Richard Childress Racing is making a difficult decision in the wake of Kyle Busch's death. The team is putting the No. 8 on the shelf for the foreseeable future.
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Team owner Richard Childress announced the news on Friday, May 22. He said that the Cup Series organization will move forward with the No. 3 and the No. 33 as the primary cars in the lineup.
"Richard Childress Racing has elected to suspend use of the No. 8 and will run the No. 33 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and beyond," Childress said.
"Kyle Busch was instrumental in the design of RCR's stylized No. 8 and it has become synonymous with Kyle and an important symbol for his fans and the NASCAR industry. No one can carry it forward to the level that he did. The No. 8 is reserved and ready for Brexton Busch when he is ready to go NASCAR racing."
The reference to Brexton goes back to the day that Busch announced he had signed a contract with Richard Childress Racing. As they held a press conference at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Childress said that he had signed Brexton to a contract. He inked the deal on a $100 bill.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that RCR has had to change a car number after a NASCAR champion passed away. The team also did so back in 2001 after Dale Earnhardt died in a crash at the Daytona 500.
The team elevated Kevin Harvick from the Busch Grand National Series and put him in the Cup Series. RCR had Harvick drive the No. 29 Chevrolet, which bore a white paint scheme. The No. 3 and the black GM Goodwrench scheme both went into indefinite hiatus.
RCR has not made any announcements about the driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet beyond Sunday's Coca-Cola 600. Austin Hill, one of the team's full-time O'Reilly Auto Parts Series drivers, will control the entry on Sunday night. Beyond that remains unknown.
