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.

Earnhardt still made the trip to the annual Awards Banquet with Rusty Wallace but did not have the best seat in the house.

Earnhardt was visibly shaken by the incident and did make sure Wallace was okay by checking on him after the race had concluded.

In 2011, two-car tandem drafting was used for the extent of the Aaron's 499, with many drivers drafting their own teammates ( e. g., Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. drafted together, as did Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin ).

Dale Earnhardt did give a gun to Neil Bonnett as a gift and their friendship is accurate.

After the death of his boss Dale Earnhardt in a crash on the final lap of the aforementioned race, he did not have another top-ten finish until returning to Daytona in July, where he finished second to his teammate Dale Earnhardt, Jr .; he wound up finishing 24th in the standings.

The late Dale Earnhardt appeared in the game as a driver as a result of entering his name as a Create-A-Car driver's name, he did not appear in the previous game due to his death.

Earnhardt did not have a top-ten finish in 2003, and was released after the Tropicana Twister 300.

With 26 laps left, Bobby Allison changed the right side tires, and in a process that Petty later described as " follow the leader ", Buddy Baker, Dale Earnhardt and Ricky Rudd did the same.

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

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

The 1991 season saw Earnhardt win his fifth Winston Cup championship.

Late in the race Gant lost his brakes, which gave Earnhardt the chance he needed to make the pass for the win and maintain his record.

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.

1998 saw Earnhardt win the Daytona 500 after not winning in the previous 19 attempts.

Earnhardt swept both races for the year at Talladega, leading most observers to conclude that Earnhardt's talent had become limited to the restrictor plate tracks, which require a unique skill set and an exceptionally powerful car to win.

In the August race at Michigan International Speedway, Earnhardt led laps late in the race and nearly pulled off his first win on a non-restrictor plate track since 1996.

At the August Bristol race, Earnhardt found himself in contention to win his first short track race since Martinsville in 1995.

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

* 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.

In 1998, Bobby won the pole for the Daytona 500, where he eventually finished 2nd to Dale Earnhardt in Earnhardt's emotional first Daytona 500 win.

Bobby would go on to win his first ever Winston Cup Championship, finishing ahead of Dale Earnhardt by 265 points.

Running second on the restart, Davey passed leader Dale Earnhardt on the backstretch and pulled away for his first Winston Cup win.

As the race wound down, Davey Allison was poised for yet another win behind leader Dale Earnhardt.

( This was the second time Waltrip prevented a driver from clinching a Small Slam ; in 1985, he stopped Bill Elliott's 1985 run at a Small Slam at Charlotte and Elliott has yet to win that leg of the Grand Slam ; Elliott would take the Small Slam at Darlington in September ; Dale Earnhardt stopped Waltrip's Small Slam and Career Grand Slam attempt three years previously at Darlington.

He showed courage in one of the Gatorade Twin 125 races, when involved in a battle with Dale Earnhardt for the win.

Stewart earned his first & only win of the season in the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega on October 5 driving for sponsor Subway as his last win on Joe Gibbs Racing ( Stewart then would move to his own racing team Stewart-Haas Racing ) On the final lap Stewart was passed by Regan Smith the rookie of Dale Earnhardt Inc who beat Stewart to the line.

2006: After suffering a blown front left tire early in the race that caused some fender damage, Jimmie Johnson passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. with six laps left to win at Indy for the first time, and became only the second driver to win both the Daytona 500, and Brickyard 400 in the same year.

Darrell Waltrip took the win over Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

Labonte punted Earnhardt out of the lead late in the race and sweated out late green-flag stops for fuel to take the win, his first in Winston Cup.

Once again in the hunt for the Daytona 500 with 10 laps to go, Earnhardt was taken out of contention by a late crash which sent his car upside down on the backstretch.

Earnhardt finished 7th in the standings that year, and looked like a contender again.

Earnhardt raced in the Wrangler colors again at the 1999 Winston.

In October, Irvan drove the # 56, again sponsored by Dale Earnhardt, in his first Winston Cup start at Charlotte, starting 36th, leading Lap 128, and finishing 8th.

1994 found Martin and the 6 team finishing once again runner-up to Earnhardt in points.

In 2001, Rodney Orr gained attention again after the death of Dale Earnhardt when his autopsy photos as well as pop star Lisa Lopes were displayed on the internet.

Earnhardt attempted all of the restrictor plate races again in 2005, finishing 17th at Talladega.

1996 for Earnhardt started just as it had done in 1993 – he dominated Speedweeks only to finish second in the Daytona 500 to Dale Jarrett for a second time.

In the 2000 season, Earnhardt had a resurgence, which some attributed to neck surgery he underwent to correct a lingering injury from his 1996 Talladega crash.

A year later, Earnhardt continued the trend at the 1996 running of The Winston with an 1996 Atlanta Olympics themed car.

In 1996 Gordon raced at Charlotte in what was one of the first starts ever for Dale Earnhardt Inc ..

From April, 1989, through November 21, 1996, Langley served as the official pace car driver for all Winston Cup events ( and during the caution laps, been known to be playing with Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace ).

Steve Park was first hired by seven time Winston Cup Champion Dale Earnhardt in 1996.

He became a full-time driver in the Busch Series in 1995 for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., and after consecutive top-five finishes in the points standings, he made a pair of Cup races for DEI in 1996.