Driver Austin Dillon will be using the late Dale Earnhardt's No. 3 in the Sprint Cup Series next season, according to the Associated Press.
The No. 3 has not been used since Earnhardt was killed in 2001 during the Daytona 500. Dillon was given the number by his grandfather Richard Childress, who runs Richard Childress Racing.
"I know in my heart, today, as I sit here, Dale Earnhardt is smiling down," Childress said this week, according to USA Today. "He would want to see this 3. He didn't want it to ever go away. But I felt it was the thing to do right after Daytona, and I know today that he's accepting this highly. I knew him that well."
Dillon has been using the No. 3 in NASCAR national competition ever since he made his Truck Series debut in 2009. He won the 2011 Truck championship driving the No. 3 for Richard Childress Racing and the Nationwide championship using the same number, according to NASCAR.com.
Childress said he mentioned the idea of letting Dillon use the No. 3 at the start of the year to fans in order to get a fan response. He claims to have received a 90 percent positive feedback the day after he mentioned, according to USA Today.
"We held the number, I've been paying NASCAR for it throughout the years and Bill (France) Jr. told me 'You know, if we're ever challenged, we'll have to let someone have that 3,'" Childress said. "But we weren't, and I knew that the right opportunity would come. It would have to be an Earnhardt or one of the Childress family that we would put behind that."
The No. 3 Chevrolet car is set to be sponsored by General Mills, Dow, Bass Pro, and Realtree.
Childress believes that having the No. 3 back in the series will help "resurrect Earnhardt's legacy" according to USA Today.
"My grandfather has done a great job of teaching me how to handle certain responses to things, and I think we're going to go forward with it," Dillon said, according USA Today. "I've heard a lot of good feedback from the fans, and every time I'm at an autograph session I've had someone ask what's going to happen. They are excited and we are, too, at RCR.
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