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As a third-generation racer, Dale Earnhardt Jr. understands the importance of family, hard work and heritage. Today, Hellmann\u2019s and Earnhardt Jr. unveiled a special paint scheme that captures those key elements in a memorable way, announcing by video a throwback tribute to his late father Dale Earnhardt Sr. that he\u2019ll drive during the Xfinity Series event at Darlington Raceway (Aug. 31).
\nEarnhardt Jr.\u2019s No. 8 Hellmann\u2019s Chevrolet draws inspiration from the same classic design Earnhardt Sr. piloted in his first NASCAR Cup Series start on May 25, 1975 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 2019 version mirrors the blue and yellow livery, showcases a similar font and recreates the vintage style of the No. 8 on the door panels and roof.<\/p>\n
“This is something I\u2019ve been wanting to do for a while,\u201d Earnhardt Jr. said. \u201cWe had the perfect opportunity with the Darlington throwback race and I couldn\u2019t pass up the chance. Hellmann\u2019s has been completely supportive from the beginning and the whole concept aligns well with their core values.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the project combining NASCAR history and car design, two of Earnhardt Jr.\u2019s passions, the appeal and significance of the commemorative paint scheme is evident given its intriguing backstory.<\/p>\n
Carrying sponsorship from 10,000 RPM Speed Equipment, Earnhardt Sr.\u2019s No. 8 was owned by Ed Negre, both a driver and car owner who made 338 Grand National starts between 1955-79. Negre\u2019s son Norman worked as an engine builder for his father and the Negre Racing Team and was a close friend of Earnhardt Sr. In 1975, after some persuasion, the pair convinced the elder Negre to let them enter a second car, which Earnhardt Sr. would drive and Norman would crew chief in the World 600. With his approval, the two dusted off a spare car out of Negre\u2019s shop and went to work prepping it for the race.<\/p>\n
Earnhardt Sr. would go on to finish 22nd in what was his first of 676 series starts. But it was the start of long and fruitful motorsport careers for both he and Norman and the beginning of another chapter in their respective family legacies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a ton of fun getting Norman (Negre) in on it, too,\u201d Earnhardt Jr. continued. \u201cHe was good friends with Dad and they worked together to get that car ready for the race back in the day. Norman had some old pictures of that ride and we collaborated to get the paint scheme as close as we could to the original. I\u2019m really happy with how it turned out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The No. 8 Hellmann\u2019s throwback car marks only the fourth time Earnhardt Jr. has driven a special paint scheme in tribute to an Earnhardt family member.<\/p>\n
Fans were urged to be part of the excitement surrounding the paint scheme through social media and at Talladega Superspeedway where fan-submitted photos were added to an at-track digital mosaic of the Hellmann\u2019s paint scheme. For each fan-submitted photo Hellmann\u2019s also secured eight meals for local Feeding America food banks as part of the Race To Fight Hunger campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As a third-generation racer, Dale Earnhardt Jr. understands the importance of family, hard work and heritage. Today, Hellmann\u2019s and Earnhardt Jr. unveiled a special paint scheme that captures those key elements in a memorable way, announcing by video a throwback tribute to his late father Dale Earnhardt Sr. that he\u2019ll drive during the Xfinity Series […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,788],"tags":[170,180,789,708],"coauthors":[675],"class_list":{"0":"post-20490","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-xfinity","8":"category-news","9":"tag-dale-earnhardt-jr","10":"tag-darlington-raceway","11":"tag-front","12":"tag-nascar"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nascar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nascar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nascar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nascar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nascar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nascar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nascar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nascar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nascar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nascar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20490"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tireball.com\/nascar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=20490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}