Car Number Histories: No. 8

ATLANTA -- When Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third in the final standings in 2003, it was the best finish for anyone driving the No. 8 since Joe Weatherly won back-to-back championships in 1962 and 1963 while using the numeral.

Four drivers shared the No. 8 in 1949: Bill Linder, Dick Linder, Billy Carden and Wally Campbell. Bill Linder was second at Pittsburgh, Carden 15th at Daytona and Campbell 24th at Langhorne.

Dick Linder returned in 1950 to run two events, with a best of eighth at Langhorne. Champion Bill Rexford ran one race in the numeral, finishing 10th at Daytona.

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Carden's Cadillac won the pole at Charlotte and was 14th in the 1951 Southern 500.

Starting in 1952, Gene Comstock began a three-year association with the No. 8. His Hudson was fourth at Weaverville in eight starts that season, eighth twice in 13 races in 1953 and 13th in the 1954 Southern 500.

Dick Rathmann, normally in the No. 3, drove the No. 8 at Corbin in 1954, finishing 13th.

Carden returned in 1955 for 11 more races, including fourths at Winston-Salem and Columbia. Emory Mahon used the No. 8 during NASCAR's northern swing that season, running eighth at Rochester.

Marvin Panch, who ran full-time in the Nos. 98 and 99 in 1956, ran the No. 8 at Darlington, finishing third in the Southern 500.

Mahon returned for starts in 1957 and 1958, with a best of fourth at Busti, N.Y. Three other drivers made one appearance each in 1957:Tiny Lund was 10th at Martinsville, Elmo Langley 11th at New Oxford and Reds Kagle 32nd at New Oxford. In addition, Ernie Young ran two races out west, including a fourth at San Jose.

Eddie Gray was 34th in the 1958 Southern 500, while Langley made seven starts that season, with a best of fifth at Old Bridge. Danny Weinberg's Ford was third at Sacramento in his only start in the No. 8.

Johnny Allen and Whitey Norman shared the numeral in 1959. Allen was 11th in the inaugural Daytona 500, while Norman's best finish was a 17th at Winston-Salem.

	Credit: Autostock

Dick Dixon drove the No. 8 in 1960, finishing 42nd in the Daytona 500.

Then Weatherly took over the ride for three full seasons. In 1961, he won nine races, including a Daytona 500 qualifier and two victories at Charlotte.

In 1962, Weatherly posted 45 top-10s and nine victories on his way to the title. He once again won a Daytona 500 qualifying race, swept both races at Richmond and Concord, won at Savannah, Weavervile, and Chattanooga.

Weatherly won three races in 1963 -- Hillsboro, Richmond and Darlington -- and collected 35 top-10s to record his second straight championship.

He was second at Concord to start defense of his title in 1964 when he was killed at Riverside in the fifth race of the season.

Dick Dixon's Ford ran eight races in 1965, with seven top-10 finishes.

If you knew Ed Negre was the driver with the most career starts in the No. 8, count yourself as a titan of NASCAR trivia. Starting in 1967, Negre began a long association with the numeral.

Negre ran 12 races that season, with a best of 12th at Oxford. A 10th at Fonda was his top finish in a 24-race schedule in 1968.

Vic Elford drove a Dodge to a 11th-place finish in the 1969 Daytona 500. Then Negre used the No. 8 31 times, including a sixth-place finish at Weaverville.

Negre was ninth at Greenville in 31 starts in 1970. He had two 11ths in 43 starts in 1971.

In 1972, Negre became one of a handful of drivers to ever use a Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge in the same season, running 26 races. He added Mercury to his stable of manufacturers in 1973, finishing 17th in the Daytona 500 and five at Nashville in 24 events.

Negre ran 26 more races in 1974, with a best of 11th twice. He was seventh at Rockingham in 1975, one of his 20 starts that season.

An eighth at Bristol was Negre's season highlight in 1976. He failed to crack the top-10 in 1977, but ran 10th at Bristol in 1978. Negre ran three more times in 1979 before retiring as a driver.

Until 1982, several drivers tried their hand at the No. 8, including Dean Dalton, Dick May, Gary Matthews, Skip Manning, Ferrel Harris (10th at Michigan in 1978), James Hylton, Kevin Housby, Kirk Shelmerdine, Rick O'Dell, Jimmy Means and Dick Brooks.

A young Dale Earnhardt made his debut in the No. 8 at Charlotte, finishing 22nd.

Starting in 1982, Bobby Hillin Jr. began a nine-year stint in cars bearing the numeral. He ran five races that first season, then expanded his schedule to 11 in 1983 and 16 in 1984.

By 1985, Hillin was running the full season, including a ninth-place finish at Talladega.

That set the stage for his only NASCAR victory, a stunner in 1986 at Talladega. It was one Hillin's 14 top-10 finishes that season, which left him ninth in the final standings.

Hillin would record a top-10 finish in each of the next four seasons but never return to either Victory Lane or top 10 in the points.

He was fifth at Talladega in 1987, third at Martinsville in 1988, fifth at Watkins Glen in 1989 and fifth at Sonoma in 1990.

Rick Wilson took over the ride in 1991 and made 30 starts without a top-10 finish.

Dick Trickle ran 28 races in 1992, including fifth-place finishes at Atlanta and Bristol.

Sterling Marlin took the driver's seat in 1993, with a second at the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, one of eight top-10s in 30 starts.

Then Jeff Burton began a two-year stint as the driver of the No. 8. He was fourth at Atlanta and Pocono in 1994, finishing 24th overall. A fifth at Rockingham was his best finish in 1995 -- and he moved to the No. 99 for 1996.

Hut Stricklin then drove the numeral for the better part of three seasons. He was second in the 1996 Southern 500 and 10th at Loudon in 1997.

Buckshot Jones and Morgan Shepherd had limited appearances in 1998, although Jones was eighth at Dover in his only start.

Like his father, Earnhardt Jr. made his debut at Charlotte, finishing 16th in 1999. He would record one top-10 finish that season, a 10th at Richmond, in five starts.

Then in 2000, Earnhardt Jr. took over the ride full-time. He won two poles in his rookie season -- at Charlotte and Michigan -- and won at Texas and Richmond, earning him a 16th-place finish in the final standings.

He improved to eighth in 2001 with three more wins and two more poles. He visited Victory Lane at Daytona, Dover and Talladega.

Earnhardt Jr. swept both Talladega races in 2002 and added two more poles to his resume, but slipped to 11th in the points, despite 16 top-10s.

Wins at Talladega and Phoenix capped a successful 2003 for Earnhardt Jr., as he posted 21 top-10s and wound up third overall.