It’s an old joke in NASCAR country, where kids in North Carolina are taught to count like this: “One, two, Earnhardt, four, five, six… “
Today’s NASCAR stars have numbers that are already a part of public consciousness: Jeff Gordon and 24. Tony Stewart and 20. Jimmie Johnson and 48. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and 8.
Oops—Earnhardt is no longer No. 8.
Did you know that the No. 01 Army Chevrolet, driven this year by Mark Martin, requested that number because of its slogan “An Army of One. “
Or that the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet wanted No. 07 because Jack Daniel’s (the whiskey, not the man) is known as “old No. 7? “
Or that the Heinz Chevrolet wanted No. 57 because Heinz has 57 varieties?
Or that the Red Bull Toyota requested No. 83, because a container of Red Bull holds 8.3 ounces?
Or that the 96 DLP Chevrolet has that number because of its co-owners, former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman? They simply took their football numbers and multiplied (Staubach’s 12 x Aikman’s 8 = 96).
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