Richard Childress Racing Suspends Use of No. 8
What’s Happening? Richard Childress Racing will halt use of the No. 8 this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the wake…
NASCAR’s Mike Forde explained how NASCAR will honor Richard Childress Racing’s plans to hold the No. 8 for Kyle Busch’s son, Brexton, following Busch’s passing last Thursday, during a recent podcast episode.
After the passing of NASCAR legend Kyle Busch last Thursday, Richard Childress Racing announced the team would withdraw the No. 8 and reassign its points to the No. 33
While this move was out of respect for Busch, the team also announced that they would hold the number for Busch’s eldest child, Brexton, to use should he reach the NASCAR Cup Series.
As many fans noted, this means the number would be sidelined for at least seven years, as Brexton is only 11 years old. So, how can RCR do this?
Well, during the latest episode of NASCAR’s Hauler Talk podcast, NASCAR Managing Director of Racing Communications Mike Forde explained that the process is as simple as NASCAR honoring their wishes.
As NASCAR technically “owns” all the numbers, they are leased out to teams on a season-to-season basis, with new teams needing to apply for a number from NASCAR.
“NASCAR does own the numbers, so we divvy them out. . . “So if they’re starting up a new team, they’d have to apply for a number, and then we give it to them, or don’t give that to them,” Forde said.
But, in the case of RCR and other teams, they do not have to reapply for the number, something that is in play when it comes to the No. 8.
“If you already have a number, you don’t have to reapply, it’s kind of grandfathered in,” Forde said. “So, you know, in 2027, Rick Hendrick doesn’t have to say, ‘hey, we’d really like to have the number 24 for William Byron,’ that just is an automatic carryover. So that’ll be the case here with the eight, even though Richard Childress isn’t running the eight for the remainder of the season.”
Of course, this is not the first time that RCR has made a switch following the death of a driver, doing so ahead of week two of the 2001 season following the death of Dale Earnhardt.
In that case as well, the team was able to hold onto the right of the No. 3 until 2014, when Childress’ grandson Austin Dillon made his full-time NASCAR Cup Series debut. Again, much like that scenario, Forde says the sport will honor RCR’s wishes for the car.
“The 8 will be RCR’s, we’ll honor that. And um, just like we did with the three. It’d be great if Brexton is one day in the Cup series and does run that eight, um, that’d be pretty extraordinary.” — Mike Forde
As of press time, RCR has made no official plan for the rest of the season regarding who drives the No. 33.
Most fans suspect that the team’s two NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series drivers, Austin Hill and Jesse Love, could share duties. For now, Hill has been given the seat for the first two races since Busch’s passing.
What’s Happening? Richard Childress Racing will halt use of the No. 8 this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the wake…
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