When Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing suspended operations on Aric Almirola’s team, it ensured there won’t be a No. 8 on the track this weekend for the first time in 10 years.
That falls squarely on Teresa Earnhardt.
The number was important to the Earnhardt family. Although it was used by 86 different drivers from 1949 until Almirola’s final ride two weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway, it had become as much a part of the Earnhardt legacy as was the elder Earnhardt’s feared No. 3.
Ralph Earnhardt used the number in 51 NASCAR starts, and his son, Dale, made his Cup Series debut with the number in the 1975 Coca-Cola 600. It was Dale Earnhardt’s only Cup race using his father’s number, and it bounced around to multiple drivers for the next two-plus decades.
But when Earnhardt Jr. was ready to go Cup racing, he wanted his grandaddy’s number.
Stavola Brothers Racing had used the No. 8 with very limited success for 14 Cup seasons, but left it idling when the team left NASCAR following the 1998 season.
Dale Earnhardt Inc. grabbed it for Junior, and he made his calculated Cup debut behind the wheel of the No. 8 at the 1999 Coca-Cola 600 - 24 years after his father’s debut in the same race.
A year later, it had grown to one of the most recognizable numbers in NASCAR.
Earnhardt Jr. made 291 starts in the No. 8, winning 17 races and the Daytona 500. He became synonymous with the number, and his die-hard fans eagerly emblazoned everything from ballcaps to body parts with his slanted red 8.
So when he left for Hendrick following the 2007 season, it was natural that he wanted to take the No. 8 with him.
Only Teresa Earnhardt refused.
She’s been blamed for everything that has gone wrong at Dale Earnhardt Inc., now Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, since her famous husband was killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
She was blamed for not giving her stepson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., great equipment even though his current Cup series win count stands at 17 with DEI and one with Hendrick Motorsports.
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