WELCOME, N.C. – The way Richard Childress talks, he sounds pretty convinced that Austin Dillon will drive Dale Earnhardt's famous No. 3 in the Sprint Cup Series.
It’s just a matter of when.
Richard Childress said he still hopes to see grandson Austin Dillon bring Dale Earnhardt's famous No. 3 back to Sprint Cup.
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Last November, Childress said he didn’t think Dillon would drive a No. 3 car in select races in 2013 but it is a possibility when he moves to Cup full time in 2014.
Not much has happened in the last couple of months to change Childress’ mind about bringing back the slanted No. 3 made famous by Earnhardt, the seven-time Cup champion.
“This past season, with Austin running it in Nationwide as much as he did, it’s kind of re-energized a lot of the fans,” Childress said Monday during the Sprint Media Tour stop at his shop. “The fans come up and the cards and the calls and the emails we get, when we said he was going to run the 33 at Daytona, overwhelmingly people wanted to see the 3.
“Who knows? We haven’t made any decisions at this time.”
Childress said it’s probably 85 percent in favor of him running one of his grandsons (Austin or Ty Dillon) in the No. 3 car in Sprint Cup.
“We’ve got people talking about Dale more and that’s what I want to see,” Childress said. “I want to see people never forget who Dale Earnhardt was and the great things he did in the 3.
“If it’s in the family with Austin and Ty or a young Earnhardt someday, who knows?”
This season, Dillon is scheduled to run the full Nationwide schedule and select Cup races, possibly even more than six since he can run as many as he wants this year and still be eligible for the Cup rookie title in 2014.
“Right now we don’t have any plans of running the 3 anytime in the future,” Childress said. “But who knows what may happen between now and the next few months?’
It’s just a matter of when.
Richard Childress said he still hopes to see grandson Austin Dillon bring Dale Earnhardt's famous No. 3 back to Sprint Cup. Last November, Childress said he didn’t think Dillon would drive a No. 3 car in select races in 2013 but it is a possibility when he moves to Cup full time in 2014.
Not much has happened in the last couple of months to change Childress’ mind about bringing back the slanted No. 3 made famous by Earnhardt, the seven-time Cup champion.
“This past season, with Austin running it in Nationwide as much as he did, it’s kind of re-energized a lot of the fans,” Childress said Monday during the Sprint Media Tour stop at his shop. “The fans come up and the cards and the calls and the emails we get, when we said he was going to run the 33 at Daytona, overwhelmingly people wanted to see the 3.
“Who knows? We haven’t made any decisions at this time.”
Childress said it’s probably 85 percent in favor of him running one of his grandsons (Austin or Ty Dillon) in the No. 3 car in Sprint Cup.
“We’ve got people talking about Dale more and that’s what I want to see,” Childress said. “I want to see people never forget who Dale Earnhardt was and the great things he did in the 3.
“If it’s in the family with Austin and Ty or a young Earnhardt someday, who knows?”
This season, Dillon is scheduled to run the full Nationwide schedule and select Cup races, possibly even more than six since he can run as many as he wants this year and still be eligible for the Cup rookie title in 2014.
“Right now we don’t have any plans of running the 3 anytime in the future,” Childress said. “But who knows what may happen between now and the next few months?’
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