Dale Earnhardt

Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. (April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001) was an American NASCAR driver. He was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina, right outside of Charlotte, to Ralph Lee Earnhardt and Martha Coleman. He died in a racing accident in turn four on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

Related Topics:
April 29 - 1951 - February 18 - 2001 - American - NASCAR - Kannapolis, North Carolina - Charlotte - Daytona 500

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Earnhardt grew up in a racing family. His father, Ralph, died of a heart attack while working on his race car in 1973. Dale Earnhardt began with his racing career two years later, and by 1979 he had won the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award. The very next year, he won his first Winston Cup title to become the only driver thus far to win rookie of the year and Winston title in back-to-back years. For his aggressive driving style, Earnhardt quickly won the nickname "The Intimidator." He is generally credited with authorship of the quotation "second place is the first loser." His aggressiveness was always businesslike and in the service of competitive success, however; he was never vindictive or purposelessly aggressive on the track.

Related Topics:
Ralph - 1973 - 1979 - Winston Cup

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During his career, Earnhardt won the NASCAR Championship seven times('80, '86, '87, '90, '91, '93 and '94), tying the record of the legendary Richard Petty. Additionally, his prize winnings totaled more than $42 million. In addition to a hard-charging racing style, Earnhardt was known for being excellent at drafting, the phenomenon where two cars lined up together go faster than one car alone. Earnhardt discovered "side-drafting", but to many people this "side-drafting" was just a joke till Earnhardt started to win a lot of Super Speedway wins. Earnhardt was also known for his dominance at restrictor plate racing. Restrictor plates are used at two superspeedways, Daytona and Talladega, where drafting also plays a large role in who wins — subsequently Dale Earnhardt and the teams he had worked with all do very well at those tracks. Earnhardt himself had 9 wins at Talladega alone. He won 76 cup point races overall, sixth on the all-time list.

Related Topics:
NASCAR Championship - Richard Petty - Drafting - Restrictor plate - Daytona - Talladega

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Although he had won at Daytona many times in many different races--including six Budweiser Shootouts, two Pepsi 400s, twelve Gatorade Twin 125s (including ten in a row from 1990 through 1999) and six IROC races--it took him until 1998 to win the Daytona 500, on his twentieth try.

Related Topics:
Budweiser Shootout - Pepsi 400 - Gatorade Twin 125s - 1990 - 1999 - IROC - 1998

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Dale drove the #3 car for most of his career, spanning the early 1980s until his unfortunate passing in 2001. As of 2005, no other Nextel Cup race car has used this number, and NASCAR has considered officially retiring it.

Related Topics:
1980s - As of 2005 - Nextel Cup

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In 1981, after a successful two and a half year stint with car owner Rod Osterlund, winning the 1980 championship, Osterlund sold his team to J. D. Stacy. Earnhardt never liked Stacy, and when independent driver Richard Childress was given an offer to retire and let Earnhardt take over his #3 car, complete with Earnhardt's Wrangler Jeans sponsorship, Childress gave up his ride to field cars for Earnhardt. That partnership won 69 of Earnhardt's 76 races. While Earnhardt and Childress decided to split after the 1981 season (Earnhardt drove for Walter "Bud" Moore, and Childress hired Ricky Rudd), they returned for 1984, and created one of the most successful teams in motorsports.

Related Topics:
Richard Childress - Wrangler Jeans

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The #3 was sponsored by Wrangler Jeans, and later by Goodwrench. Earnhardt drove a Chevrolet model, that moved through the decades as a Lumina and later a Monte Carlo. The sinister looking all-black Goodwrench Chevrolet became the best-known car driven by Earnhardt. Although Earnhardt eventually formed his own racing outfit--Dale Earnhardt Incorporated (DEI)--his loyalty to and friendship with Richard Childress kept aligned with RCR as a driver.

Related Topics:
Wrangler Jeans - Goodwrench - Chevrolet - Lumina - Monte Carlo

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Dale Earnhardt in NASCAR was a very polarizing figure. People either loved him or hated him, but he was arguably one of the most popular drivers in the sport. Earnhardt's death drew a considerable reaction from the nation, NASCAR, and of course grief-stricken fans. It is remarkable, and almost symbolic, that his son, Dale Jr., is still officially marked as "Earnhardt Jr." on the ticker, even though there is no longer a need to distinguish between father and son on the racetrack.

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Earnhardt kept his private life generally private. He enjoyed the company of his family, being in the outdoors, hunting and fishing, and actively working his farm in Kannapolis, riding a tractor instead of a racecar. In contrast with his image as a hardnosed competitor on the track, off the track he was known to his friends as someone who was charitable and generous, but kept that side of himself private from the rest of the world.

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At the time of his death he was survived by his third wife Teresa and four children: Son Kerry (from his first marriage to Latane Brown), Kelley, Dale Jr. (both from his second marriage to Brenda Gee), and daughter Taylor (from his third marriage). Kerry and Dale Jr. are both NASCAR drivers. Dale Jr. finished second when his father died at the 2001 Daytona 500. The winner of that race, Michael Waltrip, was one of Dale's closest friends, and drove for DEI.

Related Topics:
Kerry - Michael Waltrip

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Three weeks after Earnhardt's death, young California driver Kevin Harvick, hired to replace him in the now-renumbered and repainted #29 GM Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet, scored a win at Atlanta. The Fox television commentators' call of the final lap of the 2001 Golden Corral 500, with Harvick defeating Jeff Gordon by .006 seconds, and the images of Earnhardt's longtime fueler, Danny "Chocolate" Myers crying after the victory, are among some of the most memorable moments in recent motorsports history. Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored an emotional victory in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 7, 2001.

Related Topics:
Kevin Harvick - Fox - Golden Corral 500 - Jeff Gordon - Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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In 2004, Dale Earnhardt's life story was made into a television movie by ESPN titled, '.

Related Topics:
2004 - Television movie - ESPN

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Earnhardt has a street in his hometown of Kannapolis named after him. Dale Earnhardt Boulevard (originally Earnhardt Road) is marked as Exit 60 off of Interstate 85, northeast of Charlotte. A road between Kannapolis and Mooresville, along which is the headquarters of DEI, has been given the designation State Road 3 by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. In addition, Exit 73 off of Interstate 35W, one of the entrances to Texas Motor Speedway, is named "Dale Earnhardt Way".

Related Topics:
Interstate 85 - Charlotte - Mooresville - State Road 3 - Interstate 35W - Texas Motor Speedway

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In 2000, the Piedmont Boll Weevils minor league baseball team was renamed to the Kannapolis Intimidators after Earnhardt purchased a share in the team's ownership.

Related Topics:
2000 - Piedmont Boll Weevils - Minor league baseball - Kannapolis Intimidators

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