Dale Earnhardt Jr., you’re such a tease.
But in a good way.
The thought had been planted in people’s minds earlier this year, when it was noted that the trademark on Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s stylized No. 8 was was set to expire and Dale Jr. himself applied to take it over.
What could it possibly mean!?!
The possibilities made one’s mind spin.
At worst, we could get the kind of great throwback merchandise that wasn’t available all the way back in 2017, when Earnhardt retired from NASCAR Cup Series competition.
At best?
Don’t get me started.
Then Monday (Oct. 21) came.
Earnhardt had to go and change his X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook profile pictures and post the gem below.
Well, NASCAR Nation’s online hive mind lost its collective mind.
It would take less than 12 hours for all the questions being asked to receive answers.
And some of them were a little surprising.
Be still my heart.
A red Chevrolet with an 8 on the side and Bud on the hood hasn’t made my heart flutter this much since a mid-2000s race at Talladega Superspeedway.
It’s been 17 years, people.
As one person on X noted this morning, the New England Patriots were still undefeated the last time this scheme was seen on a racetrack.
But golly, it’s going to happen again.
Just … not on a NASCAR track.
Honestly, I don’t care if it’s going to be run at a South Carolina short track in late November instead of Bristol Motor Speedway in September.
It will still be magical.
In the 24 hours surrounding the announcement of the reunion of Earnhardt with Budweiser, more than once I saw on the NASCAR subreddit references to the No. 9 and “Satan.”
This was, of course, a reference to the previous owner of the trademark on the DEI No. 8: Teresa Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt Sr.‘s widow.
Her relationship to the NASCAR community — and the Earnhardt family — since his death in 2001 has been, well, awkward at best and baffling at its worst.
There’s a reason Dale Jr. left Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of 2007 and the team doesn’t exist anymore.
And that’s just the racing side of things.
I won’t pretend to know Dale Jr.’s full feelings toward his stepmother. But on Tuesday’s (Oct….
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at …