This was the first year of the Goodwrench Sponsorship and the beginning of the "Man in Black" tradition. It was October of this year in Charlotte that Childress unveiled the new all-black Chevrolet with the sinister #3 on the side, reflecting Earnhardt's "Intimidator" image.It took three races for Dale to earn a 3rd place standings in the points using this new scheme. This is also the first of two years in which Dale drove the Aerocoupe version of the Monte Carlo, also referred to as the Fast Back Monte Carlo.

Dale would finish this season 3rd,232 points behind champion Bill Elliot. By seasons end, he would lead over 1800 laps and he led in twenty of twenty nine races in the season. He gained 3 wins, thirteen top-5 finishes and nineteen top-10's. His efforts this year were rewarded with over one million in season earnings. Aside from being one of the only two Aerocoupe's, the difference from previous cars in that it was the more familiar Black #3. This particular paint scheme includes the GM Goodwrench logo on the hood, the GM logo on the angle frame and the Goodwrench name (not logo) on the rear deck lid. Note that the colors for the #3 logo was sometimes White and sometimes Silver.