Dallas — A common misconception in NASCAR Nextel Cup racing is that the teams own their numbers and can trade them freely among each other. In fact, NASCAR owns each and every number in the Nextel Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck Series and licenses them to the teams on an annual basis.
That’s the formal policy.
Informally, NASCAR has on occasion permitted the exchange of number between teams, which was the case when Robert Yates Racing agreed to forego its right to the No. 88 so that Dale Earnhardt Jr. could use the number in 2008 when he moves to Hendrick Motorsports.
RYR agreed to give the number up and Hendrick went to NASCAR for approval of moving the No. 88 to Earnhardt’s car. But the transfer wouldn’t have happened without the OK from the Yates organization, which next year will campaign No. 28 in the Nextel Cup Series for Travis Kvapil and No. 38 for David Gilliland.
“Ralph Earnhardt drove the No. 88 Olds in 1957 and because of this number’s history with the Earnhardt family; I felt car number 88 should continue with Dale Earnhardt Jr.,” Robert Yates said in a statement released by the team.
“Younger fans don’t realize I built cars and raced against Ralph. I also had a very close relationship with Dale Earnhardt Sr. I’m proud to transfer this number to Dale Jr. and let him know how much I appreciate the friendship and competitive racing I’ve always enjoyed with his family.”
Dale Jarrett began driving the No. 88 Ford Quality Care/Ford Credit Racing Ford in 1996 and promptly won the Daytona 500 in the team’s first race. UPS assumed the role of primary sponsorship in 2001 with Ford Credit staying on as an associate sponsor. Jarrett had 29 victories and won, what was then the Winston Cup championship in 1999. He also finished in the top 10 in points seven consecutive seasons from 1996 through 2002. Ricky Rudd assumed driving duties in 2007, with sponsorship from Snickers.
The deal to move the No. 88 to Hendrick was negotiated between Robert Yates and Earnhardt’s sister and business manager, Kelley Elledge Earnhardt.
“We appreciate Robert working with us.” said team owner Rick Hendrick. “… Kelley started the conversations. Like Dale said, Robert and Doug were gracious enough to work with us on that. It works out.”
Initially, the discussions centered on the No. 28, which was not being used, but Yates decided to keep that number and make the No. 88 available instead.
“When I went to talk with Robert about the 28, we were very sensitive to the heritage of the 28 with Robert Yates,” said Elledge Earnhardt. “We got to talking about the possibilities of trading out one of the other numbers and the 88 made perfect sense. … It’s like Robert said. He wants us to have the 88 because it fits. And when two people want something, they can work it out.”
Earnhardt Elledge said striking a deal with Yates “wasn’t hard at all,” especially since it included some prized history lessons.
“Robert’s pretty easy to sit down and talk with,” she said. “He’s a good friend of our family’s, raced against Papa Ralph, so it’s easy to get in a room with him and hear a lot of stories about that, which I love. It was real easy to work out a deal. And for him to talk to Doug and the rest of his family, that number obviously means a lot to them, they won a championship with it. And so, we’re thankful that they thought enough of us to work something out with us, where they could bring the No. 28 back to the race track and we could carry on the legacy of the 88.”
