Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr.

Posted on February 18, 2011
Filed Under Uncategorized | 1014Leave a CommentRalph+Dale+Earnhardt%2C+Sr.2011-02-18+05%3A32%3A17MikesView

Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. (April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001).

It was a promising morning. The weather was fair and Dale had finished the 2000 season on a high note leading Richard Childress Racing and Dale Earnhardt to have high hopes of an eighth championship for Dale in 2001.

The Daytona Beach ‘Sunday’ News-Journal, for February 18, 2001, had a ‘Special souvenir edition’ ten page pullout section entitled “Iron Age,” after one of Dale Earnhardt’s nicknames, ‘Iron Head.’ The section covered “four intimidating decades of Dale Earnhardt.”

During the race, there was a bad multi-car wreck that had Tony Stewart flipping numerous times. Tony survived that OK. Then, in the final stages of the race, Dale Earnhardt was running third, behind his own two Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) owned cars, driven by Michael Waltrip and followed closely by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. On the final lap, when entering the last turn of the race, Dale slammed into the turn four wall. The turn four wall where seven years earlier, Dale’s good friend, Neil Bonnett had died. Michael Waltrip won the race with his drafting partner and teammate, Dale Jr. coming in second.

The DEI 1st and 2nd place celebration was shortened to minutes as they learned that Dale Sr. was gone. Gone from injuries that sparked the eventual requirement of wearing of head restraint devices, installation of impact absorbing walls at all NASCAR venues, car construction designs to dissipate impact force, much improved seat designs and the eventual redesign of the car itself to increase the space in the cabin, to move the driver position slightly to the middle and to add impact foam in body panels, especially next to the driver.

My sons and I saw Dale race at the last two Winston Cup races at Riverside International Raceway (RIR) in 1987 and 1988. In the 1987 season, Earnhardt was in the yellow and blue Wrangler Chevy, but in 1988, he became the ‘Man in Black’ in the Goodwrench Chevy. While Rusty Wallace won both of those RIR races, it was Rusty that carried the black #3 flag on his victory lap after winning the California 500, in Fontana, in 2001.

It is amazing to me that ten years have passed since that day. I’m not sure American stock car racing has ever regained the personality that died with Dale. Love him or hate him, most respected his hard nose driving style and will.

R. Wallace Won California 500 in 2001