Dale Earnhardt

Dale Earnhardt

NASCAR Cup Series statistics
Best placement	1. - (1980, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10 676 76 22nd 428
NASCAR Xfinity Series Statistics
Best placement	21st - (1982)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10 136 21st 7th 75

Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. (born April 29, 1951 in Kannapolis , North Carolina , † February 18, 2001 in Daytona Beach , Florida ) was an American NASCAR racing driver and the father of Kerry , Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, Dale Jr. and Taylor Earnhardt. He was also the founder of his own team, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. The ancestors of the Earnhardt family (Ehrenhardt) come from the German town of Ilbesheim .

Earnhardt is best known for his successes in the Winston Cup , the highest NASCAR racing series, which he won a total of seven times, as well as Richard "The King" Petty and Jimmie Johnson . He also won 76 races, including the Daytona 500 of the 1998 season. He was also known for his aggressive driving style, which made him particularly popular among NASCAR fans. His nicknames included "Ironhead", "Mr. Restrictor Plate "(Mr. Air Restrictor; based on the races with the use of air restrictors in Daytona and Talladega )," The Man in Black "and the most famous" The Intimidator "(The Intimidator).

Earnhardt died in an accident on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, making it the fourth driver to be killed within nine months of Adam Petty's death . The outcry from many fans ultimately ensured that NASCAR intensified its focus on safety, among other things by installing the so-called SAFER Barriers , i.e. a second, upstream and yielding outer wall in the curves, rigorous new regulations with regard to seat belts and the introduction of the HANS system , and ultimately the development of a new, safe racing car, the Car of Tomorrow .

Early years

Earnhardt was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina to Martha Coleman and Ralph Earnhardt , one of North Carolina's finest short track drivers. Although Ralph didn't want his son to follow in his footsteps, he couldn't convince him to give up his dream of racing. So Earnhardt dropped out of high school to race. His father then supported him and was a strict teacher to him when it came to racing. Years after his father Ralph died of a heart attack in 1973 , Earnhardt believed that he still had to prove himself to his father.

At the age of 17, Earnhardt married his first wife, Latane Key, in 1968. His first son, Kerry, was born in 1969. The divorce followed just a year later. In 1971 Earnhardt married his second wife Brenda Gee, the daughter of NASCAR car maker Robert Gee. He and her had two children: daughter Kelley was born in 1972, his son Dale Jr. was born in 1974. He divorced Brenda shortly afterwards. He then married his third and last wife, Teresa. Their daughter Taylor Nicole was born in 1988.

Kerry has two sons named Bobby Dale (* 1987) and Jeffrey (* 1989), who are Dale's grandsons.

NASCAR career

Early years in the Winston Cup

Dale Earnhardt made his Winston Cup debut in the 1975 World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway . He started in an Ed Negre racing car and finished the race in 22nd place, one place ahead of his future car owner Richard Childress . By the 1979 season, Earnhardt competed in eight more races before completing his rookie season for Rod Osterlund Racing .

That season, Earnhardt scored one win, four pole positions, eleven top 5 results, 17 top 10 results and finished seventh in the championship despite missing four races due to a broken collarbone . With these achievements, he secured the title of Rookie of the Year .

In his second season, Earnhardt started with his 20-year-old crew chief Doug Richert with a win at the Busch Clash . With wins in Atlanta , Bristol , Nashville , Martinsville and Charlotte, he won his first championship in the Winston Cup. To this day, Earnhardt is the only driver to have won the Rookie of the Year title and the championship for two consecutive years.

Racing car of the 1983 season

After Osterlund had sold his team to J. D. Stacy during the 1981 season, Earnhardt switched to Richard Childress Racing and finished seventh in the championship, despite not winning a race. On the advice of Richard Childress, Earnhardt teamed up with car owner Bud Moore for the 1982 and 1983 seasons. During the 1982 season he stumbled, because in addition to his victory in Darlington he did not finish in 15 races, so that he was only twelfth in the championship, which was the worst result of his career. He returned in 1983 and won his first of twelve Gatorade Duels . With wins in Nashville and Talladega , he finished eighth in the championship at the end of the season.

Return to Richard Childress Racing

After the 1983 season, Earnhardt returned to Richard Childress Racing and swapped teams with Ricky Rudd , who in return for Bud Moore switched to starting number 15. Earnhardt took over the starting number 3, which had previously been driven by Rudd and which he made famous. Both cars were sponsored by Wrangler . During 1984 and 1985 Earnhardt drove a total of six times into Victory Lane and won in Talladega, Atlante, Richmond , Martinsville and twice in Bristol. He finished the seasons in fourth and eighth.

The 1986 season was to be Earnhardt's second championship season, in which he brought in the first championship for the car owner Richard Childress. During the season he won five races, had ten top five and 16 top 10 results. In the following season he defended the championship with eleven wins and 489 points ahead of Bill Elliott . With four wins in consecutive races and five wins in the first seven races of the season, he set two new records in the modern era of NASCAR. It was the 1987 season that earned him his best-known nickname "The Intimidator" when he turned Bill Elliott out of the way in the final segment of " Winston, " a special event that is all about prize money and not championship points thus secured victory.

In the 1988 season, Earnhardt started with GM Goodwrench as a new sponsor, replacing Wrangler. During that season, he got his second nickname, "The Man in Black," due to the black color scheme his number 3 car was painted in. He was often referred to as " Darth Vader " because of his black racing overalls and car paintwork, in addition to his reputation for simply getting other drivers out of the way if he couldn't overtake them. With three victories this season, Earnhardt finished third in the championship behind Bill Elliott and Rusty Wallace . He won a total of five races in the 1989 season, but a spin towards the end of the race in North Wilkesboro was what eventually cost him the championship that Rusty Wallace secured.

1990s

Dale Earnhardt operates a bomb lift truck to load an AIM-120 AMRAAM rocket ( Langley Air Force Base , Virginia, September 2000)

Earnhardt started the 1990 season with promising victories in the Busch Clash and victory in his Gatorade Twin 125 . Towards the end of the Daytona 500 he was leading by four seconds when the last caution phase was called a few laps before the end. When the race was reopened, he was leading Derrike Cope . On the last lap, Earnhardt drove over a piece of metal in the last corner before the finish and damaged a tire. Cope won the race while Earnhardt finished fifth. For the rest of the season, the team hung up the tire that had cost them victory at the Daytona 500 in the workshop to motivate them. During the season, Earnhardt won nine races and secured his fourth championship title with a 26-point lead over Mark Martin . He also won the Winston. It was his second win in the race and Earnhardt became the first driver to win this show race twice.

As in 1987, Earnhardt successfully defended the championship in 1991 and secured his fifth championship title. Although he only won four races, at the end of the season he had a lead of 195 points over runner-up Ricky Rudd . In the 1992 season, Earnhardt wanted his third title in a row, but Ford dominated the end of the 1991 season and the beginning of 1992 with their new engine and a new aerodynamic package for the Thunderbird , when a total of 13 consecutive races were won by Fords. His only victory in 1992 was in Charlotte at the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 when he stopped the Fords' winning streak. Like ten years earlier, he was only twelfth in the championship. After his long-time crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine became a racing driver himself, Andy Petree took over his position.

With Petree as crew chief, the number 3 team returned to the top in the 1993 season. As in 1990, Earnhardt dominated the Speedweeks before the Daytona 500, in which he was beaten again in the last round and the victory went to Dale Jarrett . During the season, Earnhardt scored six wins on the way to his sixth championship title, including wins at the Coca-Cola 600, the Winston and the Pepsi 400 in Daytona. At the end of the season he was 80 points ahead of runner-up Rusty Wallace .

Earnhardt's 1994 racing car

In the 1994 season, Earnhardt won the seventh championship, drawing level with the legendary Richard Petty . Due to his consistency during the season and four wins, he won the title with over 400 points ahead of Mark Martin . Although Earnhardt was to dominate the following years, this was the last title of his career.

The 1995 season started Earnhardt with a second place in the Daytona 500 behind Sterling Marlin . He won a total of five races that year, including his first win on a street circuit at Sears Point . He also won the prestigious Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis . He himself described this victory as the greatest of his career. Nevertheless, at the end of the season he lost the championship by 34 points to Jeff Gordon .

At the beginning of the 1996 season, the season opener from 1993 was repeated: Earnhardt dominated the Speedweeks, but had to admit defeat to Dale Jarrett again in the Daytona 500. In the first phase of the season, however, he won in Rockingham and Atlanta. At the end of July at the DieHard 500 in Talladega he was the championship leader and despite the departure of Crew Chief Andy Petree on the way to his eighth championship title. Towards the end of the race, Ernie Irvan lost control of his car and was the trigger for a violent accident in which Earnhardt drove head-on into the outer wall at almost 200 mph (approx. 320 km / h). His car then overturned and skidded over the track, severely damaging the roof and windshield. As a result, NASCAR prescribed the so-called "Earnhardt Bar", a metal strut in the middle of the windshield that is supposed to additionally strengthen the roof.

Due to postponements due to rain, the live broadcast had previously been canceled and most fans only found out about the accident on the sports news in the evening. The video of the accident initially suggested a fatal accident, but when doctors arrived at the car, Earnhardt climbed out of it and waved to the audience. In addition, despite his broken collarbone, sternum and shoulder, he refused to be placed on a stretcher . Many fans believed that the season was over for Earnhardt, but he did not give up. He started the race the following weekend in Indianapolis, but handed the car over to Mike Skinner at the first pit stop . When asked about it, Earnhardt said that leaving the racing car was the worst thing he had ever done. The following weekend at Watkins Glen he set the fastest time in qualifying and started from pole position. Earnhardt led the race for most of the time, but had to be content with sixth place in the end. Although he could not get another win in the 1996 season, he was still fourth in the championship behind Terry Labonte , Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett.

In the 1997 season, Earnhardt could not win a race. Although he won the Twin 125 qualifying race for the Daytona 500 for the eighth time in a row, this win does not count towards the championship. Ten laps before the finish, an accident in which he dragged along the back straight on the roof meant that he could not win the race again. After a blackout at the Southern 500 in Darlington , which drove him into the wall and then taken to hospital, he had hit the bottom of the season. The cause of the accident could never be clarified. Although Earnhardt did not win a race, he finished fifth in the championship at the end of the season.

After 20 years, Earnhardt managed to win the Daytona 500 in the 1998 season. He had previously started the Speedweeks with his ninth win in a row in the Twin 125 qualifying race. In the race itself, he showed himself to be a possible winner early on, although towards half-time it looked as if Jeff Gordon would gain the upper hand. On lap 138 Earnhardt took the lead and with the support of teammate Mike Skinner he was able to maintain it in front of Bobby Labonte . After crossing the finish line, all team members lined up in the pit lane to shake hands with Earnhardt as he made his way into Victory Lane. Then he drove his car into the grass between the pit lane and the racetrack and started a special trend to celebrate victories: he threw the car around twice and left tire tracks in the form of a 3 in the grass. Earnhardt said of his victory: “I have had a lot of great fans and people behind me all through the years and I just can't thank them enough. The Daytona 500 is ours. We won it! We won it! We won it! " ( " I've had a lot of great fans and people behind me over the years and I can't thank them enough. The Daytona 500 is ours. We won it! We won it! We won it ! " ) However, the rest of the season was not so good. At halftime of the season he was twelfth in the championship. After changing the crew chief with Mike Skinner's, Earnhardt improved to eighth place at the end of the season.

Before the 1999 season, there were discussions among fans about Earnhardt's age and speculation arose that he might consider retiring from active motorsport with the entry of his son Dale Jr. Over the course of the season, Earnhardt won both races in Talladega, whereupon connoisseurs of the scene were of the opinion that his skills were now limited to restrictor plate races. But at the Pepsi 400 in August at Michigan International Speedway, he showed his skills again when he was in the lead towards the end of the race, but victory went to Bobby Labonte. It would have been his first win in a race without a restrictor plate since 1996.

Just a week later, it created one of the most controversial moments in NASCAR history. At the Goody's Headache Powder 500 in Bristol, he found himself competing for the first victory on a short track since Martinsville in 1995. When the race was neutralized 15 laps to go, Terry Labonte, who was leading at the time, was rammed from behind by the lapped Darrell Waltrip . As a result of the subsequent spin, Earnhardt took the lead and five laps from the end there were five cars between him and Labonte. Labonte had put on four fresh tires and Earnhardt was still using old tires, which made his car significantly slower. Labonte caught up with him and passed him as the white flag waved for the final lap. But Earnhardt drove hard in turn two, rammed Labonte and turned him around. Under the boos of the audience, Earnhardt then won. About this incident, Earnhardt said: “I didn't try to turn him around, I just wanted to rattle his cage.” ( “I didn't want to turn him around, I just wanted to shake him up.” ) At the end of the season, he finished seventh in the championship and looked again as a serious contender for the title.

In the 2000 season, Earnhardt celebrated a resurrection, which is often attributed to neck surgery that cured a persistent injury from his 1996 Talladega accident. This year he recorded two victories (and became the only driver in NASCAR history to have won races in four decades), which many fans consider the two most exciting victories of the year: The victory with a margin of 0.006 seconds Bobby Labonte in Atlanta and catching up 17 places in the last four laps of the Winston 500 in Talladega, which won him the $ 1 million bonus for the Winston No-Bull 5 . With two second places in Richmond and Martinsville, he secured second place in the championship at the end of the season. A poor performance at Watkins Glen and average placements in Charlotte and Dover prevented his eighth league title.

death

In the weeks leading up to the 2001 Daytona 500, Earnhardt caused controversy when he skipped the annual show to fans and the media. For this he received criticism in particular from the young driver Jimmy Spencer .

Despite the early start of the speed weeks, they were a disappointment for Earnhardt, who traditionally had won at least one of the show races every year. In the Budweiser Shootout he finished second behind Tony Stewart and also in his Gatorade Twin 125 qualifying race he was denied victory. Still, he dealt with these defeats calmly and appeared relaxed and confident in the television interviews on the morning of the Daytona 500. After the start, he led the race and was in the lead for most of the time.

Towards the end of the race, an accident involving several cars involved tore some drivers out of the race, including Tony Stewart, the winner of the Budweiser Shootout. He skidded uncontrollably on the back straight when Earnhardt maneuvered his car through the scene of the accident and got away unscathed. After the track was cleaned and the race was opened again, the DEI drivers Dale Earnhardt junior and Michael Waltrip were in the lead. As the race closed, Waltrip was leading in front of Earnhardt Jr. and Earnhardt.

With three laps to go, Sterling Marlin hit Earnhardt's rear left fender on the home stretch. His car lurched, but Earnhardt kept control and stayed in third ahead of Marlin. Marlin had a significantly faster car than Earnhardt at the time, but this repeatedly blocked Marlin's attempts to overtake him. Less than two laps to go, Darrell Waltrip commented that Marlin had already demolished the front of his car while trying to get past Earnhardt ( "Sterling has beat the front end off of that old Dodge trying to get around Dale" ).

When entering turn three on the last lap, Earnhardt, Marlin and Ken Schrader drove three side by side. On the corner there was a slight contact between Earnhardt's left rear fender and Marlin's bumper. Earnhardt's car spun off the track onto the flat apron and from there back towards the outer wall. As the car shot up the curve, it collided with Ken Schrader's car. This hit Earnhardt directly behind the passenger door, causing both cars to drive into the outer wall. Earnhardt hit the wall at a critical angle at around 150 mph (around 240 km / h). In the impact, the right front suspension loosened, the bonnet opened and hit the windshield as the car slid down the curve. For many observers, the accident didn't look nearly as bad as the one in Talladega in 1996.

While Michael Waltrip, closely followed by Earnhardt Jr., drove towards his first victory, the cars of Earnhardt and Schrader slid down into the grass at turn four. After Schrader climbed out of his car, he looked into Earnhardt's car. He immediately signaled the necessary support from an emergency doctor. While the emergency doctors were treating Earnhardt at the accident site, FOX reporter Jeanne Zelasko Schrader asked about Earnhardt's condition. “I'm not a doctor, but I got the heck out of the way as soon as they got there.” ( “I'm not a doctor, but I got out of the way as soon as they (the doctors) were there. “ ), He gave as an answer. Earnhardt was rushed to Halifax Medical Center after he was freed from his car. A few hours later, NASCAR President Mike Helton announced at a press conference: “Undoubtedly this is one of the toughest announcements I've personally had to make. After the accident in Turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500, we've lost Dale Earnhardt. ” ( “ Undoubtedly this is one of the most difficult announcements I have to make personally. After the accident in Turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500 we lost Dale Earnhardt. ” ) The cause of death was determined to be a fracture of the skull base and brain injuries.

consequences

Earnhardt's death sparked a number of changes in NASCAR. There was both a police investigation and a NASCAR investigation following his death. Almost every detail of the accident has been made public, from finding a broken seat belt in Earnhardt's car to graphical representations of the injuries the driver was sustaining at the time of the impact. It was rumored that he had not put his seat belt on correctly because he liked to have it a little looser and so had more freedom of movement in the car. Allegations of seat belt failure led Bill Simpson to leave his company, which made seat belts in Earnhardt's cars, as well as nearly every racing car in NASCAR.

Several press conferences were held in the days following Earnhardt's death. Some fans wrote threatening letters to Sterling Marlin, blaming him for the accident. After they became known, Earnhardt's son Dale Jr. acquitted Marlin of all guilt.

Team owner Richard Childress immediately withdrew Earnhardt's number 3 car and publicly promised never again to use the number 3 on the side of a black racing car sponsored by GM Goodwrench - the color scheme Earnhardt has been using since 1988. The team celebrated its rebirth under the starting number 29 with the same sponsor but a different color scheme in the subsequent races in Rockingham and Las Vegas. A new GM Goodwrench color scheme with angled red stripes and a thin blue stripe was introduced for the Atlanta race, which corresponded to the color scheme used by Childress AC Delco in the Busch Series .

Kevin Harvick , who drove for Childress in his sophomore year in the Busch Series, has been named to replace Earnhardt. He drove his first race after Earnhardt's death on the North Carolina Speedway . Special hats with the start number 3 were distributed to every person at the race track in honor of Earnhardt and the team wore black uniforms for the first time.

In addition, the fans took it into their own hands to honor Earnhardt by holding three fingers up in the air on the third round of each cup race. The television broadcasts from FOX and NBC also observed a minute's silence every third lap in the races from Rockingham until the next Daytona 500. In the first three weeks after Earnhardt's death, incidents on the track also ensured that the yellow flag was shown on lap three. Three weeks after Earnhardt's death, Harvick won his first race in the Winston Cup in Atlanta in a car that had been prepared for Earnhardt. In the final round of the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 , Harvick beat Jeff Gordon by 0.006 seconds in Atlanta. Many NASCAR fans will never forget the pictures of Danny Myers, Earnhardt's gas station attendant for many years, crying after the victory and Harvick finishing his burnout on the home straight with three fingers stretched out the window.

Start number 3

Earnhardt's racing car in the famous GM Goodwrench color scheme

Earnhardt drove the number 3 car for almost his entire career from the early 1980s to his death in 2001. Although he had other sponsors throughout his career, the number 3 car is stuck with its fans with its previous sponsor GM Goodwrench and his last color scheme in dominant black with wide decorative strips lacquered in silver. The white, red-framed number 3 on a black background is also one of the most famous logos in racing, the rights to this design are owned by the Richard Childress Racing team and the Earnhardt family.

As a memento, the number is in a very small form on Kevin Harvick's car, who replaced Earnhardt on the team at the time.

In 2002 Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove a Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the Busch Series at Daytona. In addition to Oreo Cookies as the main sponsor, the car also had the trademarked stylized start number 3 on the doors and on the roof. Earnhardt Jr. won the race but has not used the number again since then. (It is a common misconception that Richard Childress Racing owns the rights to race number 3. In fact, no team owns the rights to a race number; however, under current NASCAR procedures, Richard Childress Racing has priority over other teams for use.)

Since the 2008 season, the starting number for the driver Austin Dillon , the grandson of Richard Childress, has largely been re-used in the traditional design in various NASCAR series. With this starting number, Dillon won the Truck Series in 2011 and his first race in the Nationwide Series in Kentucky in 2012. In his sporadic Sprint Cup starts, however, he drove with a clearly differently designed number 33. Since 2014, however, the number 3 has returned to the Sprint Cup. Some fans and many members of the Earnhardt family thought or think this is inappropriate; Richard Childress Racing, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Austin Dillon each spoke out in favor of number 3 with Cheerios and The Dow Chemical Company as main sponsors.

Earnhardt's legacy

Earnhardt was a very polarizing figure in NASCAR. He was loved and hated at the same time, but despite his numerous critics, he remained one of the most popular drivers. After his fatal accident in Daytona, he was nevertheless voted “ Most Popular Driver ”, the most popular driver of the season.

Earnhardt kept his private life relatively covered. He enjoyed family company, hunting and fishing, and working on his Mooresville farm. In contrast to his image as a tough opponent on the racetrack, he was charitable and generous apart from his friends.

A street was named after him in his hometown of Kannapolis. The "Dale Earnhardt Boulevard" (originally "Earnhardt Road" ) can be reached via Exit No. 60 on Interstate 85 northeast of Charlotte , North Carolina. The Dale Earnhardt Boulevard is also the starting point of the "Dale Trail" , a route to the stations in the life of Dale Earnhardt and his family. In addition, a road between Kannapolis and Mooresville near the headquarters of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. was designated North Carolina Highway 3 by the North Carolina Department of Transportation based on the number 3 . Also named after Dale Earnhardt is exit no. 73 of Interstate 35 W in Texas , the "Dale Earnhardt Way" , as one of the feeders to the Texas Motor Speedway .

In the 2004 and 2005 seasons Hasemi Sport competed in the JGTC and Super GT series with a completely black painted Nissan 350Z with the same start number and the same font style on the roof.

In 2005 the American writer Sharyn McCrumb published the novel “St. Dale ”in which several fans go on a tour to various racetracks in memory of Dale Earnhardt and thus describe the world of NASCAR races.

During the race weekend from April 29 to May 1, 2006 on the Talladega Superspeedway, the cars from Dale Earnhardt Inc. started in an identical black color scheme on the so-called "Dale Earnhardt Day", the day of his birthday on April 29. Martin Truex junior won the Aaron's 312 in the Busch Series . Two days later, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr. and Paul Menard competed in the Nextel Cup in the same color scheme .

On June 18, 2006, Dale Earnhardt Jr. competed at the 3M Performance 400 in Michigan in a special Budweiser livery in honor of his father and grandfather Ralph Earnhardt . He finished third in the race, which was shortened due to rain. The paintwork of the car was in the style of Ralph's car from 1956 and showed Budweiser logos from 1956.

At the Daytona International Speedway a section in the stands was inaugurated as the "Earnhardt Tower". It is at the point where Earnhardt had a fatal accident.

On April 2, 2010, a roller coaster named after Earnhardt (Intimidator 305) opened at the Kings Dominion amusement park in Doswell, Virginia. The trains are designed after his black and red Chevrolet. Furthermore, on March 27, 2010, Intimidator in Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, a second roller coaster named after him. There are signs in the entrances of both lanes showing Ernhardt's résumé and one of his racing cars.

On the tenth anniversary of Dale Earnhardt's death, the third lap during the 2011 Daytona 500 became a "silent lap". TV and radio presenters were silent and the fans held 3 fingers in the air, which corresponds to Dale Earnhardt's most famous race number, the # 3.

Awards

• Earnhardt was ranked # 1 on ESPN's list of the top 20 NASCAR drivers in 2007, ahead of Richard Petty.
• Earnhardt was ranked 2nd on NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, behind David Pearson .
• Earnhardt was posthumously awarded NASCAR's Most Popular Driver of the season in 2001 - it was the only time that he received that award.
• Induced into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2002.
• Induction into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006.

Films about Earnhardt

In 2004, Earnhardt's life story was filmed in an ESPN television film. The film is titled " 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story " and Barry Pepper played the leading role as Dale Earnhardt.

In 2007 a documentary called "Dale" was released. It contains previously unpublished material about Earnhardt's career and private life, as well as family photos and historical interviews that are intended to give the viewer an unprecedented perspective on the real Dale Earnhardt.

Connections to music

There were and are various connections between Earnhardt and various music genres, but especially country music .

• In 1980, music manager Mike Curb sponsored Earnhardt's winning Winston Cup racing cars. This racing car with the starting number 2, with which Earnhardt won his first championship, is in the Curb Motorsports Museum in Kannapolis.
• In 1997, Earnhardt appeared in the video for "Honky Tonk Truth," a song by country music duo Brooks & Dunn , with whom he was close friends.
• In 2004 Keith Bryant released the album "Ridin 'with the Legend", the title song of which is a tribute to Dale Earnhardt and based on David Allan Coe's "The Ride (The Ghost of Hank Williams )".
• Charlie Daniels wrote and performed a song about Dale Earnhardt called "The Intimidator".
• Country singer Travis Tritt plays a guitar with an airbrush by Dale Earnhardt on the front during concerts.
• Troy Gentry of the country music duo Montgomery Gentry also owns a guitar with the number 3 and a picture of Earnhardt's face that he played during a television special with Lynyrd Skynyrd . His band colleague Eddie Montgomery can be seen in the music video for "Speed" in a black trench coat with the starting number 3 on both sleeves.
• The Bled's first album “ Pass the Flask ” contains a song entitled “You Know Who's Seatbelt”, which is vaguely based on Earnhardt's life. Originally the song was supposed to be called "Dale Earnhardt's Seatbelt", but was renamed for legal reasons.
• In the VH1 special on CC DeVille by the band Poison , he plays a guitar with a sticker with Dale Earnhardt's number 3 on it during the song "Fallen Angel".
• In the video for “When I Get to Where I'm Goin” by Brad Paisley, Teresa Earnhardt can be seen in front of a photo of Dale Earnhardt.
• Billy Ray Cyrus ' song "The Man" is a tribute to Dale Earnhardt.
• The song "99 Biker Friends" by Bowling for Soup contains the text "your tiny pickup truck in the driveway, with the sticker on the window, 'rest in peace # 3'".
• Cledus T. Judd's fun song “I Love NASCAR” - based on Toby Keith's “I Love This Bar” contains a verse sung by Toby Keith: “I love NASCAR, it's my kind of race. Just to see Big E back on the track, Would put a smile on every face. No-one drove a car quite like Earnhardt ... "
• There was a special single called "Dale Earnhardt Tribute" from Tim McGraw's "Please Remember Me" with soundtracks from the day of the race that Dale Earnhardt died on and later interviews.
• John Hiatt dedicates a verse to Dale Earnhardt in his song "The Tiki Bar Is Open", which says "The king is gone, but he'll not be forgotten / nor his light will we ever see".

Web links

Commons : Dale Earnhardt  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Dale Earnhardt in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Dale Earnhardt in the nndb (English)
• Driver statistics on racing-reference.info

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Excerpt from Auto-Motor-Sport online
2. ↑ Ed Hinton: Daytona. From the Birth of Speed ​​to the Death of the Man in Black. Warner Books, New York 2001, ISBN 0-446-52677-0 .