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The Lucky Number 3

by Tim Zaegel on January 28th, 2008

Heading into the 2008 NASCAR season, I can’t help but notice that the number three keeps popping up all over the place – often in areas that hold a significant impact on the season as a whole.

For starters, Jimmie Johnson will attempt to win his third consecutive Cup Championship. In doing so, JJ would become only the second driver to do so in our sport’s prestigious history. Cale Yarbrough is the only other driver to do so, winning the Winston Cup during the stretch of the 1976 to 1978 racing seasons. This is a feat that has not been accomplished by legends Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, or even teammate Jeff Gordon. This would undoubtedly solidify Johnson’s place in the racing Hall of Fame – if he hasn’t done so already – and, would place him in the most exclusive of company.

Tony Stewart will attempt to win his third Cup Championship this year as well, though the task has become that much more difficult with Joe Gibbs Racing making the jump to the Toyota brand – which remains a very large question mark for 2008. If anyone can adapt to the changes, though, Stewart has to be amongst the favorites. “Smoke” won his first Cup Championship in 2002 behind the wheel of a Pontiac and won the 2005 Cup riding in the Chevy Monte Carlo. In fact, Stewart’s been able to win both races and championships in virtually everything he’s ever started an engine on, classifying him as one of the truly best all-around drivers in the racing world.

NASCAR will be sporting their third primary sponsor for the top series this decade. The legendary Winston brand pulled out of the NASCAR world following the 2003 season, in which Nextel took over and we were introduced to “the Chase” format. Now, after only four seasons, we’re once again subject to another change in sponsors as Sprint will take over. With the company’s reported losses in the 2007 fiscal year, it should be interesting to see how – if at all – this will effect their NASCAR operations.

Penske Racing will introduce a third racing team to their NASCAR organization for the first time. With superstars Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman struggling in past seasons, it should be interesting to see if bringing in the no. 77 team piloted by rookie Sam Hornish Jr. will help bolster the other teams’ performances. As we saw by the late season addition of Pat Tryson to the no. 2 team of Kurt Busch, that team could be in serious contention for a championship this season, and having that third team to share information with could be a huge plus in that venture.

Finally, there’s been recent talk of Richard Childress possibly bringing the no. 3 back to NASCAR one day. His grandson, Austin Dillon, is currently sporting the no. 3 on his late model dirt tack car, and Childress appears to be open to the possibility of allowing Austin to one day run the no. 3 at the NASCAR level should he ever find his way there. This would certainly be a bitter sweet moment for Childress and the entire NASCAR Nation. The no. 3 car was retired and turned into the no. 29 following the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. at the Daytona 500 back in 2001, and Richard had never planned on using the number again … until Austin came to him one day and expressed his desire to run that number in honor of Richard. Obviously this doesn’t follow suit as my other “number 3’s”, as it holds no significant impact on the upcoming 2008 season, but it’s something to keep in the back of your minds nonetheless.

 “DYN” Imposes:  This week, Do You NASCAR also asks …  

1. Do You … think that Jimmie Johnson will become the first three-peat champion since Cale Yarbrough? 

2. Do You … think that Tony Stewart has any chance of winning his third championship in 2008? 

3. Do You … think that Richard Childress should allow the number 3 to race again at the NASCAR level?

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