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Dale Earnhardt Jr. has announced a change to the #8 font amid a trademark dispute with NFL star Lamar Jackson. The JR Motorsports team owner said that the #8 car will drop the original style used since 2019 and continue with the Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI)-style font.
For context, Jackson, the Baltimore Ravens quarterback wearing a #8 jersey, had claimed Dale Jr.'s #8 could hurt his merch sales as fans might mistake one for the other.
Dale Jr. took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the announcement. The 50-year-old successfully secured the rights to the DEI-style font and will run it, allowing the NASCAR team to avoid a further legal battle against the NFL star.
"Through the USPTO, we successfully secured the rights to the stylized (#8). Therefore, we will be moving away from the original (#8) we have used since 2019," the JRM team owner wrote.
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"We are looking forward to the remainder of an already successful season," he added.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, owned the DEI-style #8 font after Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s passing in 2001. Earnhardt Jr. drove for his father's team until 2007 before moving to Hendrick Motorsports in the No. 88 Chevrolet.
The 26-time Cup race winner acquired the rights to the DEI-style number and font late last year, allowing the team to sport it for the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.
Lamar Jackson, meanwhile, has also been using the #8 for a long time, dating back to his college days at Louisville.
Sammy Smith currently runs the #8 Chevrolet Camaro SS for the second year in the second-tier series. He is one of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s four full-time drivers, along with Carson Kvapil (#1), Connor Zilisch (#88), and defending series champion Justin Allgaier (#7).
Dale Earnhardt Jr. shared conversation with Sammy Smith after controversial Martinsville race
After last week's chaotic Martinsville Speedway outing, Dale Earnhardt Jr. talked to Sammy Smith about his driver's on-track antics. The JR Motorsports owner said Smith should work harder to prove critics wrong about their perception of the driver.
During the US Marine Corps 250 at Martinsville, Smith deliberately wrecked Taylor Gray out of the lead on the final lap. After finishing 10th, NASCAR fined the #8 driver $25,000 and docked him 50 points. He dropped to 13th in the points standings behind Gray.
On an episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt Jr. spoke about his advice to the 20-year-old driver, saying:
"He's (Sammy Smith) got a lot of work to do to repair his reputation. That was a heavy blow. I told him, I said, 'Hey, everybody thinks you're a spoiled punk. That's what a lot of people think.' I asked him, 'Don't you agree? That people have that perception of you?' He's like, 'Yeah.' I said, 'You gave them an opportunity to be right. You can't do that.'" [start of video]
"I said for Sammy, 'You have to work harder to prove that you belong there,'" he added. [0:51]
Next on the Xfinity Series schedule for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team is the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway. The race is slated for April 5 at 3:30 p.m. ET.
