This weekend at Daytona International Speedway,
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive a No. 3 Chevrolet in the Wrangler colors that his late father made famous.
Earnhardt’s run in a car just like his dad’s is a joint effort between parties who haven’t always seen eye-to-eye.
The retro Wrangler Chevy is intended to honor his father, who drove a car like that from 1981-87. It won't be Junior's first appearance in a No. 3, but it will be his first since he drove a Richard Childress-owned Nationwide Series car at Charlotte in 2002.
"This will be a special weekend for us," Earnhardt Jr. said in a team release. "We got together with Richard and Teresa [Earnhardt] and put this deal together to honor my dad and his induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
“We’re bringing back this Wrangler paint scheme because it’s kind of what started his whole persona as being the tough guy that he was. We have a lot of memories of the No. 3 Wrangler car, and I think all my Dad’s fans will get a kick out of seeing it on the track again.”
But he cautioned fans not to expect to see him in a No. 3 car on a regular basis.
“This is a one-time deal,” he said. “I have no intentions of making it a habit to run special paint schemes with my dad’s number every year, and I’m pretty sure this will be the last time I drive the No. 3."
Kahne needs good run
If Kasey Kahne hopes to get his race to the Chase back in high gear, he'll need a good run this weekend at a track that historically hasn't been too kind to him.
In 13 starts at Daytona International Speedway, Kahne has scored four top-10 finishes. His best finish is a seventh, which he has done three times. Last July he was 15th, a result he has scored three times, with the most recent occurring July 5, 2008. Last year, he finished 15th in the 400-mile race.
He was poised to make up ground in the points standings Sunday at New Hampshire, but blew an engine after leading a race-high 110 laps. His 36th-place finish dropped him to 20th in the standings, 174 points away from the 12th and final position in the Chase, which begins after nine more races, including Daytona.
Etc.
Ryan Newman did something Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway that none of his fellow Sprint Cup drivers have done. He won the Whelen Modified Tour New England 100, beating some of the nation's best Modified racers on their home turf. Ted Christopher, the track's all-time win leader, finished second. ... NASCAR officials say Chris Moore, a crew member for the No. 43 team in the Sprint Cup Series, has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body's substance-abuse policy.
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