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Tuesday, February 20
Fans hope to keep outsiders out of No. 3
By Darren Rovell
ESPN.com

Some 28,000 plus NASCAR fans apparently don't want to see the No. 3 out there this weekend at Rockingham – since it wouldn't be Dale Earnhardt at the wheel.

That's the gist of a petition on the Internet that circulated among NASCAR fans on Tuesday. The petition hoped to urge NASCAR CEO Mike Helton and Richard Childress Racing from starting Kevin Harvick in the No. 3 car at the Dura-Lube 400 at the North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, N.C., this weekend.

Reports on Tuesday said that Childress was pondering the idea of putting Harvick in the famous black No. 3 Chevrolet. But, Anthony Thies, a 30-year old NASCAR fan and Army drill sargeant from Fort Benning, Ga., wrote the petition that asks that only an Earnhardt deserves to drive the car.

"His number should only belong to an Earnhardt as they can only bring justice to his name," reads the petition. "But if (the Earnhardts) should decide not to, please retire it and possibly as a tribute to his dedication to NASCAR and his contribution to all of our lives, place his number on all of the Pace Cars so that he may always lead the race!"

The petition boasted 28,859 signatures at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday. But retiring the number is clearly not the sentiment of all NASCAR fans.

"He has died and is now a legend," said NASCAR fan Patricia Allen of Garden City, Mich. "His car can go on and be what he would want it to be – a race car. That, I believe, is what Dale would want, is for his car to keep on racing as he would if he were here today."

NASCAR licenses out the numbers to all the cars at the beginning of the season. This season, Richard Childress Racing reserved the Winston Cup No. 30 for 2000 Busch Series Rookie of the Year Kevin Harvick -- who will race in several Winston Cup events this year. Some have mentioned that Childress might decide to make Earnhardt's car a No. 30, by adding a zero. That's a possible solution because Childress does own the rights to the number.

A spokesperson for GM Goodwrench, one of Earnhardt biggest sponsors, said that an announcement will be made on Friday as to the status of Earnhardt's car and his sponsorship agreements. When Adam Petty died, his father Kyle drove his Sprint car in Busch series events and worked out an agreement with his own sponsors.

Since the licensing of the number is a year-by-year agreement, NASCAR would have the ultimate decision on what to do with the No. 3.

The petition can be found at: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/DaleE3/petition.html

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at darren.rovell@espn.com.

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