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Kyle Busch officially joined Richard Childress Racing on Tuesday, and the racecar driver’s new boss compared the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion to one of the legends of the sport.
Busch will replace Tyler Reddick in the No. 8 car starting next season. Busch had spent his career with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Childress explained at a news conference in North Carolina he saw Dale Earnhardt Sr. when he looked into Busch’s eyes.
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Team owner and Hall of Fame member Richard Childress looks on prior to a NASCAR Xfinity auto race at Darlington Raceway on Saturday, May 7, 2022, in Darlington, South Carolina.
(AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File)
“We started talking and we talked about championships. And we talked about winning races. I looked at him in his eye and I seen that look in Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s eye,” Childress explained.
“He’s like, ‘We’re gonna win.’ I’d seen that look before and watching Kyle, I watched his talent for many years since he started in the Busch Series. Just how he handles a car the guard control, the way he drives a car, and take no prisoner attitude. That’s the Dale Earnhardt style that I was accustomed to racing with. And I think Kyle has that modern style of racing that Dale Earnhardt had in his time.”
Busch invoked Earnhardt’s name earlier this year when he won on the dirt in Bristol. He said he felt like “The Intimidator” when boos were raining down on him at the Tennessee track.
Dale Earnhardt drove the No. 3. He was nicknamed “The Intimidator.”
(Jed Leicester/EMPICS via Getty Images)
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It is unlikely, at least in 2023, that Busch would be driving the No. 3. Childress’ grandson Austin Dillion already drives the iconic number.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was seen on Reddit commenting on the idea of Busch stepping into the No. 3 but said there would have to be some changes.
“I wish they could retire the current stylized font, then make an entirely new font/design. Then by all means,” he wrote.
“I wanna go back to when you saw that number on a license plate or anywhere, and you KNEW they were 100% Earnhardt Sr.”
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, prepares to practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 10, 2022, in Kansas City, Kansas.
(Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
One Twitter user dropped an image of what it may look like if Busch drove with the similar sponsor and paint scheme Earnhardt had before his untimely death in 2001. Though, Chevy racers drive Camaros.
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For now, Busch is in the thick of the NASCAR playoffs and is back at Bristol this weekend to try and solidify a spot in the Round of 12. Busch has eight victories at Bristol, the most of any active driver.
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