Who doesn’t love NASCAR racing? Today we’re going to talk about a simple American guy with a ninth-grade education who, by the end of his life, was a multimillionaire and considered one of the greatest athletes in his sport. He became a NASCAR icon, and that guy’s name is Dale Earnhardt.
NASCAR racing? Are they boring races around a circle?
No, they are not boring races around a circle, they are races on an oval track. NASCAR was officially founded in 1948 by a man named Bill France Sr, who in his youth loved to skip school and drive his parents’ Ford Model T on dirt oval race tracks. NASCAR stands for National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing.
The reason for its founding was the repeal of Prohibition. During Prohibition, moonshiners built fast cars capable of outrunning the police. After the law was repealed, many of them had no choice but to race these cars. But in the southern United States, people preferred to make their own alcohol, even after Prohibition was repealed. That’s why these cars remained there until the 1950s.
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NASCAR races were divided into several different racing divisions. The main one was, unsurprisingly, the stock car racing division. That is, any Billy, Joe, Jim or Bob could buy a Chrysler from a car dealership, come to the race and crash it to their heart’s content.
Soon, local and regional sponsors began to get involved in motorsport, followed by car manufacturers. The rural Billys and Bobs began to leave the sport en masse. Car manufacturers supported their chosen drivers, with whom independent drivers could not compete.
Ralph Earnhardt
In 1949, a man named Ralph Earnhardt began participating in NASCAR races. He preferred to compete in the lower divisions of the sport so that he wouldn’t have to travel from state to state and could live with his family. One of his children, Dale Earnhardt, also wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps, helping him work on the car. Ralph Earnhardt was against his son doing the same thing and did not let him drive his race car when Dale was old enough.
Ralph Earnhardt died of a heart attack in 1973 while working alone on his car in his workshop.
Dale Earnhardt
Ralph Dale Earnhardt was born on 29 April 1951 in Kannapolis, North Carolina. After finishing 9th grade, he began earning money to participate in races on local dirt tracks, even though his parents were against it and wanted their son to go to college.
In the early 1970s, Dale could barely afford a cup of coffee. To participate in races, he had to borrow money for tyres and fuel. Therefore, on the race track, he was an aggressive driver and used all available means to finish in the highest position possible. After all, the prize money depended on it. In 1975, he got the chance to participate in his first NASCAR Winston Cup race, i.e. in the top division. This race took place in Charlotte, not far from Kannapolis, where Dale was born and lived. He finished in 22nd place, 45 laps behind the leader and winner of the race, Richard Petty (43), nicknamed King.
1979 Daytona 500
In 1979, Earnhardt signed a contract for a full racing schedule, meaning he participated in almost every race that year. The first race on the schedule was the most famous and prestigious race, the Daytona 500. As mentioned earlier, NASCAR races were mainly popular in the southern United States. Other regions regarded it as mindless entertainment for rednecks.
Dale Earnhardt – 1980 champion
The 1979 season was a successful one for Earnhardt. He was named Rookie of the Year and won his first race. The following year, he shocked everyone by winning five races and the championship title, beating three-time champion and veteran Cale Yarborough. To date, no other driver has won both Rookie of the Year and the championship in the same year.