In NASCAR Cup Series competition the #8 car has started 1,402 races and has 38 wins, 26 poles, 183 top 5s, 358 top 10s, and 393 DNFs.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was “Driver #8” for 291 starts including 17 wins. Starting in 1999, Junior drove the Budweiser #8 in five Cup races. He finished in the top ten once and led one lap.
In 2000, Earnhardt Jr. moved to the Winston Cup Series on a full-time basis. Earnhardt, Jr. scored his first win in the DirecTV 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, breaking the record held by his father Earnhardt, Sr. for fewest starts by a driver to earn his first victory in NASCAR’s “Modern Era” by winning in just his 12th start, and also at Richmond International Raceway. He became the first rookie to win the All-Star exhibition race, though he finished runner-up to Matt Kenseth in the competition for NASCAR Rookie of the Year. In 2001, the major event of the season occurred on February 18, in the final corner of the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. As Earnhardt, Jr.pushed his teammate Michael Waltrip to the finish line on the final lap, he finished 2nd, to Waltrip. His father had crashed in turn four after Sterling Marlin made contact with his left rear bumper. Earnhardt, Sr. shot up the track into the outside wall behind Waltrip and his son and collected Ken Schrader. Earnhardt, Sr. was killed instantly in the crash by a basilar skull fracture.
In the aftermath, many disgruntled fans sent death threats to Sterling Marlin and his family, blaming him for the crash; Earnhardt, Jr. and Waltrip both requested that fans stopped blaming anybody for Dale, Sr.’s death and both the local police and NASCAR investigations into the crash cleared Marlin of any fault. On July 7, 2001, Earnhardt Jr. won the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, the first Cup race at Daytona after Earnhardt, Sr.’s death. Using the #8, Earnhardt, Jr. set a record by winning four consecutive races at Talladega .
On February 15, 2004, 6 years to the day after his father’s win, Earnhardt Jr. won the 2004 Daytona 500 . He won a further five races that season. Though he failed to qualify for the Chase Cup in 2005, he did in 2006 when he finished fifth. On Father’s Day in 2006, he drove a vintage Budweiser car at Michigan International Speedway to honor both his grandfather (Ralph Earnhardt) and his father, who at one point in both their careers used the #8 car. On May 10, 2007, Earnhardt Jr. announced that he would not return to DEI for the 2008 season; on June 13, 2007, officially announced his move to Hendrick Motorsports ; and on August 16, 2007, that he would not retain the #8 car number.
Dale Jr. retired at the conclusion of the 2017 Cup Series Season. He continues his involvement in NASCAR as an announcer for NBC, a Podcast host, and as a team owner in the XFINITY series. Junior occasionally returns to the action, driving the #8 or #88 car for his XFINITY series team JRM.
DEI announced that sponsored by the U.S. Army, #8 would be shared between Mark Martin and Aric Almirola for the 2008 season. Martin left DEI after the 2008 season to drive the #5 car for HMS. In 2009, the Army withdrew their support in favor of Ryan Newman’s #39 car at Stewart-Haas Racing.Almirola was engaged to drive the #8 Guitar Hero World Tour Chevrolet for the full 2009 season but the sponsorship lasted only five races. Following the 2009 Samsung/Radio Shack 500, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing announced that the operations of the #8 team were being suspended indefinitely due to a lack of sponsorship. Mark Martin made a total of 24 starts in the number; Almirola made 19.
Daniel Hemric started 2 races in 2018 driving car #8 for Richard Childress Racing. In his Cup debut at the Spring Richmond race he qualified 22nd and finished 32nd, three laps down. In the Fall Hemric drove another cup race at the new Charlotte Roval, going up to 2nd at one point, but got caught up in a late-race wreck and finished 23rd. In 2019 Hemric ran the full season in the RCR #8 scoring 2 top-10 finishes.
In 2020, 2-time XFINITY Series Champion Tyler Reddick took over the #8 car for RCR. Reddick scored his first top-ten of the 2020 season at Darlington, the first race following the COVID19 hiatus, finishing 7th. He scored his first top-5 finish a few weeks later at Homestead. Reddick nearly won the 2020 GEICO 500 at Talladega, controlling the lead in the late stages but ultimately losing it with four laps to go and finishing 20th. Reddick also contended with RCR teammate Austin Dillon for the victory at Texas after opting not to pit during a caution caused by fellow rookie Quin Houff spinning out, which moved him to the lead with 23 laps to go as a result. Reddick finished a career-best 2nd-place to Dillon, marking an RCR 1–2 finish for the first time since the 2011 Good Sam Club 500. Reddick finished 19th in the final point standings.
Reddick returned in 2021, improving his performance to achieve 3 top 5s and 16 top 10s, including 2 runner-up finishes at Homestead-Miami and the Charlotte Roval. He finished 13th in the standings.
In 2022, Reddick nearly scored his first career victory at the Bristol Dirt Race, but a misjudged, last-lap pass attempt by Chase Briscoe handed the victory to Kyle Busch. Reddick would eventually find victory lane for the first time at Road America. He would follow this up with victories at the Indianapolis Road Course and Texas Motor Speedway. Despite his 3 victories, Reddick finished 14th in the 2022 standings. He announced in the midsummer that he would be parting ways with RCR in favor of 23XI Racing for 2023. Reddick started 108 races in #8 with 3 wins.
Starting in 2023, Kyle Busch will take over the #8 car for RCR.
Bobby Hillin Jr. started 204 races in #8 from 1982-1990 with 1 win. Hillin made his debut in NASCAR Winston Cup Series competition at the age of 17, driving a car owned and sponsored by his family and crewed by Harry Hyde in the 1982 Northwestern Bank 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway to a 21st place finish. Hillin moved to North Carolina to further his career, continuing his education through correspondence courses; he graduated from high school the day before the 1983 Coca-Cola World 600; in 1984 he brought his #8 to Stavola Brothers Racing , and in 1986 became the youngest winner in NASCAR’s “modern era” when he won the Talladega 500 for the team, at the age of 22 years, 1 month and 22 days. The record has since been broken, most recently by 19 year old Joey Logano in 2009. Hillin’s career started to take a downturn; he would later say he was not mature enough to deal with the pressures of being a NASCAR winner. He left the Stavola Brothers team after the 1990 season.
Rick Wilson drove for the team in 1991 with sponsorship from Snickers, and the team switched to a Ford Thunderbird after Buick pulled out of NASCAR. Wilson was released after the 1992 Daytona 500. Wilson made 30 starts in #8.
After the release of Wilson, former Stavola Brothers Racing driver Dick Trickle returned to the team to finish the 1992 season in #8. Trickle started 28 races in the number.
For the 1993 season Sterling Marlin drove the #8 car for the Stavola Brothers with new sponsor Raybestos, leaving the #12 Bobby Allison Racing team driven by Hut Stricklin. Ironically, Allison was a former driver for the Savola team, and Hut Stricklin would later drive the #8 for them. Marlin made 30 starts in the #8 earning 1 top 5 finish.”
Jeff Burton took over driving duties of the Stavola #8 for the 1994 season. 1994 was Burton’s rookie year in the Winston Cup Series, and after five races he reached a season-high 14th place in the overall standings, but by the end of the year he dropped to 24th after being disqualified at the Miller Genuine Draft 400 for illegal holes drilled on the roll cage, a safety violation. He had a season-high fourth place finish on the way to earning 1994 NASCAR Rookie of the Year. He was one of a record-high ten rookies eligible for the award that year, besting a class that included future Cup stars Joe Nemechek, Jeremy Mayfield, John Andretti, and older brother Ward. The next year, in 1995, Burton had one top-five, along with a ninth place finish. He also missed three races and finished 32nd in points. Jeff started a total of 58 races in the Stavola #8 before leaving to drive the #99 for Jack Roush.
Hut Stricklin joined the Stavola Brothers Racing #8 Circuit City Ford in 1996. He had a second-place finish at Darlington Raceway, and ended up 22nd in points that year. In 1998, Stricklin went started driving the #8 car, but the team was forced to close midseason because of sponsorship woes. Stricklin started #8 in 66 races.
From 1967-1970 Kelso, Washington’s Ed Negre started 282 races in #8.
“Little Joe” Weatherly started the red Bud Moore #8 in 110 races from 1961-1964, about half of his career starts, earning 20 of his 25 career wins. He won two consecutive Grand National (Cup) Championships in 1962 and 1963 for Bud Moore Engineering. Moore did not have enough resources to run the full season, so Weatherly frequently “bummed a ride” from other teams. Weatherly died on January 19, 1964 from head injuries sustained in a racing accident at the fifth race of the 1964 season at Riverside International Raceway. His head went outside the car and struck a retaining wall, killing him instantly. Weatherly was not wearing a shoulder harness, and did not have a window net installed on his vehicle, because he was afraid of being trapped in a burning car. He, along with Alan Kulwicki 30 years later, died as the defending champion of the series. In 2015, Weatherly was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Gene Comstock started the #8 car 22 times from 1952-1954.
Billy Carden started car #8 a total of 20 times from 1949-1955. Billy was the first person to race #8 in NASCAR Strictly Stock (Cup) Series at the 2nd event of the 1949 season on the Daytona Beach Course.
I think it is important to mention Ralph Earnhardt , the patriarch of the Earnhardt racing family. Earnhardt began racing in 1949, and in 1953 it became his full-time occupation. In 1956, he won the NASCAR Sportsman Championship (a lower division, similar to the modern day XFINITY Series), and was runner-up in 1955 and third in 1957. In 1967, he was the reigning South Carolina state champion, and track champion at Columbia Speedway and Greenville-Pickens Speedway. Ralph Earnhardt was the first car builder/driver to understand and use tire stagger. Though he started 51 career Cup Series races from 1956-1964, he never raced his iconic #8 in NASCAR’s top division, nor did he find victory lane in the series. In 1973, Earnhardt had a heart attack and died at the age of 45. Stories suggest that he was discovered dead in his garage by his 22 year old son Dale, but this may just be a story.
Other notable names in #8
Elmo Langley, 8 starts
Bill Rexford, 2 starts
Morgan Shepherd, 2 starts
Marvin Panch, 1 start
Buckshot Jones, 1 starts
Tiny Lund, 1 starts
James Hylton, 1 start
Wendell Scott, 1 start
Dale Earnhardt , 1 start
Ron Keselowski, 1 start
