Dale Earnhardt Jr to race Aug. 31 at North Wilkesboro
MOORESVILLE, N.C. — For the first time since 1996, an Earnhardt will race a No. 3 car at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will run a No. 3 SunDrop Chevrolet late model Wednesday, Aug. 31, in the CARS Tour race during North Wilkesboro’s Racetrack Revival.
JR Motorsports confirmed Tuesday that the 15-time most popular NASCAR Cup Series driver will sport a green-and-yellow livery, throwing back to the No. 3 SunDrop Chevrolet he drove at the track in 1993, at just age 18.
“I came to North Wilkesboro so many times as a kid. It’s a special place. I never thought I’d get a chance to race around here again,” Earnhardt Jr. said in a news release. “To put this program together with Sun Drop, who sponsored my late model in ’93, I wouldn’t want it any other way. They were with my dad for years and were one of my first sponsors. Seeing the SunDrop Chevy at Wilkesboro again will bring back some great memories for me.”
Dale Earnhardt finished second in the final NASCAR Cup Series race at North Wilkesboro, held in September 1996. That was the last time an Earnhardt raced a No. 3 car at the track.
Dale Earnhardt earned five NASCAR Cup wins, 32 top-10 finishes and a 6.3 average finish in 36 Cup races at North Wilkesboro.
JR Motorsports will be running a special line of Dale Earnhardt Jr throwback merchandise to commemorate the return of an Earnhardt No. 3 to the track and the SunDrop-Earnhardt partnership. More details are here.
The CARS Tour race at North Wilkesboro will go green around 7:30 p.m. ET. The race can be seen on racingamerica.tv and racexr.plus. Carson Kvapil will also drive a No. 8 Chevrolet to fill out JR Motorsports’ two-car lineup.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com