CHARLOTTE, N.C -- The blue-and-yellow No. 3 Wrangler-sponsored Chevrolet that Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove to victory recently in a Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway is now on display in the Great Hall at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

But as with the existence of the car itself, it is for a limited time only.

Kelley Earnhardt, co-owner and general manager of JR Motorsports, said the organization cannot afford to keep the car completely out of action for long. And since her brother, Dale Jr., has said he will never drive the No. 3 again, that means the car eventually will cease to exist in its current state.

It therefore will remain on loan to the Hall until Sept. 19, after which it will be returned to JR Motorsports to have the body cut off of it so the chassis can be prepared to be run in future races.

"We still have to get input from everybody, of course. But the chassis itself, being the new Nationwide chassis, we need that one," Earnhardt said Wednesday when the car, still covered with all the grit and grime accumulated during the dramatic win July 2 in the Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona, was unveiled at the Hall. "They've slaved and slaved in our shop to build them. We've got the Michigan race coming up this year where we'll use that chassis, and then next year we'll be using it full-time. So this chassis has a place somewhere on a race car at JR Motorsports.

"I've got to talk Dale [Jr.] into cutting the body off, or having the team cut the body off, and keeping it somewhere on display at JR Motorsports. But the car, all the parts and pieces other than the body, can be put to good use toward another win on another race track somewhere."

Kelley Earnhardt appeared at a news conference Wednesday with JR Motorsports co-owner Tony Eury Jr. and his father, Tony Eury Sr., who is a crew chief and key member of the organization as well. Dale Earnhardt Jr. could not make the shindig because he was on vacation during the rare off-week in NASCAR's Cup Series.

"I certainly didn't want to begrudge him that, but I also did not want to wait until he returned to take this car into our possession," said Winston Kelley, executive director of the Hall of Fame. (Continued)