DaleHe cruised through Earnhardt life, not always with flying colors

alph , Sr. was an American race car driver, best known for his career driving stock cars in NASCAR’s top division. Earnhardt is best known for his success in the Winston Cup Series, winning seventy-six races, and seven championships, tied for most all-time with . His highly aggressive driving style made him a fan favorite and earned him Rthe nickname “The Intimidator.”

NASCAR career Dale Earnhardt began his Winston Cup career in 1975, making his very first start at the in the longest race on the Cup circuit, the World 600. Earnhardt would win four poles, one race (coming at ), 11 Top 5 finishes, 17 Top 10 finish, and finish 7th in the points stand- ings, in spite of missing four races because of a broken collarbone, winning the Rookie of the Year award.

In 1983, Earnhardt would rebound, winning his first of 13 straight Twin 125 qualifying races. The 1986 season would see Earnhardt win his sec- ond career Winston Cup Championship and the first owner’s championship for RCR, winning five races, ten Top 5 finishes, and sixteen Top 10 finishes. By 1988, Earnhardt was racing with a new sponsor, GM Goodwrench. He would win three times in 1988, finishing third in the points standings behind and .

In 1998, after 20 years of disappointment in the Daytona 500. Earnhardt finally won the race. Earnhardt spoke about the victory, saying “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 over. And we won it! We won it!”

Earnhardt had a resurgence during the 2000 season. On the strength of his per- formance, Earnhardt took the No. 3 GM Goodwrench Monte Carlo to 2nd in the standings.

Death In February 2001, during the Daytona 500, going into the final turn during the last lap, Earnhardt’s car seemed to slow. For a moment, it looked like Dale would hang onto the car and drive to a top-five finish, but another car - the #36 driven by - rammed Earnhardt’s Chevrolet in the passenger door and spun the car nose-first into the wall. Earnhardt’s #3 hit at a critical angle at nearly 150 miles per hour. The left-rear wheel assembly broke off the car on impact. The hood pins severed and the hood flapped open, slamming against the windshield as the car slid slowly down the track.

To most observers, the crash looked Following his death, there was a minor. After all, Earnhardt had sur- police investigation, as well as a vived the tumbling crash at Talladega NASCAR-sanctioned investiga- in 1996 when his car was pelted sev- tion. Nearly every detail of the Get to Know eral times in the roof and windshield event was made public, from the as it rolled across the track. finding of a broken seatbelt inside Earnhardt’s car to graphic “The Intimidator” descriptions of the injuries the driver suffered at the moment of I He appeared in the 1983 impact. to subsequent improvements in safety. movie . Earnhardt’s #3 car was immediately Factors in the controversy included: I retired by team owner Richard A planet is named D’Earnhardt in the 1991 I Childress. Childress made a public NASCAR’s initial claim of seat science fiction comedy novel A World Lost by pledge that the would never belt failure (which led to speculation James Weldon Johnson. The protagonist is again adorn the side of a black car as to whether this might have been named ‘Rusty Wallace’ and at least one other sponsored by GM Goodwrench, the caused by deliberate incorrect fitting planet is named for a NASCAR driver. pendent report, which said that whether the seat belt color scheme and sponsor Earnhardt to aid driver comfort); failed or not was irrelevant, as death had been caused I had driven since 1988. I In 1997, Earnhardt appeared as a special Whether Dale Earnhardt’s con- by neck injuries which could have been prevented by a guest with his close friends, the country duo tinued use of an open-faced helmet HANS device. Controversy over cause of death was a factor. Brooks and Dunn, in the video for Brooks and Various views were expressed by I I NASCAR’s own report, which did not concur with Dunn’s hit song, Honky Tonk Truth. NASCAR and others about the cause Controversy over access to the the independent report, but rather lay blame across a or causes of Dale Earnhardt’s death, autopsy records. range of causes. I Earnhardt appeared in a cameo role in the causing controversy but also leading I The different findings of an inde- 1998 comedy spoof BASEketball as a taxi In the midst of the general controversy, legal, political driver, who reveals himself only after Yasmine Bleeth’s character asks the driver if he “can While raced toward and public opinion were all engaged in ways that go any faster.” the checkered flag to claim his first changed ’s laws as to how and under what cir- official victory with Dale Earnhardt, Jr., cumstances public record medical examiner files, I In 2000, the Piedmont Boll Weevils minor close behind, the cars of Earnhardt, including autopsy photographs, would be released to league baseball team was renamed to the Sr., and Schrader slid off the track’s members of the public. Kannapolis Intimidators after Earnhardt pur- asphalt banking toward in the infield chased a share in the team’s ownership. grass just inside of turn four. Legacy Dale Earnhardt was a very polarizing figure in I In 2004, Dale Earnhardt’s life story was After climbing from the wreck of his NASCAR. He was both loved and hated in the sport, yet made into a television movie by ESPN titled, car, Schrader was the first person to despite his numerous detractors, Earnhardt remained 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story, starring Barry approach Earnhardt’s car post-crash. one of the sport’s most popular drivers. His death drew Pepper as Earnhardt. As medical crews converged upon the a considerable amount of reaction from the nation, crash scene, a Fox reporter asked NASCAR, and his fans. I Country singer Travis Tritt plays a guitar Schrader about Earnhardt’s condition. with Earnhardt’s image airbrushed onto the Dale Earnhardt was dead. Earnhardt was named second among NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998 (ranked behind David front during concerts. Troy Gentry, of the Pearson), and was posthumously named NASCAR’s country duo Montgomery Gentry, also had a Aftermath guitar with the #3 and a picture of Earnhardt Dale Earnhardt’s death received wide- Most Popular Driver in 2001, the only time he received on its face, which was played during their spread media attention and his death the award. He was also posthumously inducted into the Crossroads televisions special with Lynyrd was the catalyst for change that con- Hall of Fame of America in 2002 and the Skynyrd. On a VH1 special C.C. DeVille of tinues five and a half years later. International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006. Poison played a guitar with a Dale Earnhardt By: Wikipedia number 3 sticker on it during the song “Fallen Angel”.

I Earnhardt is one of seven drivers in NASCAR history to win a Career Grand Slam, by winning the sport’s four majors; Richard Petty, David Pearson, , Darrell “You gotta live hard and drive fast.” Waltrip, , and are –Dale Earnhardt the other six to have accomplished the feat.