Jeffrey Hrunka - Staff Writer
When something in a sport is made iconic with a player, such as a celebration or a play, it tends to be synonymous with them, defining their legacy. Look at Randy Moss’s incredible jump-ball catches, a move so iconic that whenever another player makes a similar play, they “mossed” the opponent.
For those in motorsports, the same comparison can be made with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his partnership with Budweiser while he was running the Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) No.8. The number font combined with black streaks and the matte Budweiser red finish always stood out on the racetrack.
However, the iconic duo split up in 2008. Dale Jr. shifted his talents to Hendrick Motorsports, with Budweiser leaving to sponsor Evernham Motorsports’ young phenom, Kasey Kahne.
With the departure of Dale Jr. and Budweiser, the DEI No.8 team was shut down at the end of 2008. To stay afloat, the organization briefly merged with Chip Ganassi Racing before fully going under a year later, with the number's trademark taken along with it.
Although Daniel Hemric reintroduced the No. 8 to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2019, and Tyler Reddick and Kyle Busch later drove it, the team could never use the font since Teresa Earnhardt owned the trademark.
This all changed when she chose not to renew it, allowing her stepson to regain the rights to the number. With its return came merchandise sales, with Dale Jr. returning the number for a one-off with Budweiser in the South Carolina 400, a late model race at Florence Motor Speedway, on Saturday, Nov. 23.
As a fan, I didn’t think too much of it. I thought the most that would come out of the return of the famed DEI No.8 would be merchandise and possibly using the font in a throwback scheme in the Xfinity Series. That was not the case as on Monday, Dec.9, JR Motorsports announced that the font would run full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Sammy Smith piloting the famed No.8 Chevrolet Camero.
While many are glad that the number has returned to the Xfinity Series on a full-time basis, I have to disagree. It will hurt the legacy of the iconic number.
Many drivers’ careers are remembered for what they accomplished but for how they looked while achieving those great successes. When people think of Dale Earnhardt, they think of the red and black No.3. As for Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, it was the neon yellow No.24 and No.48 colors that stood out on track throughout the 2000s.
While the iconic No. 3 and No. 24 looks have returned on occasion, neither was a permanent change like what JR Motorsports was doing. It still allowed for some distinction between the drivers who used the number in the past and those who are using it now. The other difference is that both historic teams who made history with these iconic numbers have maintained the numbers since.
If taking away the prestige of the number was not enough, another issue comes with the inconsistency of the font compared to the rest of the organization.
With different sponsorships from week to week, it isn’t easy to spot your favorite driver. It’s even harder for fans to tell which drivers are teammates with one another. One of the only things that signifies that is matching numeral fonts.
For instance, Evernham Motorsports had ‘Flying E’ with its numbers and Red Horse Racing had a black box surrounding white numbers. A team’s font tells a story and separates themselves from the other organizations around them.
This change will take a while for me to get used to. It may just be the unfamiliarity of the number returning to the sport in such a short amount of time after its reintroduction. But I believe there are more downsides than upsides in this announcement.
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