Motorsport · Competition association · not ownership

Dale Earnhardt

1998 Chevrolet Monte Carlo NASCAR Cup race car

Dale Earnhardt’s black no. 3 Chevrolet Monte Carlo from the 1998 Daytona 500 displayed at the Richard Childress Racing Museum.
The actual no. 3 GM Goodwrench Plus Chevrolet Monte Carlo that Dale Earnhardt drove to victory in the 1998 Daytona 500, preserved at the Richard Childress Racing Museum.Photo: Michael Barera · CC BY-SA 4.0. Joyride serves Wikimedia Commons’ proportional 1920-pixel derivative byte-for-byte; no further crop, recompression, retouching or generation. A responsive frame may crop displayed edges.
Dale Earnhardt smiling in a racing suit and mirrored sunglasses.
Dale EarnhardtHist · Identification portraitDarryl Moran · CC BY-SA 2.0. Commons cropped the portrait from Darryl Moran’s source image. Joyride serves that Commons file byte-for-byte with no additional crop, retouching or generation. A responsive frame may crop displayed edges.

The Daytona car that ended a nineteen-year wait

Connection
Competition association · not ownership
When
Driven to victory · February 15, 1998
Identity
1998 Daytona 500 winner · RCR no. 3 · GM Goodwrench Plus Chevrolet Monte Carlo

Dale Earnhardt arrived at the 1998 Daytona 500 with nineteen unsuccessful attempts behind him. On February 15 he led 107 of 200 laps in Richard Childress Racing’s black no. 3 Chevrolet and took the checkered flag under caution. NASCAR records it as the victory that ended his twenty-year pursuit of the race and as his only Daytona 500 win.

This story records a competition association, not personal ownership. Richard Childress Racing identifies the preserved no. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolet in its museum as the 1998 Daytona 500-winning car. The photograph was made there in October 2022 and shows that individual car, including its no. 3, Monte Carlo nose and victory display—not a later tribute or a road-going Monte Carlo.

Follow the evidence

Sources for this story

NASCAR documents Earnhardt’s February 15, 1998 win, 107 laps led and the no. 3 RCR Chevrolet. Richard Childress Racing identifies the museum car as the 1998 Daytona 500 winner. No chassis number or personal-ownership claim is made.

  • RCR MuseumRichard Childress Racing · Accessed 2026-10-03 · external source

    The museum’s collection includes the 1998 Daytona 500-winning no. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolet.

  • Dale Earnhardt’s Daytona 500 victory still resonatesNASCAR · 2023-02-15 · external source

    Earnhardt’s twentieth Daytona 500 attempt, 107 laps led and the race-winning no. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolet.

Reviewed

Why this is the actual car
  • Photo identity evidence

    Richard Childress Racing identifies the museum collection as including Earnhardt’s 1998 Daytona 500-winning no. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolet.

  • Photo identity evidence

    NASCAR records Earnhardt’s 1998 Daytona 500 win in the no. 3 Goodwrench Chevrolet.

  • Photo identity evidence

    Michael Barera identifies the photographed museum car as Earnhardt’s 1998 Daytona 500-winning no. 3 GM Goodwrench Plus Chevrolet Monte Carlo; the number, model nose and victory display are visible.

The matching photographer, venue, date and vehicle history establish the identification; the chassis stamp is not visible in these photographs.