Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was an
outstanding race car driver who
spent most of his career driving
on the NASCAR circuit. In 1975,
Dale began his racing career competing in the
World 600 at the
Charlotte Motor Speedway in
Charlotte, North Carolina, where
he finished in 22nd place.
In
1979, Earnhardt, on one
race at Bristol captured
four poles, had 11 Top 5
finishes, 17 Top 10 finishes,
and finished 7th in the final
points standings.
In
1980, Earnhardt had
wins at Atlanta, Bristol,
Nashville, Martinsville, and
Charlotte, earning him his first
Winston Cup championship.
Earnhardt is the only driver in
NASCAR Winston Cup history to
win Rookie of the Year honors,
and the following season win the
NASCAR Winston Cup Championship.
In 1982, Earnhardt join the
Richard Childress Racing Team,
where he finished 7th in the
point standings. In 1982 and
1983, Dale was part of the Bud
Moore racing team and after the
1983 season, he rejoined the
Richard Childress Racing Team.
During the 1984 and 1985
seasons, Earnhardt won six
times, including victories at
Talladega, Atlanta, Richmond,
Martinsville, and two times at
Bristol. In 1984 and 1985, Dale
finished in fourth and eighth
place, respectively, in the
point standings. In 1986,
Earnhardt won his 2nd career
Winston Cup Championship, and in
1987 he successfully defended
his championship by beating Bill
Elliott by 489 points in the
standing winning his 3rd Winston
Cup Championship. In 1988, Dale
Earnhardt earned the nickname
"The Man in Black," and finished
third overall in the point
standing. In 1989, Dale finished
second behind Rusty Wallace in
the point standings. In one of
the last races at North
Wilkesboro, Earnhardt spun out
costing him the 1989
championship.
In 1990, Dale started the season
off with a bad break in the 500
as he was leading with several
laps to go only to run over some
metal slicing his tires. He
finished 5th in the race;
however, Earnhardt managed to
regain his momentum winning nine
races and claiming his 4th
Winston Cup Championship. In
1991, Earnhardt successfully
defending his championship by
winning his 5th Winston Cup
beating out Ricky Rudd by 195
points in the final standings.
In 1992, Earnhardt had one of
his worst years winning only one
race, the Coca-Cola 600,
finishing 12th in the point
standings for the second time in
his career. In 1993, Earnhardt
was back on-track with six
victories including wins in the
Coca-Cola 600, The Winston at
Charlotte, and the Pepsi 400 at
Daytona. Ear. Dale earned his
6th Winston Cup Championship
beating out Rusty Wallace by 80
points in the final point
standings.
In 1994, Dale earned his 7th
Winston Cup Championship and
tying Richard Petty for the most
Winston Cup Championships earned
by a driver. He easily beat Mark
Martin out for the championship
by 400 points in the final point
standings. In 1995, Earnhardt
finished second in the point
standings failing to earn his
8th championship; however, it
was symbolic that Jeff Gordon
won his 1st Winston Cup
Championship by beating
Earnhardt by just 34 points.
In 1996, Earnhardt was looking
at his 8th Winston Cup
Championship going into the
DieHard 500; however, a serious
on track accident most likely
cost Earnhardt the title. Ernie
Irvan lost control of his car
igniting a frightening crash
that saw Earnhardt's car hit the
tri-oval wall nearly head-on at
almost 200 miles per hour. After
hitting the wall, Earnhardt's
car flipped and slid across the
track, in front o
of
a similar crash. Although video at the
time would make viewers believe there
was a fatal incident, Earnhardt
miraculously climbed out and waved to
the crowd. He refused to be loaded onto
a stretcher despite having a broken
collarbone, sternum, and shoulder blade.
He managed to 4th in the final point
standing.
In 1997, Earnhardt was winless
and once again suffered two
serious accidents in the Daytona
500, where he was involved in a
late crash which sent his car
upside down on the backstretch;
and in the Mountain Dew Southern
500, when he blacked out causing
him to hit the wall.
In 1998, after 20 years, Dale
Earnhardt finally won the
Daytona 500, however, he
struggled to gain ground where
he finished 8th in the final
point standings. In 1999,
Earnhardt finished 7th in the
final point standing and in
2000, he managed to finish in
2nd in the final point
standings.
On February 18 2001, during the
Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt was
killed after being involved in
an accident while heading into
Turn 3 on the last lap.
Earnhardt was racing three wide
with Marlin to his left and
Schrader to his right. In the
corner, Earnhardt's left rear
fender made slight contact with
Marlin's front bumper.
Earnhardt's car began to slide
off of the track near the steep
banking onto the flat apron;
however, his car then turned
sharply up the track toward the
outside retaining wall where it
collided with the car driven by
Ken Schrader. The impact caused
Schrader's car to hit
Earnhardt's car just behind the
passenger door, causing both
cars to run nose-first into the
wall. Earnhardt's car hit at a
critical angle at nearly 150
miles per hour. The right-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. Although, the crashed
looked relatively minor, in
reality, the crash was
devastating costing Dale
Earnhardt his life. Dale
Earnhardt was taken to Halifax
Medical Center where he died
shortly after arrival.
Following the race and after
several investigations, the
cause of Dale Earnhardt's death
was ruled an accident.
Richard Childress had put a
moratorium on using Dale
Earnhardt's "3" on the side of
his racing cars while also
stating that the team would
never race a black car sponsored
by GM Goodrich. The current
racing car which is used by the
team Dale Earnhardt drove for
now resembles a reverse color
scheme with a white body and
black numbering and stripes at
the bottom. The team number is
now "29."
The official cause of death on
the autopsy report is listed ask
"Blunt Force Injuries to the
Head" caused by the fatal crash.
Dale Earnhardt is interred in a
memorial on his farm located in
Mooresville, North Carolina.
View the autopsy report
Read the
NASCAR Accident Report
(HTML Version)
Download the Accident Report
(PDF, 57.8 MB) (Right Click to
Save)
View the
Crash Video from the Daytona 500
"The Day" Remembering Dale
Earnhardt video
