Afterwards, there was a large show of respect for Earnhardt, in which every crew member of every team lined pit road to shake his hand as he made his way to victory lane.

However, poor performances at the road course of Watkins Glen, where he wrecked coming out of the chicane, a wreck with Chad Little while leading the spring race at Bristol, and mid-pack runs at intermediate tracks like Charlotte and Dover in a season dominated by the Ford Taurus in those tracks of Roush, Yates, and Penske, coupled with the extremely consistent Joe Gibb's No. 18 team with Bobby Labonte, denied Earnhardt the coveted eighth championship title.

The team, which was composed of Earnhardt, Earnhardt, Jr., Andy Pilgrim, and Kelly Collins, finished 4th overall and 2nd in class.

Special pennants bearing the No. 3 were distributed to everyone at the track to honor Earnhardt, and the Childress team wore blank uniforms out of respect, something which disappeared quickly and was soon replaced by the previous GM Goodwrench Service Plus uniforms.

A common misconception is that Richard Childress Racing " owns the rights " to the No. 3 in NASCAR competition ( fueled by the fact that Kevin Harvick's car has a little No. 3 as an homage to Earnhardt and the usage of the No. 3 on the Camping World Series truck of Ty Dillon ), but in fact no team owns the rights to this or any other number: However, according to established NASCAR procedures, RCR would have priority over other teams if and when the time came to reuse the number.

On November 14 it was announced the Ganassi team would merge with Dale Earnhardt Inc., Montoya was confirmed to drive the # 42 as the team switches from Dodge to Chevrolet.

The reason the team gave for removing the car from the race was a blown engine, however Bonnett was teamed with points leader Dale Earnhardt, and the car was retired to assist Earnhardt in winning the season's championship.

Stewart earned his first & only win of the season in the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega on October 5 driving for sponsor Subway as his last win on Joe Gibbs Racing ( Stewart then would move to his own racing team Stewart-Haas Racing ) On the final lap Stewart was passed by Regan Smith the rookie of Dale Earnhardt Inc who beat Stewart to the line.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. on pit road, as his team completes a pit stop during the 2008 Dodge Challenger 500

* Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, a NASCAR team

Richard Childress, the former car owner and team owner of Dale Earnhardt sued ESPN for copyright infringement with the film's use of the " 3 " logo.

Smith Family Baseball, owned by Illinois businessman Dale Smith and his son Brad ( the team's President ) bought the team from Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and motorsports magnate Bruton Smith in December 2004.

In 2003, he began the season with his father's team, before he was hired by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to drive his # 81 Chance 2 Motorsports Chevy.

At the beginning of the 2009 season, his team, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. merged with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and be renamed Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.

The company sponsors the # 56 Toyota Camry driven in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series by Martin Truex, Jr. for Michael Waltrip Racing, and also sponsored Michael Waltrip from 2001 until 2009 when he drove for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Bill Davis Racing, and his own team.

In April 2007, he announced he had signed a driver development contract with the NASCAR team JR Motorsports owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. with Monster Energy Drink sponsoring.

In December 2008, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing announced that they had closed the # 40 team down, due to a lack of sponsorship.

On November 12, 2008 Chip Ganassi along with Teresa Earnhardt, widow of Dale Earnhardt, the seven-time NASCAR champion and namesake of their own NASCAR team, announced that the two teams would merge in time for the 2009 season and run under the name of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Jr .' s Budweiser car in 2007

Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. ( April 29, 1951February 18, 2001 ) was an American race car driver, best known for his involvement in stock car racing for NASCAR.

Born to race car driver Ralph Lee Earnhardt, Earnhardt began his career in 1975 when he drove in the 1975 World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway as part of the Winston Cup Series ( later the Sprint Cup Series ).

In 1971, Earnhardt married his second wife, Brenda Gee ( the daughter of NASCAR car builder Robert Gee ), with whom he had a daughter, Kelley King, in 1972, and a son, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., in 1974.

Earnhardt drove an Ed Negre Dodge Charger (# 8 ) and finished 22nd in the race, one place ahead of his future car owner, Richard Childress.

joined car owner Rod Osterlund Racing, in a season that included a rookie class of future stars – Earnhardt, Harry Gant and Terry Labonte.

The following year, at Childress ' suggestion, Earnhardt joined car owner Bud Moore for the 1982 and 1983 seasons driving the No. 15 Wrangler Jeans Ford Thunderbird ( Earnhardt's only full-time Ford ride in his career ).

During this race, Earnhardt was briefly forced into the infield grass, but kept control of his car and returned to the track without giving up his lead — a maneuver now referred to as the " Pass in the Grass " even though Earnhardt actually didn't pass and couldn't have passed anyone for position as he was in the lead at the time.

During this season Earnhardt garnered a second nickname, " The Man in Black ", owing to the black paint scheme in which the No. 3 car was painted.

Video of the crash showed what appeared to be a fatal incident, but once medical workers arrived at the car, Earnhardt climbed out and waved to the crowd, refusing to be loaded onto a stretcher despite a broken collarbone, sternum, and shoulder blade.

When asked, Earnhardt said that vacating the No. 3 car was the hardest thing he'd ever done.

Once again in the hunt for the Daytona 500 with 10 laps to go, Earnhardt was taken out of contention by a late crash which sent his car upside down on the backstretch.

Earnhardt swept both races for the year at Talladega, leading most observers to conclude that Earnhardt's talent had become limited to the restrictor plate tracks, which require a unique skill set and an exceptionally powerful car to win.

Labonte had four fresh tires and Earnhardt was driving on old tires, which made Earnhardt's car considerably slower.

At the 2001 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2001, Earnhardt was involved in a car accident after the final lap, in which Earnhardt's car was pushed into the wall nose-first by Ken Schrader's car at an estimated speed of.

The carnage resulted in Schrader and Earnhardt, Jr. rushing to Earnhardt, Sr. Earnhardt was extricated from his car and taken to Halifax Medical Center.

The 1986 season saw Earnhardt win his second career Winston Cup Championship and the first owner's championship for RCR.

Earnhardt finished a career-low 12th in the points for the second time in his career, and the only time he had finished that low since joining RCR.

In the Daytona 500, Bowyer teamed up with many drivers throughout the day including Jeff Burton, Paul Menard ( his new RCR teammate ), Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Kyle Busch.

Despite his ownership of the DEI racing team, Earnhardt never drove for his team in the Winston Cup ; instead he raced for his long-time mentor and backer Richard Childress at RCR.

RCR also runs developmental drivers in the ARCA Racing Series, fielding the # 31 Chevrolet for Tim George, Jr .. RCR has fielded cars for notables such as Dale Earnhardt, Ricky Rudd, and Neil Bonnett.

Richard Childress Racing entered the number 3 in the Daytona Truck race on 13 February 2010 painted identically to when Earnhardt drove it, but with Bass Pro Shops as a sponsor.

Oddly, the number 3 was involved in a wreck almost identical to that which took the life of Earnhardt: being spun out, colliding with another vehicle and being turned into the outside wall in turn number four.

Wrangler followed Earnhardt to Richard Childress Racing number 3.

Unlike most of his predecessors, Batycki brought with him extensive marketing and PR knowledge of motorsports, having been a vice president at the North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, NC and a vice president at Richard Childress Racing for a number of years, working with the late Dale Earnhardt for the last years of the seven-time champion's career.

On 10 May 2007, Earnhardt Jr. announced that he would not return to DEI for the 2008 season ; on 13 June 2007, officially announced his move to Hendrick Motorsports ( HMS ); and on 16 August 2007, that he would not retain the # 8 car number.

It was run to honor his father during his year and a half with the team until his unexpected release from Ginn Racing mid-way through the 2007 season, after the team merged with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. After the merger, the # 14 went to Stewart-Haas Racing which owner / driver Tony Stewart used the number in honor of childhood hero A. J.