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 ).

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

Earnhardt began the season by winning his Twin 125-mile qualifier race for the ninth straight year.

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.

But halfway through the year, Earnhardt began to show some of the old spark.

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.

In 1992, he began testing cars for good friends Dale Earnhardt and car owner Richard Childress.

His youngest son, Jeffrey Earnhardt, began racing for DEI in 2007.

The United States Army began sponsoring the 01 car owned by Dale Earnhardt Incorporated full time in 2003.

The death of Dale Earnhardt on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 changed Childress's plans, and Harvick began his first Sprint Cup race the following week in Rockingham at the Dura Lube 400.

In 2003, he began the season with his father's team, before he was hired by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to drive his # 81 Chance 2 Motorsports Chevy.

Earnhardt began racing in 1949, and in 1953 it became his full-time occupation.

Later that season Green began driving for Richard Childress Racing part-time in the # 30 America Online Chevrolet in Winston Cup ( oddly enough as a replacement for Harvick, who was supposed to drive this car before the death of Dale Earnhardt caused him to be promoted to Childress ' Winston Cup team much earlier than planned ).

* Indie duo Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. began covering this song live in 2011.

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.

Jeffrey Earnhardt currently races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and marks a fourth generation of Earnhardts in professional motor sports.

NASCAR driving superstars Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex Jr. were noted players of the game, and many professional drivers used the game's online multiplayer mode to practice tracks before races.

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.

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 ).

The 1986 season saw Earnhardt win his second career Winston Cup Championship and the first owner's championship for RCR.

Earnhardt finished a career-low 12th in the points for the second time in his career, and the only time he had finished that low since joining RCR.

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

On February 3 and 4, 2001, the first time in his career, Earnhardt participated in the Rolex 24 endurance race at Daytona, the event which kicks off Speedweeks at the track.

Three weeks after Earnhardt's death, Harvick scored his first career Cup win at Atlanta driving a car that had been prepared for Earnhardt.

Earnhardt drove the No. 3 car for most of his career, spanning the early 1980s until his death in 2001.

" The King ", as he is nicknamed, is most well known for winning the NASCAR Championship seven times ( Dale Earnhardt is the only other driver to accomplish this feat ), winning a record 200 races during his career, winning the Daytona 500 a record seven times, and winning a record 27 races ( ten of them consecutively ) in the 1967 season alone.

* June 18, 2000: Jeremy Mayfield knocked Dale Earnhardt out of his way to score his third career Winston Cup win.

Unlike most of his predecessors, Batycki brought with him extensive marketing and PR knowledge of motorsports, having been a vice president at the North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, NC and a vice president at Richard Childress Racing for a number of years, working with the late Dale Earnhardt for the last years of the seven-time champion's career.

Winning in his third career start, Harvick became the fastest driver to win his first Winston Cup race in the modern era, breaking the record set by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 2000.

Truex started his first career Cup race for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. in the # 1 at Atlanta Motor Speedway later that year, qualifying 33rd and finishing 37th.

Marcis was frequently the test driver for the Richard Childress GM Goodwrench # 3 of his friend Dale Earnhardt during the prime of his career.

In 1981, he decided to end his career before the season ended, and handed his # 3 ride to the defending Winston Cup champion, Dale Earnhardt, who brought his Wrangler sponsorship with him.

Having been encouraged to pursue a NASCAR career by Dale Earnhardt, and in September at Dover International Speedway became the first Japanese driver to qualify for a Winston Cup Series points event.

In addition, he won his only career Winston Cup pole at Martinsville Speedway, filling in for Dale Earnhardt, who was unable to make it to the track at that time due to the effects of Hurricane Hugo.

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.

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.

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.