| "The Man in Black" is back - sort of. The late Dale | | | | the deal hasn't officially been announced yet it's |
| Earnhardt's legacy lies on the racetrack and has | | | | already making tickets to the Daytona race hot |
| refused to die alongside the No. 3 car he crashed | | | | items from <a rel="nofollow" |
| in the 2001 Daytona 500. Earnhardt, one of the | | | | onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(' |
| best and most respected drivers in the history of | | | | outgoing/article_exit_link');" href=" |
| NASCAR, made No. 3 a sacred number in the | | | | Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his team are expected to |
| world of stock car racing, but even though the | | | | make an announcement regarding the July 2 race |
| number has all but been retired, his son Dale Jr. will | | | | on April 29, marking a much-anticipated event on |
| soon take it for a lap around the Daytona | | | | the NASCAR scene. News was leaked via Twitter |
| International Raceway – the last track Dale | | | | thanks to a tweet by Darrell Waltrip, and it |
| Earnhardt ever drove - to pay tribute to his | | | | already has racing fans excited more than two |
| father. | | | | months prior to the race. |
| Announced in late April, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will | | | | While Junior fights to preserve his father's |
| swap his typical No. 88 for his father's number as | | | | NASCAR legacy by competing in his number |
| he takes the No. 3 Nationwide Series car for a | | | | during the upcoming Nationwide race in Daytona, |
| spin at the Subway Jalapeno 250 powered by | | | | he's not guaranteed a win in the No. 3 vessel. So |
| Coca-Cola at the July 2 Nationwide race in | | | | far this year (as of April 27) in the Sprint Cup |
| Daytona. Dale Jr. will be racing the car for only the | | | | Series, No. 88 is currently in eighth place in driver |
| eighth time since Earnhardt's 2001 crash. The car | | | | standings. He hasn't won a Cup race yet this |
| was taken out of an unofficial retirement in 2002, | | | | season, but Dale Jr. has notched solid finishes at |
| when Junior raced the car twice in the Nationwide | | | | Daytona (2), Las Vegas (16), Atlanta (15), Bristol |
| Series, and again starting last season, when | | | | (7), Martinsville (15), Phoenix (12), Texas (8) and |
| Richard Childress' grandson Austin Dillon drove it | | | | Talladega (13). He's still looking for that big win to |
| twice last year and four times this season. | | | | bolster his 2010-11 career, and maybe he'll do it in |
| This year, Dale Jr. will step back into the No. 3 car | | | | the Nationwide Series this spring in honor of his |
| for JR Motorsports, which is also teaming up with | | | | father. |
| Richard Childress Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc. | | | | The Nationwide Series' 250 race at Daytona will |
| for the event. Dale Jr.'s racing in his father's | | | | commence July 2 at the Daytona International |
| famed car for the upcoming Nationwide race is | | | | Speedway, and racing fans can look for Dale |
| sure to sell plenty of <a rel="nofollow" | | | | Earnhardt Jr. to start his engine in the |
| onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(' | | | | yellow-and-blue No. 3 Wrangler-sponsored |
| outgoing/article_exit_link');" href=" tickets< | | | | Chevrolet as he pays tribute to his father, the |
| a> as Earnhardt fans pay tribute to one of the | | | | heroic Dale Earnhardt. |
| biggest racing legends in history, and even though | | | | |