Earnhardt also became the first repeat winner of the annual all-star race, The Winston.

Earnhardt, Jr. went on to also win in the fall at Dover and Talladega.

The county is also home to several major race shops, including Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in Concord, Stewart-Haas Racing in Kannapolis, and JTG Daugherty Racing and Wood Brothers Racing in Harrisburg.

Concord is the home to Charlotte Motor Speedway, a NASCAR Research and Development Office ( which also is the headquarters for research for touring and sportscar racing operations ), and several professional race teams, including Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.

** Michael Waltrip won the Daytona 500, a race that also saw the death of seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Dale Earnhardt in an unspectacular crash during the final lap.

Kraft and Nabisco sponsored a part-time Sprint Cup effort in car # 81 driven by Jason Keller and John Andretti and fielded by Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Nabisco also sponsored Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the 2010 Subway Jalapeño 250 at Daytona International Speedway in July, 2010 with their Oreo / Ritz brand's and Tony Stewart with the Ritz brand in the 2010 DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway in 2010.

In September 2002, Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran ( and won in ) a special Gossamer paint scheme at Richmond International Raceway during the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 weekend in which he and his brother Kerry ran Looney Tunes cars ( Kerry ran a Yosemite Sam car, who was also on Mike Skinner's Winston Cup car the next night ) in the Busch Series race, and nine drivers ( Skinner, Terry Labonte, Jeff Gordon crashed his Bugs Bunny car in final practice for the race and, therefore, the Bugs car never saw race action, Joe Nemechek, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Green, Robby Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Greg Biffle place of Bobby Hamilton, who was injured in a Truck Series race two days before ran Looney Tunes paint schemes.

Prominent Cup owners Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, and Jack Roush owned truck teams, and top drivers such as Dale Earnhardt and Ernie Irvan also fielded SuperTrucks for others.

* In 2008, The Chicken was featured in a Sony commercial that also featured Dale Earnhardt, Jr., James Brown and Peyton Manning.

In addition, race winners Dale Earnhardt ( 1995 ), and Bill Elliott ( 2002 ) are also past Cup champions, Earnhardt in ( 1980, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994 ) and Elliott in ( 1988 ).

He is also the older half-brother of Kelly Earnhardt and Taylor Nicole Earnhardt.

He is also the oldest stepson of Teresa Earnhardt.

These seats are also named for leading NASCAR figures, with Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, and Junior Johnson each having a section of the new seats named for them ; Dale Earnhardt was given a section on top in his memory.

Curb was also a sponsor for Dale Earnhardt during his 1980 Winston Cup championship winning season, and sponsored Darrell Waltrip's # 12 Toyota Tundra in the Craftsman Truck Series, driven by Joey Miller in 2006.

" Bestwick also called Earnhardt, Jr .' s win at the 2004 Daytona 500, saying, " The legacy continues.

He also stars as Ralph Earnhardt, the father of race-car driver Dale Earnhardt, in 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story.

** 3 Doors Down has also been featured on several NASCAR cars before with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 2008 for the NASCAR Sprint All Star Race and Tony Stewart in the Nationwide Series in 2003 for a race at Michigan International Speedway.

Also mentioned in the scene that Earnhardt finished 4th in the race, Earnhardt finished 8th in his first Daytona 500 start and thus it is also inaccurate.

However, poor performances at the road course of Watkins Glen, where he wrecked coming out of the chicane, a wreck with Chad Little while leading the spring race at Bristol, and mid-pack runs at intermediate tracks like Charlotte and Dover in a season dominated by the Ford Taurus in those tracks of Roush, Yates, and Penske, coupled with the extremely consistent Joe Gibb's No. 18 team with Bobby Labonte, denied Earnhardt the coveted eighth championship title.

RCR also runs developmental drivers in the ARCA Racing Series, fielding the # 31 Chevrolet for Tim George, Jr .. RCR has fielded cars for notables such as Dale Earnhardt, Ricky Rudd, and Neil Bonnett.

Born to race car driver Ralph Lee Earnhardt, Earnhardt began his career in 1975 when he drove in the 1975 World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway as part of the Winston Cup Series ( later the Sprint Cup Series ).

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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 ).

Earnhardt won at Nashville and at Talladega, finishing eighth in the points standings.

During the 1984 and 1985 seasons, Earnhardt visited victory lane six times, at Talladega, Atlanta, Richmond, Bristol ( twice ), and Martinsville, where he finished fourth and eighth in the season standings, respectively.

During this race, Earnhardt was briefly forced into the infield grass, but kept control of his car and returned to the track without giving up his lead — a maneuver now referred to as the " Pass in the Grass " even though Earnhardt actually didn't pass and couldn't have passed anyone for position as he was in the lead at the time.

The following year, Earnhardt won five times, but a late spin out at North Wilkesboro arguably cost him the 1989 championship, as Rusty Wallace edged out Earnhardt for the championship.

As part of a Winston No Bull 5 fan contest, Earnhardt drives a Bomb Lift Truck and attempts to load an AIM-120 AMRAAM | AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missile ( AMRAAM ) missile as he competes in a load crew competition at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, September 2000.

One of his wins that year came at North Wilkesboro, in a race where Harry Gant had a chance to set a single-season record by winning his fifth consecutive race, breaking a record held by Earnhardt.

Earnhardt once again came close to a win at the Daytona 500, and dominated Speedweeks before finishing second to Dale Jarrett on a last-lap pass.

Earnhardt scored six wins en route to his sixth Winston Cup title, including wins in the Coca-Cola 600 and The Winston at Charlotte, and the Pepsi 400 at Daytona.

Earnhardt was very consistent, scoring four wins, and after Ernie Irvan was sidelined due to a near-deadly crash at Michigan ( the two were neck-and-neck at the top of the points up until the crash ), won title by over 400 points over Mark Martin.

Earnhardt sealed the deal at Rockingham by winning the race over Rick Mast.

In response, Earnhardt, Jr. and his DEI teammates Michael Waltrip and Steve Park painted a single black stripe next to the left headlight decals of their Chevrolet Monte Carlos for the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway to protest the display of her autopsy photos.

A 46-point penalty at Richmond, for using an illegal ( but non-performance enhancing ) carburetor spacer, caused him to lose to Dale Earnhardt by 26 points in the final standings.

The February 23, 1986 incident at Richmond International Raceway was inaccurately depicted, where Earnhardt spun out Darrell Waltrip with three laps to go.

The Moreno Valley Mall at Towngate is on the northern end of the former Raceway Property and houses now occupy the southern end of the old racetrack ( where Tim Richmond and Dale Earnhardt raced ).

After Richmond took the lead with 30 laps left in the race, Dale Earnhardt made up three seconds on Richmond's five-second lead.

The National Motorsports Press Association named him Co-Driver of the Year with Earnhardt after Richmond accumulated 13 top 5 finishes and 16 in the top 10.

Richmond won 7 races and finished third in points behind legends Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip.

* Richmond is the site of the famous battle between Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip in 1986.