Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr was born April 29, 1951 and had a career as a NASCAR race driver racing in the top division. He is mostly remembered for his success in the Winston Cup Series where he won 76 races including the Daytona 500. His aggressive driving style gave him the nicknames of "Ironhead", "Mr Restrictor Plate", "The Man in Black" and "The Intimidator".

Dale Earnhardt

Dale was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina to Martha Coleman and Ralph Earnhardt who was also one of the best short-track drivers in North Carolina. His father did not want Dale to follow him in a career in racing but Dale's stubborn nature led him to drop out of school and race anyway.

Dale married three times and was first married when he was 17 to Latane Brown and had his first son with her in 1969, unfortunately they were divorced shortly after in 1970. A year later Dale met his second wife Brenda Gee who was the daughter of the NASCAR builder Robert Gee. Together they had a daughter, Kelley King, and a son Ralph Dale Jr but they were divorced shortly after the birth of their son. Finally in 1982 Dale married Teressa Houston who gave brith to a daughter, Taylor Nicole, in 1988.

Dale's racing career started in 1975 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina at the longest racing circuit the World 600. In his first race he drove a Dodge Charger and finished in 22nd place.

Earnhardt's rookie season was very impressive capturing 4 poles, having 11 Top 5 finishes and 17 Top 10 finishes. He also finished 7th in the points standings despite missing four races after breaking his collar bone. These impressive statistics were one factor that lead to him winning Rookie of the Year honors.

After his rookie season was over Dale Earnhardt started to his winning races with Doug Richert as his crew chief initially racing in the Busch Clash. Then winning at Atlanta, Bristol, Nashville, Martinsville and Charlotte leading to him winning his first Winston Cup championship.

1981 Osterlund sold his team to J.D Stacy which prompted Dale to leave and join Richard Childress Racing. Following a suggestion be Childress he joined Bud Moore and raced for 2 seasons in the #15 Wrangler Jeans Ford Thunderbird.

When the 1983 season ended Dale returned to Richard Childress Racing swapping teams with Ricky Rudd. During the 1984 and 1985 seasons he won five races and had ten Top 5 and sixteen Top 10 finishes.

Through the 1990's he had many mores successful races and in 1995 Dale had one of the most controversial moments in his career. He was racing at the August Bristol race when he bumped Labonte's car causing him to spin out of control. Although Dale won the race the spectators Booed and made obscene gestures.

Whilst racing in the 2001 Daytona 500 Dale was involved in an accident where he hit the barrier at the side of the track at about 150 mph. As the car slide across the track it was hit by #36 Pontiac driven by Ken Schrader. To observers the collision looked relatively minor however when Ken looked into the car it caused him to jump back and immediately summon the medical team. The death of Dale led to a plethora of changes to ensure the safety of the drivers.

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Dale Earnhardt - Wikipedia
NASCAR Website

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