http://www.jayski.com/schemes/2008/88cup.htm

He bought the #88 from Yates and now has a new sponsor/car

IMO, it doesn't fit too well, the car reminds me more of Dale Jarrett then Dale Earnhardt but oh well

BTW Travis Kvapil would try his luck again in Nextel Cup taking over Ricky Rudd/Kenny Wallace

I was wondering when he was going to make another go. I watched both him and Kenseth at MIS in Wisconsin before they went big. Both very good drivers. Kenseth has the edge on him though and Kvapil would stuggle against him. Could have been down to the car though too.

Quote from Viper93 :

I was wondering when he was going to make another go. I watched both him and Kenseth at MIS in Wisconsin before they went big. Both very good drivers. Kenseth has the edge on him though and Kvapil would stuggle against him. Could have been down to the car though too.

Kvapil didn't get a fair chance at NASCAR. His #32 Tide was normally one of the worse in the field at the time.

He's like Adrian Sutil in F1

Although I dont know if Yates will be that much better, both Rudd and Wallace struggled in the 88 this year

88, eh? I don't follow NASCAR much any more. The folks with the tattoos will be happy that all they need to do is add another "8" .

I thought it extremely funny that this all happened after seeing the TV commercial with Dale announcing the number change at a press conference and everyone going nuts and changing tattoos, hacking down the sculpted tree in a number 8 shape, etc. That was a funny commercial, then a year later, it really happened!

Yaaaa that's a interesting correlation

So he BOUGHT, the NUMBER, he bought a number? It can't be that the car is any different to the others, so why does the number matter?

Generally speaking NASCAR drivers (or any stock car drivers for that fact) do not change teams as often as F1 guys. Sometimes they go through their whole career in just one car/number

Because of this the number becomes greatly important and symbolic to the driver.

Where as F1 does not focus on the number but on the driver themselves (i.e. when someone's commenting about Button they dont say "the #9" they say "Button), NASCAR focus more on the number. I can name all 43 starting field of any race i you give me all 43 numbers.

Keep in mind that doesn't mean that fans dont care about the drivers (if that was true then everyone wouldn't be pissed about Vickers back when he crashed Johnson and Jr. in Talladega). However, the number if held for a long period of time, becomes the symbol of the driver.

And yes he bought the number. Numbers in NASCAR are the team's property, if you want to use it and ur from another team, u'll have to work something out with the other team to use the number

He originally asked Yates about the 28. Yates offered him the 88 which is what JR wanted from the beginning but didnt think it was available. I think it worked out well for him. He grandfather and father drove the 8 and his grandfather also drove the 88. I like it. IMO, that amp car is fugly, but the national guard one looks pretty good. Should I throw away all my budweiser #8 stuff now?

Quote from th84 :

He originally asked Yates about the 28. Yates offered him the 88 which is what JR wanted from the beginning but didnt think it was available. I think it worked out well for him. He grandfather and father drove the 8 and his grandfather also drove the 88. I like it. IMO, that amp car is fugly, but the national guard one looks pretty good. Should I through away all my budweiser #8 stuff now?

Change it to a 9 and u'll be a Kasey Kahne fan

Did u see Kahne's car? It's exactly like Jr.'s old one except with a 9

Quote from BlueFlame :

So he BOUGHT, the NUMBER, he bought a number? It can't be that the car is any different to the others, so why does the number matter?

In most North American series, car numbers are assigned and leased on a semi-permanent basis and become part of the car's overall identity along with color and sponsor, much like the red Marlboro Ferrari's or "Silver Arrows" McLaren's. Over here the racing souvenirs you can buy often have the driver's number on them in the same font/typeface as it appears on the car. It becomes synonymous with the driver.

In North America, car numbers aren't used to indicate rank like in Europe.

So by 'buying' a car number, he obtained the rights to use that number from the previous holder of it.

go dale jr!! i like this new scheme better than budwiser

Quote from RacingSimFan :

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In North America, car numbers aren't used to indicate rank like in Europe.
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Car numbers are used to indicate rank in Europe?

I dont remember seeing that in any of the season recaps i saw

Quote from lizardfolk :

Car numbers are used to indicate rank in Europe?

I dont remember seeing that in any of the season recaps i saw

OK, Formula 1 at least. I'm afraid I don't follow any other international/european racing series.

Quote from RacingSimFan :

OK, Formula 1 at least. I'm afraid I don't follow any other international/european racing series.

I didn't know F1 was like that too

Quote from lizardfolk :

I didn't know F1 was like that too

Yeah, the numbers change every year according to Constructors points standings except for #'s 1 and 2 which stay with the WDC and his teammate wherever they go.

And the talk is that if Lewis Hamilton doesn't win the WDC, McLaren is gonna get stuck with the last place numbers in 2008 because of being DQ'ed from the constructors championship.

Sorry for the diversion.

Ok thxs, just learned something new bout F1

The paint jobs are ok, too bad the car of tommorow looks like dump.