NASCAR Fan Unleashes Legendary Rant On The Dale Earnhardt Jr. & Lamar Jackson Trademark Dispute: “YOU DO NOT OWN THE NUMBER 8”

The great number 8 trademark debate.

I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the legal discussion surrounding the number 8, particularly between the legendary NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. If you aren’t up to speed on it (racing/Lamar pun intended), let’s start at the very beginning.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove the number 8 car while he was racing for his father’s team – Dale Earnhardt Inc – from 1999 until 2007. He only stopped driving the iconic car when he asked for ownership of DEI from Teresa Earnhardt, the widow of Dale Earnhardt. Teresa wasn’t willing to give Dale Jr. ownership of the team, and also wasn’t willing to hand over the number 8, so Dale moved over to Team Hendrick and drove the number 88 car until he retired.

That tumultuous exit from DEI forever stressed the relationship between Teresa and Dale Earnhardt Jr., though it seems that things have recently improved since Teresa Earnhardt allowed the trademark for the DEI style number 8 to expire this past June, giving the opportunity for Dale Jr. to buy the trademark for the number 8.

That olive branch, if you will, played a critical part in Earnhardt Jr. and his team bringing back the legendary “Bud 8” car.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. tried to register for the trademark number 8, but Lamar Jackson came in out of nowhere and filed an opposition claim. The NFL quarterback argued that Jr’s use of the number 8 could cause confusion with his own trademark, and could ultimately lead to fans confusing Dale Jr’s products with Lamar’s.

Jackson uses the number 8 on his “Era 8” apparel brand, and he and his team’s opposition claim argued that the two number 8’s could easily get mixed up:

“Purchasers and prospective purchasers are likely to mistakenly believe that the products Applicant offers under the mark are related to the products and services provided by Opposer under the number 8 and his application and registration.”

The right QB won MVP. pic.twitter.com/iWYtz48koc

— Nathan (@KensethFan17_20) April 3, 2025

The news of the opposition quickly spread across the internet because fans assumed that Jackson was filing for the classic “Bud 8” style. Even Jr. confessed that he learned about the opposition the same time everyone else did. What actually happened? The Ravens QB was taking issue with the font on a secondary number 8 trademark that Jr. Motorsports had filed as a backup, since they were already going through this process for the “Bud 8.” Dale Jr. even addressed the whole situation a couple of days ago and said there was no issue between the two parties. Everybody is happy.

All in all, it was a really silly controversy, but it really did get some people fired up. No one was more angry about the trademark tension than a NASCAR fan and TikToker who goes by the name “Randy The Plumber.” While the issue was still up in the air, Randy took it upon himself to give a rather convincing, extremely-animated presentation about how ridiculous the whole “the number 8’s could be confused” argument was.

It’s better with the visual aid (you can see the video below), but I thought it could be helpful for some to type out his argument:

“Lamar Jackson number 8 right here. Take a good hard look at it, because a lot of people wouldn’t know that by looking at it. But that’s a Lamar Jackson number 8. What about this number 8 right here? Do I even need to say who this number 8 belongs to? NO. EVERYBODY KNOWS.”

This is Dale Earnhardt Jr’s number 8. There is absolutely zero confusion with this number 8. If a person is possibly confused as to which number 8 is which, they don’t know anything about sports.”

To be honest, I could have typed all of those two paragraphs in all caps. Randy the Plumber basically yelled every single thing he said for a minute and a half straight. A rant of epic proportions. It’s almost as if this guy had just chugged a couple of Red Bulls right before he went into this pro-Dale-Jr. rant.

And the firework-show-esque finale to the Dale vs. Lamar rant is true, comedic gold:

“Lamar Jackson: you do not own the number 8. Why in the world are you suing Dale Earnhardt Jr. over some sort of confusion between this ugly number 8 (Lamar’s) and this extremely fast looking number 8 (Dale Jr’s) right here. Looks like it’s hauling butt down the track son.”

@randytheplumber It’s settled! #fypシ゚viral #fyp #fypシ #nfl #nascar #dalejr #lamarjackson #foryour ♬ original sound – RandyThePlumber

Yeah, I’d say most people feel the same way about the whole thing. Maybe not as passionately as “Randy the Plumber” feels, but they’d certainly side with his argument…