After dropping to a part-time team in 2004 and 2005, the No. 1 Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet returned to action in Nextel Cup Series action. This year will mark the second full-time season and will once again have Bass Pro Shops as the primary sponsor.

In 1998, Dale Earnhardt decided to elevate his Busch Series team to the NASCAR Nextel Cup level. He also made the decision to use Steve Park, his Busch driver, to get the job done. This made Park the first full-time Cup driver at Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

After watching Park compete in combined Busch North and Cup weekend at Watkins Glen, Earnhardt tapped him to become his Busch Series driver in 1997. In 1998, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. recruited Pennzoil to sign on as the primary sponsor of the yellow No. 1 Chevrolet and Park was moved to the Cup level.

Rookie of the Year honors for Park were cut short when he was injured during a practice session at Atlanta Motor Speedway forcing him to miss 15 races. To keep the team racing, Darrell Waltrip was hired to drive until Park was able to return. Darrell’s best outings were a fifth-place finish at California Speedway and sixth at Pocono Raceway before Park returned to the car.

In 2000, Park achieved his first Nextel Cup victory for DEI at Watkins Glen and the team finished 11th in points. With high hopes in 2001, the team was ready to continue the winning ways. They didn’t have to wait long scoring an emotional victory at North Carolina Speedway in February; one week removed from losing their legendary and inspirational owner, Dale Earnhardt, in a tragic accident during the Daytona 500.

After three second-place finishes, and seven months of stellar performances, Park and the Pennzoil team were ranked fourth in points. However, a Busch Series accident at Darlington Raceway in September resulted in a severe concussion sidelining Park for the last seven races. Kenny Wallace was hired to fill in for the remainder of 2001 and early part of 2002. During his tenure, Wallace gave DEI a second-place finish at Rockingham in the fall event.

The 2003 season produced one Bud Pole Award and one top-10 finish for the team in the first 11 races. However, the team registered a finish of no better than 20th in the final seven races. In May 2003, Park was released from his driving duties and DEI named Jeff Green as the interim driver.

In September of 2003, John Andretti was selected to take over the No. 1 Chevrolet. He made his first start at Richmond International Raceway in the Chevy Rock n’ Roll 400 with 11 races left in the season. Pennzoil announced they would not be returning to the car as a primary sponsor in the fall, as well.

When the 2003 season ended, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. announced a revamped marketing approach for the team because of the changes in sponsorship status. In 2004, Andretti drove in the Daytona 500 and four other races afterwards. Ron Fellows drove the car at Sonoma and a second place at Watkins Glen. Martin Truex, Jr. made his Nextel Cup Series debut in the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet at Atlanta in October and drove again in the season finale at Homestead.

In 2005, Bass Pro Shops committed to seven Nextel Cup races with Truex in the No. 1 Chevrolet earning a top-10 finish at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The team made all seven races, including the Daytona 500.

The 2006 season was the second Rookie of the Year effort in the No. 1 car by a Dale Earnhardt, Inc. driver. Truex and team finished 19th in points and won Rookie of the Race honors twice.

They also achieved two-top fives and five top-10s with a season’s best finish of second at the Homestead finale. The second half of the season showed what this team is capable of achieving, and will be doing in 2007.

The No. 1 team will be one to watch with Truex, Manion and Bass Pro Shops teaming together for all 36 races.