Early Monday morning Austin Dillon provided NASCAR fans with a treat as the driver of the No. 3 machine won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. While Dillon’s first Cup Series win should have been a celebrated moment by all, some fans went in a different direction.

Dillon’s win in the Coca-Cola 600 marked the second time this season that NASCAR fans have witnessed a driver win their first Cup Series race. The other time was Ricky Stenhouse Jr. when he won at Talladega a few weeks ago. For Dillon, the win was also important in terms of history as it was the first time that the No. 3 machine had been to victory lane since it was put there some 17 years ago by NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt.

The fact that Earnhardt was the last driver to put the No. 3 machine into victory lane was not lost on the NASCAR on FOX broadcasters Monday morning, as they were quick to reference it. That fact also wasn’t lost by a handful of Earnhardt fans who came out of the woodwork on social media to take shots at Dillon, Richard Childress and RCR.

A number of NASCAR fans (mostly Dale Earnhardt Sr. fans) were upset that Dillon put the No. 3 car back into victory lane as in their minds it somehow is disrespectful to Earnhardt and his legacy. I would also assume that the majority of these fans are also still upset that Dillon was allowed to drive the No. 3 car when he entered the NASCAR Cup Series a few seasons ago.

While I love the passion of NASCAR fans (and sports fans in general), it’s times like this that I’m left shaking my head and wondering how it is that some many people can simply miss the mark.

First and foremost, NASCAR does not retire numbers. The numbers are the property of the teams in which the drivers race for and those teams pay a certain price to keep those numbers exclusive to them. When Earnhardt initially passed away, Childress made the choice of putting the number out of commission and saying it would only come back if someone in the family were to use it. Of course many at the time assumed the family he was referring to was that of the Earnhardt and not his own, but that is neither here nor there.

Also on the track in the Coca-Cola 600 last night were the No. 43 machine of Aric Almirola (being driven be a replacement driver due to injury), the No. 24 machine of Chase Elliott and the No. 14 machine of Clint Bowyer. Did those drivers have the right to be out there when their cars were more famously driven by the likes of Richard Petty, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart? The trio of Petty, Gordon and Stewart won a combined 14 championships during their careers while Almirola, Elliott and Bowyer have won a combined nine Cup Series races.

However, none of that matters because in NASCAR the number belongs to the team and not to the drivers. Heck, I would argue that Gordon fans should be more upset than Earnhardt fans because Gordon is the only driver in NASCAR history to win in the No. 24 machine. Including Dillon, 12 other drivers have taken the No. 3 machine to victory lane in NASCAR aside from Earnhardt. Some of those names include the likes of Buddy Baker, Ricky Rudd, Junior Johnson, Dick Rathmann and Paul Goldsmith. Earnhardt might have been the most successful in the No. 3 machine but he wasn’t even the only HOF driver to win in it.

At the end of the day there are plenty of reasons to root for or against drivers in NASCAR. However, on a night where a driver wins his first race, trying to tarnish that moment because someone else you like won in that car nearly two decades ago, is a bit more than ridiculous. I understand that some NASCAR fans will never truly be able to see the big picture and it’s you fans that I truly believe the sport is better off without you. Austin Dillon winning the Coca-Cola 600 doesn’t do anything to Dale Earnhardt, instead it adds to the legacy of the No. 3 machine and it begins the foundation of the legacy of Dillon himself.

Anyone else out there that doesn’t understand this needs to simply keep on moving because there is nothing more to see over here.