DALE EARNHARDT

L.A. Times Archives

Feb. 19, 2001 12 AM PT

BACKGROUND

* Age: 49

* Born: April 29, 1951

* Birthplace: Kannapolis, N.C.

* Residence: Mooresville, N.C.

* Died: Killed Sunday on the last turn of the last lap of the Daytona 500 in a crash involving cars driven by Sterling Marlin and Ken Schrader.

* Career: Known as “The Intimidator” for his aggressive driving style, Earnhardt won seven NASCAR Winston Cup titles to tie Richard Petty’s record. Won 76 races, including the 1998 Daytona 500. Was the 1979 rookie of the year, and won the National Motorsport Press Assn. driver-of-the-year award four times and twice was selected the American driver of the year.

* Family: Wife, Teresa; four children, Dale Jr., Kerry, Kelly, Taylor. Earnhardt’s father, Ralph, was one of the pioneers of NASCAR and a star in its Sportsman division in the 1950s. Dale Jr. is a top Winston Cup driver.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

* 1975--Made stock car racing debut May 25, finishing 22nd in the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

* 1979--Earned first victory April 1 at Bristol, Tenn; selected rookie of the year.

* 1980--Won first Winston Cup championship, becoming only driver to win rookie of the year and season championship back-to-back.

* 1986--Won five races to take second Winston Cup championship.

* 1987--Won 11 races for third Winston Cup championship, finishing in top five 21 times in 29 races.

* 1990--Won nine times to take fourth Winston Cup championship, earning a then-record $3,083,056.

* 1991--Won four races for fifth Winston Cup championship.

* 1993--Won six races to earn sixth Winston Cup championship.

* 1994--Won seventh Winston Cup championship, tying Richard Petty for most career titles. Topped $3-million mark in earnings for third time in five years.

* 1996--Became third driver to start 500 consecutive Winston Cup races.

* 1997--Became first driver to reach $30 million in American Motor Sports winnings and first race-car driver to appear on box of Wheaties cereal.

* 1998--Won first Daytona 500 in 20th career start, breaking a 59-race winless streak overall. Finished eighth in season standings, his 18th top-10 finish in 20 years.

* 1999--Won 10th consecutive Twin 125 qualifying race at Daytona.

* 2000--Won Winston 500 on Oct. 15 at Talladega Superspeedway for final career victory.

ACHIEVEMENTS

* Career pole positions: 22

* Career top 5 finishes: 268

* Career top 10 finishes: 404

* Winston Cup championships: 7 (1980, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994)

* IROC championships: 3 (1990, 1995, 1999)

* American Driver of the Year: 2 (1987, 1994)

* Miscellaneous: Won record nine races at Talladega Superspeedway. . . . Owns record 34 victories in all forms of racing at Daytona Speedway.

WINSTON CUP RECORD

*--*

Year Starts Wins Finish Money 1975 1 0 -- $1,925 1976 2 0 -- $3,085 1977 1 0 -- $1,375 1978 5 0 -- $20,145 1979 27 1 7 $264,086 1980 31 5 1 $588,926 1981 31 0 7 $347,113 1982 30 1 12 $375,325 1983 30 2 8 $446,272 1984 30 2 4 $616,788 1985 28 4 8 $546,596 1986 29 5 1 $1,783,880 1987 29 11 1 $2,099,243 1988 29 3 3 $1,214,089 1989 29 5 2 $1,435,730 1990 29 9 1 $3,083,056 1991 29 4 1 $2,396,685 1992 29 1 12 $915,463 1993 30 6 1 $3,353,789 1994 31 4 1 $3,300,733 1995 31 5 2 $3,154,241 1996 31 2 4 $2,285,926 1997 32 0 5 $2,151,909 1998 33 1 8 $2,990,749 1999 34 3 7 $3,149,536 2000 34 2 2 $4,918,886 2001 1 0 -- $194,111 Total 676 76 $41,640,462

*--*

WINSTON CUP VICTORIES

1. Richard Petty: 200

2. David Pearson:105

3. Darrell Waltrip: 84

3. Bobby Allison: 84

5. Cale Yarborough: 83

6. Dale Earnhardt: 76

7. Lee Petty: 54

8. Rusty Wallace: 53

9. Jeff Gordon: 52

10. Ned Jarrett: 50