Earnhardt Jr gives his side of career-altering – Sports News
For the previous eight seasons, Chase Elliott has been behind the wheel of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, having first joined the NASCAR Cup Series with the No. 25 earlier than taking over the No. 24.
Switching to the No. 9 was arguably written within the stars, permitting the youthful Elliott to observe in his legendary father Bill’s footsteps, after he received the 1988 Cup Series crown within the No. 9 Melling Racing Ford.
In a current interview, 2020 champion Chase, detailed how the change happened, with each Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Richard Petty having performed main elements within the transfer.
Subsequently, Earnhardt was requested for his side of the story during the newest ‘Dale Jr. Download’ podcast, prompting a journey down reminiscence lane from the Hall of Famer.
“I went to Chase, and I just said, ‘Hey man, if you wanted to change, you better do it soon. You’re building some equity with this 24, but it’s not too late to change and it not be like a kind of an awkward thing,’” Earnhardt recalled.
“So he’s like, ‘Oh no, I ain’t going to ask for that. I’m okay.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, would you want to?’ He goes, ‘Yeah, I would, but I’m okay.’ And so I mean, he’s young, he’s only in like year two.
“And so I went to Rick [Hendrick] and I said, ‘Rick,’ I said, ‘Man, I was like, I got an idea that I think would be a pretty big deal.’ I was like, ‘An Elliott in the number nine is a big win for everybody.’”
Despite initial hesitance, particularly with the workforce’s want to increase upon the No. 24’s legacy as constructed by Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt continued. Earnhardt went on to level out to Hendrick how a lot it will imply to followers to see one other Elliott behind the wheel of the No. 9, noting how he may finish up working the quantity for the subsequent 20 years, “Racking up more equity in the number and this, the history of the number.”
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Earnhardt’s candy speaking appeared to do the trick, opening the door for Chase to talk with Hendrick concerning the potential swap, which he believed “down in there somewhere that that’s really truly what [Chase] wanted, but he didn’t want to disappoint Jeff and Rick.”
The transfer finally labored out for all concerned, with Chase having gone on to write down his own chapter within the historical past of the No. 9. To date, Chase has racked up 20 wins and 184 prime 10s in 349 Cup Series races, utilizing the No. 24, 25, and 9.
Meanwhile, William Byron joined Hendrick in 2018, taking up behind the wheel of the historic No. 24, which Gordon had beforehand pushed to 4 Cup Series titles and 93 race wins. And whereas Byron could not have a championship to his title simply but, he has added a lot to the No. 24’s story, profitable 15 races and reaching the highest 10 on 117 events in 279 races.
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