Nascar Race Today

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Martha Earnhardt, the mother of Dale Earnhardt Sr., admits that it will be hard for her to see her son's famous No. 3 back on the track in the Sprint Cup Series.Austin Dillon, the grandson of team owner Richard Childress, will drive a black car with the No. 3 on the side this season - the first time that Earnhardt's car number will be raced in the Cup series since his death in the 2001 Daytona 500.

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Childress, who owns the rights to the number, has said the time was right to get the No. 3 back on the track and has said over the years that only a member of his family or the Earnhardt family would race it.

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"I have mixed feelings because I was told that I would never see a number three on the racetrack after Dale died," Martha Earnhardt told Fox Sports 1's NASCAR RaceHub. "I can understand it to a point. "I know it was Richard's number when he drove and this is his grandson, and I understand that. As long as they don't make it look like (Dale's car). If they painted it a different color ... I can sort of deal with it, but I don't want to see the black number three just like Dale's. But that's not my decision."