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Dale Earnhardt Sr
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Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. (April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001) was an American race car driver, best known for his career driving stock cars in NASCAR's top division. He was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina to Ralph Lee Earnhardt and Martha Coleman. Earnhardt had four children, Kelley King, Taylor, Kerry, and Dale Jr. His widow, Teresa Earnhardt (whom he married in 1982) is the owner of Dale Earnhardt, Inc., the race team and merchandising corporation Earnhardt founded with her in Feburary of 1980.
Earnhardt is best known for his success in the Winston Cup Series. He won seventy-six races, and his seven championships are tied for most all-time with Richard Petty. His highly aggressive driving style made him a fan favorite and earned him the nicknames "Ironhead" and "The Intimidator."
Earnhardt died in a last-lap crash during the 2001 Daytona 500, the fourth NASCAR driver to die in the nine months prior, the first being Adam Petty in May 2000. Due in large part to overwhelming fan outcry, NASCAR began an intensive focus on safety that has seen the organization mandate the use of head-and-neck restraints (currently, only the HANS device is approved for competition), oversee the installation of SAFER barriers at all oval tracks, set rigorous new rules for seat-belt and seat inspection, develop a roof-hatch escape system, and develop a next-generation race car built with extra driver safety in mind, dubbed the Car of Tomorrow.
Dale Earnhardt was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina in 1951. His father, Ralph Earnhardt, was then one of the best short-track drivers in North Carolina. Ralph won his one and only Nascar Sportsman Championship in 1956. Although Ralph did not want his son to follow in his footsteps, Earnhardt would not be persuaded to give up his dream of racing, and even dropped out of high school to race. 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.
Earnhardt's early love life was a bit tumultuous. When he was only 17, he married his first wife, Latane Key, in 1968. Key gave birth to Earnhardt's first son, Kerry, in 1969. They were subsequently divorced in 1970. In 1971, Earnhardt married his second wife, Brenda Gee (the daughter of NASCAR car builder Robert), who gave birth to a daughter, Kelley, in 1972, and a son, Dale Jr., in 1974. Not long after his second son was born Dale and Brenda divorced.
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