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.

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.

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

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.

During this season Earnhardt garnered a second nickname, " The Man in Black ", owing to the black paint scheme in which the No. 3 car was painted.

When the green flag waved, Earnhardt was leading Derrike Cope.

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.

When asked, Earnhardt said that vacating the No. 3 car was the hardest thing he'd ever done.

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.

Mike Dillon ( Richard Childress's son-in-law ) was brought in to relieve Earnhardt for the remainder of the race.

Earnhardt was evaluated at a local hospital and cleared to race the very next week, but the cause of the blackout and double vision was never determined.

But by lap 138, Earnhardt had taken the lead, and thanks to a push by teammate Mike Skinner, he was able to maintain it.

Afterwards, there was a large show of respect for Earnhardt, in which every crew member of every team lined pit road to shake his hand as he made his way to victory lane.

Earnhardt was able to climb back to 8th in the final standings.

Labonte had four fresh tires and Earnhardt was driving on old tires, which made Earnhardt's car considerably slower.

Kerry Dale Earnhardt ( born December 8, 1969 ) is a former NASCAR driver and the eldest son of seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt.

Ralph was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina to Effie Mae Barber ( August 30, 1895-September 1979 ) and John Henderson Earnhardt ( 23 Mar 1875-05 Oct 1953 ).

Kirk Shelmerdine ( born March 8, 1958 in Philadelphia ) is a NASCAR driver and former championship-winning crew chief for the late Dale Earnhardt.

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.

3: The Dale Earnhardt Story ( sometimes referred to as The Dale Earnhardt Movie ) is a 2004 television movie produced by ESPN documenting the life of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, his poor upbringing in Kannapolis, North Carolina, his rise to dominance in NASCAR, his relationship with his son, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and his death in the 2001 Daytona 500.

Members of Club E have access to Dale Earnhardt footage, personal items, discounts at the DEI retail store, Carowinds, Kings Dominion, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Kannapolis Intimidators games, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet, and Great Wolf Lodge, Inc. and member only events.

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.

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.

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 was buried on his farm in Mooresville, North Carolina.

* As of 2010, Earnhardt is interred in a concrete memorial on his farm in Mooresville, North Carolina.

* Two world class roller coasters have been named after Earnhardt ; the Intimidator ( roller coaster ) at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Intimidator 305 located at Kings Dominion in Virginia.

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.

After moving south, Truex rented a home from Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in Mooresville, North Carolina, before he purchased his own home.

* Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, a NASCAR team based in Concord, North Carolina

From 1980 to 2009, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. ( DEI ) operated as a NASCAR-related organization in Mooresville, North Carolina, United States.

Approaching the tri-oval, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. squeezed to the far inside, and Johnson edged Bowyer by 0. 002 seconds in a four-wide finish, tied with the finish of Ricky Craven over Kurt Busch in the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 for closest finish in Sprint Cup history.

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

Wallace states he and Earnhardt had to sit on the backs of their chairs to see and Earnhardt said " This sucks, I could have gone hunting ".

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.

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 2001 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2001, Earnhardt was involved in a car accident after the final lap, in which Earnhardt's car was pushed into the wall nose-first by Ken Schrader's car at an estimated speed of.

The Earnhardt team car, the RCR number 29 Chevrolet driven by Kevin Harvick, still always displays the Earnhardt stylized number 3 on the " B " posts ( metal portion on each side of the car to the rear of the front windows ) above the number 29.

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 the final lap of the 2001 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500, Harvick beat Jeff Gordon by. 006 seconds, the same margin that Earnhardt had won over Bobby Labonte at the same race a year prior, and the images of Earnhardt's longtime gas man, Danny " Chocolate " Myers, crying after the victory, Harvick's tire-smoking burnout on the frontstretch with three fingers held aloft outside the driver's window, and the Fox television call by Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds, and Darrell Waltrip, concluding with " Gordon got loose, but he ( Harvick ) is gonna get him though, it's Harvick!