page_title: Hendrick Motorsports
section_title: Car No. 88 history
hierarchical_section_title: Hendrick Motorsports / Cup Series / Car No. 88 history
caption_attribution_description: English: Dale Earnhardt, Jr. drives the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet out of the garage area at Texas Motor Speedway during practice for the 2013 NRA 500.
context_page_description: Hendrick Motorsports, formerly named All Star Racing, is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team, created in 1984 by Rick Hendrick, is one of stock car racing's premier organizations. As of 2020, Hendrick Motorsports has won twelve Cup Series owners and drivers championships, three Truck Series owners and drivers titles, and one Nationwide Series drivers crown, 259 NASCAR Cup Series victories, 26 Nationwide Series wins, 26 Camping World Truck Series wins, and 7 ARCA Racing Series victories. As of the 2016 season, the team has won a Cup Series race on every track on the current circuit – except for Kentucky Speedway, which has only been on the circuit since 2011.
  Hendrick Motorsports currently fields four full-time Cup Series teams with the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, including the No. 9 NAPA/UniFirst/Hooters/Mountain Dew/Kelley Blue Book for Chase Elliott, the No. 24 Axalta/Liberty University/Hertz for William Byron, the No. 48 Ally Financial for Jimmie Johnson and Justin Allgaier, and the No. 88 Valvoline/Chevy Goods/Axalta Coating Systems/LLumar/Cincinnati Inc. for Alex Bowman.
context_section_description: Part-time (2002–06)
  The car debuted in 2002 as the No. 60 Haas Automation/NetZero-sponsored Chevrolet, fielded jointly between Hendrick and Gene Haas in preparation for Haas to field a new team, Haas CNC Racing. Hendrick driver Jack Sprague attempted six races (qualifying for three) with a best finish of 30th at Homestead Miami Speedway. While Haas and Sprague moved over to the No. 0 Pontiac, the No. 60 returned as a Hendrick R&D car in 2003 with test driver David Green and continued sponsorship from Haas and NetZero. Green attempted the four restrictor plate races (missing the first Daytona and Talladega races) with a best finish of 32nd. Brian Vickers made his Cup Series debut at the fall Charlotte race, finishing 33rd, before moving to the 25 car. The 60 was entered at the Homestead-Miami season-finale with Kyle Busch and Ditech.com, but withdrew.
  18-year-old Kyle Busch took over the car the following season, selecting the number 84 (reverse of No. 48) for the Carquest Chevy. He made his debut at his hometown track Las Vegas Motor Speedway and made five more starts that year with a best finish of twenty-fourth at California.
  In 2005, Terry Labonte took over the car after he announced he became semi-retired; the number had been changed to No. 44, used by Labonte during his first championship season in 1984. Kyle Busch, meanwhile, moved to his No. 5 car full-time. Sponsored by Kellogg's, Pizza Hut, and GMAC/Ditech.com, Labonte drove the car in a limited schedule over the next two years. His final race with the team was at his native Texas Motor Speedway in November 2006, in a special commemorative paint scheme sponsored by longtime-partner Kellogg's. Though Labonte planned to retire following the race, he would race on a part-time or substitute basis until 2014.
  Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2008–17)
  On June 13, 2007, Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he would join Hendrick Motorsports for the 2008 season. On September 14, 2007 it was announced that he would drive the No. 88 car, after a deal with Robert Yates Racing that sent the No. 88 car to Hendrick Motorsports. The No. 88 replaced the No. 25, which scaled back to part-time. Amp Energy (owned by longtime Hendrick sponsor PepsiCo) and the National Guard (which had sponsored the No. 25) stepped up to sponsor the car. Earnhardt, Jr.'s crew chief and cousin, Tony Eury, Jr., also made the move to Hendrick Motorsports. However, this partnership only lasted until April 2009 when Tony Eury, Jr. was replaced by Lance McGrew, a technical advisor and part-time crew chief with HMS for the No. 25 car.
  At the start of the 2011 season, Steve Letarte moved over from Jeff Gordon's team and became Earnhardt's crew chief. For 2012, PepsiCo decided to replace the struggling AMP Energy brand with the Diet Mountain Dew brand. The team won for the first time since 2008 and for the second consecutive year made the Chase, but Earnhardt suffered a concussion during an August Hollywood Casino 400 tire testing on the reconfigured Kansas Speedway, and was not tested for the concussion until the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 at Talladega, where he was involved in a second hard crash. After testing, Earnhardt was deemed medically unfit to race. Regan Smith, scheduled to drive for Phoenix Racing, instead drove the No. 88 at Charlotte and Kansas in what turned out to be a tryout that led to Smith joining Earnhardt's Xfinity team for 2013. Earnhardt returned at Martinsville and finished out the season.
  Earnhardt finished fifth in Cup Series points in 2013, after winning two poles (at Kentucky Speedway and Dover International Speedway), and posting five-second-place finishes.
  The No. 88 returned to prominence in 2014 when Earnhardt won four races – the Daytona 500, both Pocono races, and the fall Martinsville race. Letarte joined NASCAR on NBC in 2015, and JR Motorsports crew chief Greg Ives was hired to replace him. On August 6 of that year, the National Guard decided not to renew their sponsorship with Earnhardt. They would be replaced by Nationwide Insurance, outgoing sponsor of the now-Xfinity Series and lon
caption: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet at Texas in 2013
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