“Them having this number they identify with is, I think, fair and important.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said these words ahead of the 2025 Cup Series Daytona 500. It marked a historic moment, as his Xfinity Series team, JR Motorsports, was embarking on its first Cup Series race. Justin Allgaier was at the wheel, and Stapleton’s whiskey label, Traveller Whiskey, was the sponsor. So everything had to be perfect – including the car number.

Since the inception of NASCAR, the numbers on cars have been associated with drivers’ glory and fame. Every legendary driver, from 200-time Cup race winner Richard Petty to 7-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, has special bonds with their numbers. However, Ken Schrader does not think a number is important, and Dale Jr. aggressively refutes him.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. asserts his numerical love

Ken Schrader, a Cup Series veteran, is like family to Dale Earnhardt Jr. However, the latter chose to digress from Schrader’s recent comments. Dale Jr. said in a Dale Jr Download episode, “Hey, my casual buddy at the racetrack, there goes Number f—— 88, there goes number 7, that’s my guy. You don’t go, ‘the yellow car with the blah blah blah on it.’ There’s three yellow cars out there. It’s an identifier, and it needs to be in the middle of the f—— door, or wherever you want to put it. You know, this f—— frustrates me. The number’s important. What are we doing?”

Kenny Wallace had been on the podcast with Ken Schrader, and the Xfinity Series veteran also disagreed. Wallace continues to race a No. 36 Toyota dirt car, the same number that has appeared in his Late Model Stock starts and Xfinity Series career in the past. Wallace told Schrader, “I have this emotional tie with my No. 36. I’m 36 for so many reasons. And it kind of hurt me when you said that a number doesn’t mean anything.”

And Dale Earnhardt Jr. wanted to amplify Wallace’s opinion. The 26-time Cup Series race winner has donned many numbers throughout his career, like the No. 8 under Dale Earnhardt Inc. or the No. 88 under Hendrick Motorsports. There is also the No. 3, which his father, the legendary Dale Earnhardt, wore right until his tragic passing in 2001. Dale Jr. said, “Kenny ought to have this personal connection to 36. I got a connection to 8, 88, 03, 31. And I’m gonna f—— keep them. I feel like the number doesn’t matter because it’s an identifier. You go, my guy’s Number 88, I wanna wear that f—— number. I want to wear that jersey.” 

Despite this heated debate, Dale Earnhardt Jr. shares a fuzzy bond with Ken Schrader. The latter was one of the first witnesses to Dale Sr.’s tragic death at the 2001 Daytona 500. And out of respect for the Earnhardt family, he never publicly addressed the accident. Dale Jr. penned an emotional note to Schrader. A part of it read, “You’ve been a great friend to me. You’re one of only a few to see the darkest moment for my dad. Though you have intimate knowledge of those moments, you are a keeper of that delicate information. It makes me feel close to you, Kenny.”

This friendly battle keeps the duo’s spirited bond alive. Meanwhile, Dale Jr.’s opinion has just found reinforcement elsewhere.

An emotional and familial attachment

In 2025, Shane van Gisbergen left a trail of brilliance in the No. 88. The Trackhouse Racing driver picked up a record 5 road course victories in the Cup Series. That would lead most people to believe that the Kiwi would stick to this car number. However, SVG will be driving the No. 97 for next year. And a letter from his father, Robert van Gisbergen, informed him about the change. It talked about the importance of that car number to their family. Both Robert and Shane drove it throughout their careers, and SVG won all three of his Supercars titles with it. He also used it in the Xfinity Series during the 2024 season.

And SVG got emotional while reading it; his mother had passed away in early 2024. SVG’s father wrote these words, “That means so much to our family. Right from the beginning, both of us ran #97 in motocross, we both ran it in speedway. Mom would have been absolutely proud.” This will also be the fifth different number van Gisbergen has driven in his brief NASCAR Cup career. He started in the No. 91 with that incredible win on debut, drove both the No. 13 and No. 16 for Kaulig in Cup, and then the No. 88 for Trackhouse this past season.

Clearly, Dale Earnhardt Jr. just won another point over Ken Schrader in the number debate. With 2026 rolling into view, let’s wait and see which car numbers soar to glory.