Jul 1, 2007

What's in a Number?

Would Babe Ruth have been less of a star if he didn't wear number 3? Would Hank Aaron not have eclipsed Ruth's all-time home run record if he wasn't wearing 44? Would Wayne Gretzky been a lesser hockey player without the number 99?

Car numbers have become a renewed topic of conversation in NASCAR Nextel Cup racing in the wake of the news that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has finally walked out on his stepmother's DEI racing team for what well be a more comfortable spot in the Hendrick Motorsports stable. That major shift prompted discussion about what would happen to Junior's number 8 that resides on the flanks of his red Budweiser-sponsored car.

Rick Hendrick, honcho of the team that bears his name, has been embattled on other fronts in the aftermath of the Sonoma cheating flap that sent two of his cars to the back of the pack, saw his two biggest name drivers -- Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson -- docked points, and their crew chiefs suspended, but he still had time to weigh in on the Earnhardt Jr. number, offering to buy it from DEI.  Presumably, that would help cement the Budweiser relationship that Hendrick would clearly like to move over with Junior when the popular driver joins his team next season. The powers that be at DEI gave vibes that they might be willing to sell the number -- for the right price. It looked like Junior was a lock to have number 8, which to some is a ghostly shadow of his father's number, 3.

But now NASCAR says not so fast, boys. NASCAR says it owns the numbers -- not the drivers, not the teams, not the sponsors. So if anybody is going to make the transfer of number 8 happen, he's going to have to go through NASCAR.

"NASCAR owns the numbers and licenses them to teams on an annual basis," Nextel Cup spokesman Randy Poston told The Charlotte Observer. "A team may allow another team to use the number for that year, pending NASCAR's approval."

What that mildly convoluted sentence means is that DEI could license another team -- say Hendrick Motorsports -- to use number 8 this year, because the number has been assigned to DEI for this season, but next season all bets are off. Following tradition, NASCAR would most likely assign the number 8 to DEI again next season, if DEI requests it and has a car and driver who will use it.  Otherwise, NASCAR can assign the number 8 to any team it wants.

In these days of big marketing and merchandising dollars, the number can mean a whole lot of money. Junior has been associated with the number 8 for years now, and it is recognized as part of his overall marketing scheme. Just think of the sales of number 8 hats for a moment. NASCAR seems as if it is trying to short-circuit a market in racecar numbers, and we think that's a good thing.  When all is said and done, we expect to see Junior driving a red car with number 8 on the side next season. And if he doesn't, well, he'll still be the same driver he is today. After all, when Babe Ruth was a star pitcher with the Boston Red Sox, he didn't have a number.