Sometimes a certain livery is not remembered for the result it produced but rather for the story behind it. And recently, Dale Earnhardt Jr opened up about one such car. 

During a recent interaction with a fan on X, NASCAR Hall of Famer Earnhardt Jr recalled the 1996 race where he drove the renumbered No. 3 Petty Blue car. 

"Hell of a story. Bobby Hamilton owned Ford with a spool rear end. I borrowed it, and it rightly hauled ass with a 500 2 barrel carb on it. Had em beat real bad when the transmission quit. Sold the car on the spot on pit road as soon as the race was over."

According to Earnhardt Jr, he had just made his entry in the Comdata 200 Late Model race at the 1996 Nashville Fairground Speedway. He had an amazing car that displayed great amounts of speed during the practice session.

However, Junior ended up wrecking his car on the backstretch with another car, which ruined both vehicles. That was when four-time NASCAR champion Bobby Hamilton approached Junior and offered his car, the Ford No. 3 Petty Blue.

Unfortunately, the car's transmission blew up with just 30 laps of the race remaining. So, even though the JR Motorsports racer was making good progress throughout the race, it ended with the Ford being towed off.

During a 2018 NASCAR interview, Earnhardt Jr. revealed that due to how well the car performed, Bobby Hamilton was able to sell the car right there on the pit road. However, who the car was sold to remains unknown.

It also became the first and only time the Nashville Fairground Speedway saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. drive anything other than a Chevrolet. 

When Dale Earnhardt Jr. returned to Nashville Fairground Speedway

According to a report by Short Track Scene, Earnhardt Jr. made a return to the speedway during the Tootsie’s Music City Showdown with the CARS Tour Model this year. This was a part of his effort to save the fairgrounds, which is currently stuck in a legal battle. 

Before his return, the NASCAR Hall of Famer had raced multiple races at the speedway, including during his tenure in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts series, which he participated in from 1997-99 and made three starts.

However, his best performance was during the 1998 race, during which he finished in third place after leading 25 laps. 

During the 2026 Late Model CARS Tour in April, he drove the Chevrolet  No. 8 Bass Pro Shops. Although his latest return to the track was in efforts to save the speedway, it also helped Dale Jr. revisit a speedway that has been a huge part of his racing journey. 

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Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Arundhoti Palit