Dale Earnhardt Jr. Says A New Generation Is Learning About His Dad’s Legacy Through Songs Like Morgan Wallen’s “Number 3 & Number 7”

The Dale Earnhardt Jr. stamp of approval.

A little over a week ago, Morgan Wallen released his monster, 37-song album I’m The Problem, which has dominated the charts and remained at #1 on the Hot 100 for the two weeks since it has been out. The album debuted at the top of the all-genre Billboard 200 album chart, and landed 6 songs in the top 10 of the all-genre Hot 100 upon its release. It also claimed all 10 spots in the top 10 of the Hot Country Songs chart, the first time an artist has swept the top 10 spots. Love him or hate him, that’s a wild accomplishment.

We knew the record would be huge before it even came out, and while I could honestly do without a large portion of the record (there’s just too many songs), I have had a few on repeat, including the duet with Eric Church called “Number 3 and Number 7,” which was written by Blake Pendergrass and Grady Block.

It’s a really layered song about a teenager who drives drunk, thinking he’s “putting Earnhardt to shame” and leading a pack of cars on a record lap that he ends up wrecking on. Obviously, he learns the hard way that “number three and number seven don’t add up to much good”:

“Her daddy’s truck, daddy’s bottle
Open top, open throttle
Eighty-seven and eighty-proof
Runnin’ through my veins
I’m drunk on speed, drunk on whiskey
Ain’t no free quite like sixteen
Still had half a foot to grow
Makin’ grown man mistakes
Puttin’ Earnhardt to shame

Up in my head, I was in first
Whole pack of cars on that fourth turn
Burnin’ towards the checkered flag
I was on a record lap
Had my hand wrapped around that drink
‘Til that truck wrapped around that tree
Should have gone to Heaven fast
Learned a hard way lesson that
We all get more second chances than we should
And number three and number seven don’t add up to much good”

It’s a really cool analogy, and of course I’m partial to the NASCAR references and nature of the song in general, and I really wish Morgan would’ve leaned into these types of truly country songs more on the record because this is easily one of the best on the album. And it’s Morgan’s wheelhouse. Elsewhere, he references racing legend Richard Petty on the song with Post Malone called “I Ain’t Comin’ Back,” which is another one of my favorites.

And although Dale Sr. is no longer with us, his son, Dale Jr. talked about what he thought about the song on a recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download when a fan asked if he’d heard it yet. Jr. didn’t say a whole lot about it, other than he always likes it when his dad is referenced in a positive light in a song, noting how cool it is that his legacy is living on with the younger generation now too:

“I always like it when they talk nice about dad. Anytime he’s kind of referenced in a song, I think it’s kind of cool. It’s a different generation, younger people appreciating his legacy and all that good stuff. It’s kind of cool how his legacy has lived on and continues to be kind of something discussed in pop culture.”

In talking about the song ahead of the release, Morgan said he cut it strictly because he wanted Eric on it too:

“I cut that song strictly because I wanted Eric Church on the song. So I asked him beforehand if he wanted to get on it, before I recorded it in the studio. I’ve said many times how much of an impact Eric has had on me as a musician and as an artist, and now he’s become one of my closest friends.

Just to have a mentor and a friend like that is super special. I’m still a big fan of his art, and the way that he evolves as a musician. I think as long as we keep making songs that fit well together, he’s just going to be a staple on the things that I do for the future.”

With their roots in the south and growing up on NASCAR, it really was a perfect song for them to duet, and I have been listening to it a ton. It’s cool that Jr. appreciates his dad being reference like this, and certainly the younger generation is discovering Dale’s legacy and what made him so special, which is really, really cool. He transcends the sport of racing itself, and is an icon that everyone should know about, and songs like this reach a massive audience, many of which probably don’t know too much about him other than that he was the best driver ever.

That’s a good place to start, and it’s true, but there’s so much more to him and his legacy that goes beyond just racing, so it’s always exciting to see artists like Morgan in particular bring some attention to that, especially with a song as good as “Number 3 and Number 7.”

You can watch Jr. talk about it here:

Turn it up…

“Number 3 and Number 7”

The post Dale Earnhardt Jr. Says A New Generation Is Learning About His Dad’s Legacy Through Songs Like Morgan Wallen’s “Number 3 & Number 7” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.