Showing posts with label the 8 car. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the 8 car. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

DALE EARNHARDT JR. was one of the big winners in the 8 car

The winningest Cup driver in the No. 8 cars was Joe Weatherly, who won 20 races in 110 starts in that car number. The No. 2 winner in the 8 was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won 17 races in 291 starts in the 8.

 Bobby Hillin got one win, eight top-fives and 41 top-10s in 204 starts in the 8 cars.
Mark Martin started 24 races with no wins in No. 8 cars; Dick Trickle had no wins in 28 starts in the 8. Sterling Marlin, Jeff Burton and Hut Stricklin used that car number, as did Morgan Shepherd, Elmo Langley, Jack Smith, Marvin Panch, Tiny Lund, J.D. McDuffie, Wendell Scott and many others.

Dale Earnhardt Sr. made one start in the 8, starting 22nd and finishing 33rd. Ralph Earnhardt, Dale's dad, was a big-time short-track driver in the 8, so Dale was interested in it as well. That's how Dale Jr. wound up driving the 8 car in Cup before he switched to the 88.

 Tyler Reddick has been driving the 8 car in 2020.

Related posts
On the Mark (with Mark Martin)
The 1 was not a lonely number in Cup racing
The 2 has been a winning car Number in NASCAR
Earnhardt made the 3 an intimidating number
The 4 was a good number in the Daytona 500
Terry Labonte was the winningest driver in the 5 car
MARK MARTIN was a BIG-TIME driver in the 6 CARS
Alan Kulwicki was a CHAMPION in the No. 7 Fords
EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER: EDITORatWORK

More entries from TARJ
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)

EDITOR@WORK blog entries 

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Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie
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Sunday, September 1, 2019

Who's driving the 8 car?


THE YEAR WAS, I BELIEVE, 2000, and I was at Charlotte Motor Speedway and doing a feature for Racing For Teens (which has now been defunct for many years).

This would-be bridegroom was waiting for his preacher to show up (he was stuck in race traffic; imagine that), and the prospective bride was hiding before the ceremony.

While we were chatting, I asked his favorite driver and how he became a fan. His answer: "The 8."

I thought, Who the hell is the 8? I didn't remember an 8 car in Winston Cup.

Turns out that rookie Dale Earnhardt Jr. was driving the 8. After that, I knew exactly who was driving the 8 car.

This fan never did say why he was a fan of Junior.

I did go around and ask a couple dozen other fans about their favorite driver and how they chose him (there were no female drivers named). Overall, it was a great day.

 Oh, I never found another 8 fan that day.


EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER: EDITORatWORK

More entries from TARJ
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)

EDITOR@WORK blog entries 

Entries from The Dog Blog
More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie
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