn’t measure up.

Fact of the matter is, there is no one out
there right now that can even begin to compare to Dale and to ask any driver to
try is to be unfair to that driver. No driver should be asked to take on the
task of competing, not only against 42 other drivers each week but, also against
the ghost of a man who was larger than life itself. My guess is that even Junior
wouldn’t want that job.

Which brings up a thought. Junior has said
he really doesn’t want to drive the black 3, simply because that was his dads’
ride and no one else can compare to his dad, including himself. Now what is
going to happen if someone else steps in and drives the black 3 car? Junior is
going to be out there on the track, battling against 42 other cars, one of which
is going to remind him of the loss of his best friend, every time he passes it.
All the other drivers are going to be thinking the same thing, about how that
car reminds them of the friend and foe that they’ve also lost.

The fans wanting the return of the black 3
to the track are exhibiting nothing more than, in the words of Junior,
"selfish pity". Young Dale can be excused for feeling a little of that
himself. But we, as fans of NASCAR, need to step back and let Childress and the
Earnhardts do what they think is best and then leave them alone after the
decision. It is theirs to make, not ours.

Is there nothing we can do to remember the
man who aggravated half the fans of NASCAR each week and made the other half
drunk with joy? I was never an Earnhardt fan while he was on the track but, I do
have my diecast of his black car and I do have a picture of him taken at Daytona
hanging on the wall. My only regret is that the picture is unsigned. Though I
was not a fan, I did recognize that he was one of the two greatest drivers to
ever wheel a Winston Cup car through those left turns and did more for this
sport than any single man alive or dead.

You want a rolling memorial to Dale? How’s
this for an idea? General Motors goes out next year and makes sure that they are
the official pace car for NASCAR. Then they take one of their Monte Carlos and
paint it up just exactly like Dales’ Goodwrench Chevy and use it at every track
next year. All the fans can jump to their feet as they see the black number 3
lead the pack again and remember the man who put it in that position many times
before. Then let the number go and put the car away for good.