PAST IMPERFECT: Dale Earnhardt is famous not for the championships he won – but for the way he won them
IT’S AN old story: the high-school dropout who makes good in sport. In this case the sport was Nascar, the most popular form of motor racing in the world, and the high-school dropout was Dale Earnhardt, known as “Ironhead” or “The Intimidator” to his legion of fans who, eight years after his death on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, revere him and have given rise to a multi-million dollar merchandise industry.
Earnhardt was 49 when he was killed. He had dropped out of high school to follow in the footsteps of his famous father, Ralph, who was also a successful Nascar driver.
Loved and loathed in equal measure by Nascar fans, Earnhardt’s record was very impressive, having won 76 times in the highly competitive Nascar racing series. In addition, he finished in the top five 281 times and in the top 10, 427 times.
He was a winner of the Daytona 500 only once but came second on several occasions. He was champion seven times, tying him with the legendary Richard Petty.
Not only was he successful in Nascar, Earnhardt also won the International Race of Champions – a series that pits the best drivers from different racing disciplines against each other in identical cars – four times.
During his career he won a grand total of $41,278,397, a large proportion of which he spent sponsoring a team of cars in Nascar for his son Dale Jr, and the winner of the 2001 Daytona, Michael Waltrip.
Earnhardt was as well known for his trademark mirror sunglasses as he was for his black No 3 Chevrolet, sponsored by GM Goodwrench Service.
His aggressive style of driving caused fans to either love or hate him and he is regarded as the single person who did most to dramatically elevate the popularity of stock car racing to the dizzying heights it now enjoys.
It was ironic that he should have been killed in the first race to be covered by Fox TV, in a $2.4 billion contract.
His nicknames of reflected his aggressive style of driving – this was a driver not averse to pushing other cars out of his way in his attempts to head the field.
It was such a manoeuvre that claimed his life, when he attempted to bump Sterling Marlin’s car out of the way on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 race.
The manoeuvre went wrong and Earnhardt’s Chevrolet slammed into a wall, killing him instantly.
Today, Earnhardt merchandise is on sale everywhere in the US, on a scale with which we would be unfamiliar in Europe.
His enduring fame is perhaps well summed up by one commentator’s words shortly after his death: “The death of Dale Earnhardt on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 moved America like no other athlete’s death ever has.
“Earnhardt was an original, a one-of-a-kind guy who captured the hearts of American stock car racing fans and the general public as well.
“With a twinkle in his eye and a devilish grin on his face, Earnhardt shoved and pushed his way to the front. With unparalleled determination, he was loved not so much for the number of chequered flags and championships he won, but for the spectacular style with which he won them.”
