Hall of Fame's first class: Dale Earnhardt
Wednesday, Oct. 07, 2009
Crew members on many of the rival operations line pit road at Daytona International Speedway to congratulate 1998 Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt. – File
DAVIE HINSHAW
2/18/01 1987 file photo of Dale and Teresa Earnhardt with Earnhardt's race car and an Air Guard jet fighter. photo by Davie Hinshaw/staff
(FILE PHOTO 10/18/1980)Dale Earnhardt celebrates in victory lane after winning the National 500 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
2/13/95 1B Associated Press HERE WE GO AGAIN: Dale Earnhardt, the 1994 Winston Cup champion, starts '95 with a win at the Busch Clash, and is rewarded by his 6-year-old daughter, Taylor. [UNPUBLISHED:] 1994 Winston Cup Champion Dale Earnhardt starts 1995 off right as he gets a Victory Lane kiss from his six-year-old daughter Taylor after winning the Busch Clash auto race Sunday, Feb. 12, 1995, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo Terry Renna)
Members of Ken Schrader's pit crew members are among those congratulating Dale Earnhardt along pit road after his Daytona 500 win on Sunday, Feb. 15, 1998. – File
- Slideshow | Dale Earnhardt
- Slideshow | Bill France Jr.
- Slideshow | Bill France Sr.
- Slideshow | Hall of Fame nominees
- Slideshow | Richard Petty
- Hall announces ticket prices, calls them competitive
- Hall of fame's first class: Richard Petty
- Parks collection a boost for hall
- NASCAR sets May date for hall's opening in Charlotte
- Handicapping the hall's starting field
- David Poole's picks for NASCAR's hall
- Petty: Don't base hall picks on popularity
- Hall deliberations, vote, announcement near
- More on the inaugural class, slideshows
- NASCAR Hall committee got first 25 right
- The official NASCAR hall site
In only his second full season, 1980, Dale Earnhardt earned his first title.
Competed: 1975-2001
Starts: 676
Wins: 76
Poles: 22
Shares the record for most Sprint Cup Series championships, at seven, with Richard Petty.
In only his second full season, 1980, Earnhardt earned his first title. He won consecutive titles on three separate occasions (1986-87, ’90-91 and ’93-94). Earnhardt’s 76 victories rank seventh all-time.
Tom Higgins on 'The Intimidator'
Motorsports writer and historian Tom Higgins shares a standout memory of each of the 10 nominees we're featuring as we count down to the NASCAR Hall of Fame vote and announcement.
Bristol, Tenn. – March 31, 1979
Jake Elder, a colorful crew chief, was holding court with reporters at Bristol International Raceway.
Elder turned to his rookie driver, sitting alongside on the pit wall. “Stick with me kid, and we’ll both be wearing diamonds as big as horse turds.”
The reporters chuckled in doubt.
They shouldn’t have.
The rookie driver, then 28, won the Southeastern 500 the next day. It was no April Fool’s Day development.
The newcomer’s name: Dale Earnhardt.
Elder, nicknamed “Suitcase” because he changed jobs so often, left Earnhardt’s team midway through the 1980 season. But Earnhardt backed up Elder’s foresight by winning that season’s Winston Cup championship.
And he kept on living up to the prediction through succeeding seasons, gaining admiration from rivals for his courage, but stirring anger with an aggressive driving style.
Said the veteran driver Cale Yarborough, “You couldn’t castrate Dale Earnhardt with a chainsaw.”
And you can’t imagine the number of big diamonds he could have bought.
The Charlotte Observer is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.
Since charlotteobserver.com does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The Charlotte Observer.
If you find a comment offensive, clicking on the exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.
@Nyx.CommentBody@