Dale Earnhardt biography
Dale Earnhardt, in full Ralph Dale Earnhardt, (born April 29, 1951, Kannapolis, N.C., U.S.—died Feb. 18, 2001, Daytona Beach, Fla.), American stock-car racer who was the dominant driver within the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) throughout the Nineteen Eighties and ’90s.
Ralph Earnhardt, Dale’s father, raced inventory automobiles within the American southeast throughout the Sixties and helped to foster his son’s ardour for the game. The youthful Earnhardt dropped out of highschool in 1967 to pursue his curiosity in racing. In 1975 he made his NASCAR Winston Cup debut on the World 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina. He continued as a part-time driver on the circuit till he landed a full-time place within the Winston Cup collection in 1979. That yr he collected 17 top-10 finishes and earned the Rookie of the Year title. In 1980 he raced to five victories and 19 top-five finishes in profitable his first Winston Cup title. Earnhardt drove to six extra Winston Cup titles (1986–87, 1990–91, 1993–94), equaling the profession mark of Richard Petty. Despite his success within the collection, Earnhardt struggled at NASCAR’s premier occasion, the Daytona 500, the place he failed 19 occasions earlier than receiving the checkered flag in 1998.
For a lot of his profession, Earnhardt was NASCAR’s hottest and controversial driver. He gained a status as an aggressive driver who relished the bumps and spin-outs of stock-car racing. He was identified in racing circles as “the Intimidator,” and the sight of his charging number-3 automotive, a black Chevrolet Monte Carlo, within the rearview mirror rattled many drivers.
Over the course of his driving profession, Earnhardt entered 676 Winston Cup races, gained 76 of them, and amassed greater than $40 million in prize cash. He was additionally a four-time winner of the International Race of Champions collection (1990, 1995, 1999, 2000).
Earnhardt died from accidents suffered throughout a crash within the remaining lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006, and he was a member of the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010. His son Dale, Jr., additionally raced within the NASCAR Winston Cup (later Sprint Cup) collection.