DEI, the #8, Number Legacy

By Bruce Simmons, July 8, 2007

Over on NASCAR.com, there's an article stating that DEI has re-signed Bass Pro Shops to the #1 car, and later on in the article, it touches on the number 8 scenario.

Max Siegel says the issue isn't a simple one. "It's more complicated than people give it credit for."

"There's a lot of history, there's a legacy, there's emotion, there's commercial value to everyone involved. The one thing that I know is that, throughout every process we've had, everyone's been committed to doing the right thing."

Maybe I'm winding up over nothing, but the history of the number is that is was used by an Earnhardt driving it. Jr has driven in the #8 for DEI, but his father drove the eight under a different car owner, and so did his grandfather. And Siegel, I hope isn't counting when Joe Weatherly used the number.

The legacy Siegel quotes is what I just noted. It's been driven by the family, known by fans as the number on the Earnhardt side. But it's an emotional legacy. The number 8 legacy has been on the side of multiple drivers through the years.

2000 - 2007: Dale Earnhardt Jr.;
1998: Morgan Shepherd, Buckshot Jones & Hut Stricklin;
1996-7: Hut Stricklin;
1994-5: Jeff Burton;
1993: Sterling Marlin;
1992: Dick Trickle & Rick Wilson;
1991: Rick Wilson;
1983 - 1990: Bobby Hillin, Jr;
1982: Dick Brooks & Bobby Hillin, Jr;
1981: Jimmy Means, Dick May, Rick O'Dell & Kirk Shelmerdine;
1980: Kevin Housby & James Hylton;
1979: Ed Negre;
1978: Ferrel Harris, Ed Negre, Skip Manning, Dick May;
1977: Ed Negre;
1976: Ed Negre & Gary Matthews;
1975: Ed Negre, Dale Earnhardt, Dick May & Dean Dalton;

What legacy are we talking about Max?

Here's where I get spinning up: "there's emotion, there's commercial value to everyone involved." The commercial value I see is the strong association of the number to the color red, to the sponsor Budweiser, and to the driver, Dale Earnahrdt Jr. with the fans.

Now mind you, I'm no marketing guru or image spin master, but I'm thinking the only imaginable commercial value to DEI the number would hold, would be to draw new fans who have heard of the #, to the teams fan base, or as a commodity to be bartered for with Hendrcik Motorsports. If DEI retains the 8, it will be a cost value for them while it's still a flash in the pan, but it will fade, and with it, any form of appreciation of the team known as DEI.

Like I said, there may be more to it, but that's what I'm seeing as I read the article I came across. Here's the article: nascar