Will the No. 3 Return to NASCAR?

It’s time.

It’s time for the No. 3 to come back to the track, week in and week out.

It’s time that fans move on and embrace the next generation of drivers.

It’s time to see Austin Dillon full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series piloting the No. 3 Chevrolet.

Oh, I can hear groaning already. I’m ready for it. Fact of the matter is, groan all you want, the weird sort of reverence for Dale Earnhardt isn’t helping NASCAR move on. Nearly everyone else has made peace and moved on.

We’ll never forget what Dale Earnhardt meant, but that doesn’t mean we need to be reminded every five minutes that Earnhardt did this and Earnhardt did that.

We know what he did in much the same way we know what Richard Petty did, what David Pearson did, what Darrell Waltrip did, what Cale Yarborough did, and so on. I was a big Davey Allison fan growing up and I’m glad the No. 28 still competes. I wouldn’t like a constant reminder of what happened.

The seasons in which Yates ran the No. 38 and No. 88 were just…strange. After this many years, it’s time to see the No. 3 competing again. Honestly, isn’t that something Dale Earnhardt himself would want?

Austin Dillon is a rising star in racing. He’s up there in the East Series points this season and continues getting seat time in late models and an occasional ARCA start.

I believe the story goes that he asked his grandfather (Richard Childress, if you didn’t already know) if he could run the number. Childress was cool to the idea at first, worrying about the reaction, but he relented when he said he was running it to honor him.

Childress made hundreds of starts with the No. 3 before hooking up with Earnhardt. From most reactions I’ve seen, the results have been positive. I imagine it’ll be a different story if Dillon runs the No. 3 in one of the higher divisions.

He’ll drive the No. 21 at Richmond this weekend, but his full-time car could very well be the No. 3. I’m hoping it is.

Dillon may be able to get away with running the number because of the special circumstance, which is unfortunate.

Let other guys build a brand with a number. It’s seemingly blasphemous to not support never running the No. 3 in NASCAR. I want to break that ceiling because the sport needs to revere history, not live in the past.