It was announced that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive the #88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolets in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, giving him a storied car number for his transition to Hendrick Motorsports. Some history behind the #88 in NASCAR’s top series:
FAMILY TIES: Ralph Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s grandfather, drove a #88 Petty Enterprises “Oldsmobile 88″ in the 1957 Virginia 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The elder Earnhardt started ninth and finished 13th in the May 19 Grand National division race won by Buck Baker. Ralph Earnhardt also piloted the #188 entries for Petty in seven events that season, posting three top-10 results and six top-15s.
‘88′ DEBUTS: On Sept. 11, 1949 at Langhorne (Pa.) Speedway, driver Pepper Cunningham started 15th and drove his #88 car, a 1949 Lincoln, to a 33rd-place finish in the Strictly Stock event. Won by Curtis Turner, the race marked the first time a #88 was entered in NASCAR competition.
ALL-STAR ROSTER: The list of drivers who have piloted a #88 car in NASCAR Cup-level competition reads like an all-star race roster. Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Buck Baker, Buddy Baker, Geoffrey Bodine, Ernie Irvan, Dale Jarrett, Benny Parsons, Jim Paschal, Fireball Roberts, Ricky Rudd, Rusty Wallace, Darrell Waltrip and Joe Weatherly have all taken turns wheeling it.
65 WINS… AND COUNTING: The #88 has been to Victory Lane 65 times since its first race in 1949, ranking it ninth among car numbers on the all-time win list. It is also 10th in all-time starts (1,264) and 12th in all-time pole positions (52).
WHAT’S IN A NUMBER: Along with its 65 Cup-level wins, the #88 has recorded 52 poles, 315 top-five finishes and 526 top-10s. It has led 18,398 laps and logged nearly 350,000 miles.
PAIR OF 88s: Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports operation also uses the #88 on its Chevrolets in NASCAR Busch Series competition. In fact, the current driver of the #88 Busch Series entries, Brad Keselowski, also has family ties to the number. His uncle, Ron Keselowski, ran a #88 car on 43 occasions in 1971, 1972 and 1973 combined, recording a best finish of fifth at Michigan International Speedway on June 11, 1972.
[Hendrick PR]
- Jeff Gordon doesn’t think The Chase points are unfair but…
- Dale Earnhardt, Jr going retro with paint scheme at Darlington
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- Mark Martin has a history with the 01
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cool things to know.
Wish him Good luck its a clean break from T E I .
Cannot say I like the paint or the colors I will have to sew another 8 on my old hat. Hopefully the paint is better on the finished cars.
clean break from DEI not TEI Good luck JR. and may God bless.
I believe these are the finished cars Craig lol
I like the paint scheme. It’s clean.
Wasn’t anywhere what I expected though.
Heck yeah, great info on the #88! Great choice, Jr.! The break from TEI is going as smoothly as it can and I am sure Theresa is going to be real sorry she let you get away! Your dad is smiling down on you so big and giving you a thumbs up all the time! Way to go! Let’s go Racing! Boogity, Boogity, Boogity!
Andy
Sep 20th, 2007 at 8:14 pm Quote
I believe these are the finished cars Craig lol
I like the paint scheme. It’s clean.
Wasn’t anywhere what I expected though.
Oh well not to excited looks like a mello yellow can . Something is getting lost for me in this change. I am still a fan. He is maybe a different person or well better wait and see . Thanks for the info on the paint
guest or Craig