Junior hoping to return #3 to Lowe's victory lane.

Not since 1993 has an Earnhardt stood alongside a #3 Chevrolet in Lowe's Motor Speedway's victory lane, but Dale Earnhardt Jr will be looking to change that when he drives the Nilla Wafers/Nutter Butter car in the Carquest Auto Parts 300 on 25 May.

Junior will rejoin the Richard Childress team made famous by his father's success to lead the Busch squad into battle for the second time this season.

"It is going to be special to see a #3 Chevrolet back on the track here in May with an Earnhardt behind the wheel," said HA 'Humpy' Wheeler, the president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway.

"Out of the car, Dale Jr is his own man. But, once the helmet is on and the belts are buckled, he is very much like his father.

"For fans who followed Dale Earnhardt from his Winston Cup debut here in 1975, and those who enjoyed his many on-track exploits through the years, the Carquest Auto Parts 300 on Saturday 25 May will be a race they won't want to miss."

The race will mark the young Earnhardt's second appearance this season in a car bearing the number elevated to icon status
by his late father, seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt.

"I had a lot of fun and that's what this was for, just for a good time," Earnhardt Jr said after driving the #3 Oreo machine to victory in the season-opening NASCAR Busch Series race at Daytona International Speedway, "Hopefully, we can go to Charlotte and have just as much fun."

Even though he plans to 'have fun', the 27-year old third-generation racer from nearby Kannapolis admits that 'putting me in a car with a #3 on the side is a huge amount of pressure'