Dale Earnhardt Jr. explains the recent No. 8 controversy with Lamar Jackson

Last week, a dispute emerged — and then disappeared — regarding the No. 8.

NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. made an application for trademark protection as to a specific version of the number. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson filed an objection. Earnhardt promptly abandoned the effort.

Earnhardt explained the situation during the latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download.

He said that his company, JR Motorsports, recently secured trademark rights to the version of the No. 8 from his Budweiser car. He said that the company attempted to secure trademark protection for a different version of the number, which JR Motorsports had been using since 2019.

"I learned on social media about the same time as everybody else did that Lamar was contesting our trademark application," Earnhardt said. "He wasn't suing me. He's just contesting it. . . .

"When I learned about it, I thought for sure it was over the Bud 8. But when I dug into it, I learned that it was that JR Motorsports font. And we weren't ever gonna use that again. Ever. . . . So yeah it's not an issue. It's a non-issue. . . . I didn't wanna see this get nasty for no reason."

So there's the story. Earnhardt tried to get trademark protection for one specific version of the number. Jackson objected. And that was enough to get Earnhardt to back off — due in large part (as he says) to the fact that he never intended to use that version of the number.

Some might wonder why Earnhardt would even try to secure trademark protection for a number he's not going to use. Regardless, it's over and it's done. Thanks to Earnhardt deciding the Bud 8 is enough.