The last time that the No. 3 Chevrolet raced in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway it sat in victory lane. That was in the fall of 2000.

It's an old story now that Richard Childress' grandson brought the No. 3 back to the Sprint Cup Series beginning in February at Daytona. Austin Dillon had used the No. 3 for his sports jerseys as he was growing up and ran the No. 3 on all of his race cars and trucks as he advanced to NASCAR's top series so it was likely that he would eventually be in the No. 3 at the Cup level.

Dillon is a rookie - he has run in the Cup series at Tallageda just once before - that was when he filled in for the injured Tony Stewart last fall.

But running the No. 3 at Talladega this weekend is special.

In October of 2000, Dale Earnhardt was 18th with five laps to go and put on one of his classic drives to get the win - one of his 10 Cup wins there. It turned out to be the last race Dale Earnhardt ever won.

This weekend Austin Dillon brings the iconic No. 3 back to Talladega. He'll start fifth and as we all know anything can happen at 'dega including the big one. Here are the qualifying results.

 

 

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