Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Jr .' s Budweiser car in 2007

In 1971, Earnhardt married his second wife, Brenda Gee ( the daughter of NASCAR car builder Robert Gee ), with whom he had a daughter, Kelley King, in 1972, and a son, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., in 1974.

Before the 1999 season, fans began discussing Earnhardt's age and speculating that with his son, Dale Jr. getting into racing, Earnhardt might be contemplating retirement.

The team, which was composed of Earnhardt, Earnhardt, Jr., Andy Pilgrim, and Kelly Collins, finished 4th overall and 2nd in class.

Michael Waltrip won first place in the race, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in second place.

The carnage resulted in Schrader and Earnhardt, Jr. rushing to Earnhardt, Sr. Earnhardt was extricated from his car and taken to Halifax Medical Center.

In response, Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. absolved Marlin of any responsibility.

* Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Pepsi 400 on July 7, 2001.

* Earnhardt Jr. later went on to win the 2004 Daytona 500, three years after his father's death and six years to the day after his father won the 1998 Daytona 500.

* Every three years since Earnhardt's death, someone associated with Earnhardt has won the Daytona 500 ( his son Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 2004, Earnhardt's replacement Cup driver Kevin Harvick in 2007, and Earnhardt Ganassi's Jamie McMurray in 2010.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. made two special appearances in 2002 in a No. 3 Busch Series car: these appearances were at the track where his father died ( Daytona ) and the track where his father made his first Winston Cup start ( Charlotte ).

Earnhardt Jr. won the first of those two races, which was the season-opening event at Daytona.

* 1974 – Dale Earnhardt, Jr., American racecar driver

Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the event and celebrates by driving around the track with an American flag out the window.

** Dale Earnhardt, Jr., American race car driver

Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. ( April 29, 1951February 18, 2001 ) was an American race car driver, best known for his involvement in stock car racing for NASCAR.

Considered one of the best NASCAR drivers of all time, Earnhardt won a total of 76 races over the course of his career, including one Daytona 500 victory in 1998.

While driving in the 2001 Daytona 500, Earnhardt died of basilar skull fracture in a last-lap crash at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2001.

Earnhardt was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina, on April 29, 1951, to Martha Coleman and Ralph Lee Earnhardt, who was then one of the best short-track drivers in North Carolina.

Although Ralph did not want his son to follow in his footsteps, Earnhardt would not be persuaded to give up his dream of racing, dropping out of school to race.

Ralph was a hard teacher for Earnhardt, and after Ralph died of a heart attack at his home in 1973, it took many years before Earnhardt felt as though he had finally " proven " himself to his father.

Earnhardt had four siblings, Danny, Randy, Cathy, and Kaye.

When Earnhardt was 17, he married his first wife, Latane Brown, in 1968.

Brown gave birth to Earnhardt's first son, Kerry Earnhardt, in 1969.

Earnhardt began his professional career at the Winston Cup in 1975, making his debut at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina in the longest race on the Cup circuit, the World 600.

Earnhardt drove an Ed Negre Dodge Charger (# 8 ) and finished 22nd in the race, one place ahead of his future car owner, Richard Childress.

joined car owner Rod Osterlund Racing, in a season that included a rookie class of future stars – Earnhardt, Harry Gant and Terry Labonte.

In his rookie season, Earnhardt won one race at Bristol, captured four poles, had 11 Top 5 finishes, 17 Top 10 finishes, and finished 7th in the points standings, in spite of missing four races because of a broken collarbone, winning Rookie of the Year honors.

In his sophomore season, Earnhardt, now with 20-year old Doug Richert as his crew chief, began the season winning the Busch Clash.

With wins at Atlanta, Bristol, Nashville, Martinsville, and Charlotte, Earnhardt won his first Winston Cup championship.

To this day, Earnhardt is the only driver in NASCAR Winston Cup history to follow a Rookie of the Year title with a NASCAR Winston Cup Championship the next season.

Stacy, Earnhardt left for Richard Childress Racing, and finished the season 7th in the points standings but winless.

The following year, at Childress ' suggestion, Earnhardt joined car owner Bud Moore for the 1982 and 1983 seasons driving the No. 15 Wrangler Jeans Ford Thunderbird ( Earnhardt's only full-time Ford ride in his career ).

Rudd went to Bud Moore's No. 15, replacing Earnhardt.

Earnhardt went on to win nine races this season and won his fourth Winston Cup title, beating Mark Martin by 26 points.

In 1997, Earnhardt went winless for only the second time in his career.

Fans began honoring Earnhardt by holding three fingers aloft on the third lap of every NASCAR Cup race, and the television coverage of NASCAR on Fox and NASCAR on NBC went silent for each third lap from Rockingham to the following year's race there in honor of Earnhardt For the first three weeks after Earnhardt's death, on-track incidents brought out the caution flag on lap three.

" One More Day " first went into rotation in February 2001, shortly after the death of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt.

The Army then went to Dale Earnhardt, Inc. for two seasons before joining Stewart Haas Racing in 2009 and is the primary sponsor of Ryan Newman's # 39 for half the season as of now.

Five drivers that won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Milwaukee went on to win the Busch Series championship in the same year ( Steve Grissom-1993, Randy LaJoie-1997, Dale Earnhardt, Jr .- 1998, Jeff Green-2000, Greg Biffle-2002 ).

It was run to honor his father during his year and a half with the team until his unexpected release from Ginn Racing mid-way through the 2007 season, after the team merged with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. After the merger, the # 14 went to Stewart-Haas Racing which owner / driver Tony Stewart used the number in honor of childhood hero A. J.