Dale Earnhardt Jr. shares unique backstory on being gifted one of his dad’s old race-used car
Dale Earnhardt Jr. received a special gift earlier this week, one of his father Dale Earnhardt’s old cars featuring the famous No. 3 with the Goodwrench black paint scheme.
Earnhardt revealed the backstory behind the car during this week’s “Dale Jr. Download,” saying that a gentleman who recently passed away willed him the car. Earnhardt Sr., the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, raced the car in the 90s for Richard Childress Racing.
“I had a surprise today,” Earnhardt said. “There was a gentleman that owned a racecar that was an RCR Dale Earnhardt car from the 90s and he passed away and willed it to me. We’ve been going through this process — the legal part of that — over the last several months and the car is here today for the very first time. So, I’m very thankful for that. Just an incredible surprise and I think I’m already digging into the history of the car. I’m sure people are shocked that somebody willed me a car of my dad’s, but it was a really nice thing.”
While Earnhardt isn’t exactly sure which race his dad drove the car, he knows it’s in fact an RCR car that Team Ireland owner Martin Birrane purchased around 1991. Earnhardt made the discovery after examining the interior of the car. He saw residue from an old decal where he made out the name Bobby Hillin Jr., who drove for Team Ireland in 13 races during the 1991 and ’92 seasons.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. explains where gifted car came from
“This car — I just saw it for the very first time,” Earnhardt said. “I had no idea, don’t know anything else about it. I’ve just been told it’s one of dad’s old cars. And so, I look into the interior and on the dash, you can see some old decal residue. You can make out these letters that whatever the decal that was there previously had been stripped away, but the glue was still there and it’s Bobby Hillin Jr. Why would Bobby Hillin Jr.’s name be on the dash? So, around 1991, there was a team that came from Ireland — a guy that wanted to start a NASCAR team and he bought a car from Richard Childress, and they ran probably about 14 or so races over the course of two or three seasons. Bobby Hillin drove the car.
“It was black No. 31, and I don’t know if they bought one, two or three cars, I know they did buy one strictly from RCR and this is that car. It was an RCR car, still has the original orange interior. Dad raced it somewhere. I’ll call RCR and ask them about when they sold this car to this person. They should have the numbers on that car and the chassis and the information on what races that chassis ran for dad. They’ll also know when they sold it to this gentleman in Ireland and we can probably get a decent understanding of this car.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. needs help
Finding that race in which his dad piloted the car is Earnhardt’s challenge and he’s already asking for help from the fans.
“The serial # or identifying numbers on the rollcage are…. 3 8 10 89,” Earnhardt tweeted Friday. “I believe the 8 10 89 is a reference to the date of frame construction. Thought I’d share so some of y’all can do your own digging.”
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