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Sprint Cup
Hall Of Fame Profile: Dale Earnhardt, Part 4 Of 5
The biggest moment of Dale Earnhardt’s career came in February 1998 when he finally won the Daytona 500...
Dale Earnhardt spins through the infield at Daytona International Speedway after finally winning the 1998 Daytona 500 in his 20th Great American Race. (Photo: ISC Archives/Getty Images)
The NASCAR Hall of Fame will induct the five members of its inaugural class May 23. Leading up to the hall’s induction ceremony, SPEEDtv.com is profiling the first five racing legends chosen for this unique honor.
The biggest moment of Dale Earnhardt’s career came in February 1998 when he finally defeated the demons that had bedeviled him in the Daytona 500 for 20 years. In one of the most popular and most celebrated victories by any NASCAR driver, Earnhardt won the 500 to end two decades of misery.
“The monkey is off my back!” he yelled as he entered the Daytona International Speedway press box for the winner’s interview. Earnhardt had won 30 other races at Daytona entering that 500, but he had been slapped around by all manner of bad luck – including a flat tire in the third turn on the last lap – in NASCAR’s marquee race.
As he drove slowly down pit road toward victory lane, members of every competing crew stepped forward to congratulate him. It was one of the most touching moments in the sport’s history.
His last victory – in the October 2000 race at Talladega Superspeedway – was one of the most remarkable of the 76 Cup wins he scored. He sprinted through the Talladega draft over the final five laps, firing forward from 18th to win in an impressive display of drafting proficiency.
He repeated often that he hated restrictor-plate racing, but he was one of the best in the world at making it work. Four of the final six wins of his career came at plate tracks.
Was there any place where the Intimidator wasn’t intimidating? Maybe at his Mom’s Kannapolis, N.C. home, the same small house where he grew up.
“We stopped by his mom’s house one day when we were out running errands,” said Kevin Triplett, for several years Earnhardt’s public relations director. “We sat there and talked for a while. He said, ‘Is there anything I can do for you?’ She said, ‘I need some new windows.’
He said, ‘What you need is a new place. Let me get you a new place.’
She said, ‘I don’t need a new place. I just need new windows. It’s hard to heat this house with these windows. I need some that are insulated.’
“And that was all she wanted. He wasn’t going to convince her. We got ready to go. He looked at her and said, ‘Go pick out your windows.’ He knew he was not going to win that argument.”
Martha Earnhardt still lives in that house. With new windows.
Although he made no attempts to seek publicity for his charitable work, Earnhardt was generous with his wealth. And, often, with his time.
Although Earnhardt turned down many, many fan requests – one had requested that Earnhardt drive the hearse at his funeral, for example, he made some dreams come true.
“He spent a couple of hours one day with a blind lady who had turned 90 and her birthday wish was to meet Dale Earnhardt,” Triplett said. “The time he took with her was just amazing. He had her and her family over to his farm. She wanted to be beside the race car, and he took her hand and ran her hand along the car. It wasn’t long after the family left that he told me, ‘I do not want any of this publicized.’
“He always appreciated what he had because he remembered what it was like when he didn’t have it. He knew what it was like to have to win a race to cover a check he’d written at the bank.”
Did he think he was the Intimidator?
“The only time I ever heard it referenced,” Triplett said, “was something he said about, ‘Boy, that would look good on a T-shirt,’ and, he said, ‘I’ll leave that up to the marketing guys. I drive.’ ”
Friday: Building DEI
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
The biggest moment of Dale Earnhardt’s career came in February 1998 when he finally defeated the demons that had bedeviled him in the Daytona 500 for 20 years. In one of the most popular and most celebrated victories by any NASCAR driver, Earnhardt won the 500 to end two decades of misery.
“The monkey is off my back!” he yelled as he entered the Daytona International Speedway press box for the winner’s interview. Earnhardt had won 30 other races at Daytona entering that 500, but he had been slapped around by all manner of bad luck – including a flat tire in the third turn on the last lap – in NASCAR’s marquee race.
As he drove slowly down pit road toward victory lane, members of every competing crew stepped forward to congratulate him. It was one of the most touching moments in the sport’s history.
His last victory – in the October 2000 race at Talladega Superspeedway – was one of the most remarkable of the 76 Cup wins he scored. He sprinted through the Talladega draft over the final five laps, firing forward from 18th to win in an impressive display of drafting proficiency.
He repeated often that he hated restrictor-plate racing, but he was one of the best in the world at making it work. Four of the final six wins of his career came at plate tracks.
Was there any place where the Intimidator wasn’t intimidating? Maybe at his Mom’s Kannapolis, N.C. home, the same small house where he grew up.
“We stopped by his mom’s house one day when we were out running errands,” said Kevin Triplett, for several years Earnhardt’s public relations director. “We sat there and talked for a while. He said, ‘Is there anything I can do for you?’ She said, ‘I need some new windows.’
He said, ‘What you need is a new place. Let me get you a new place.’
She said, ‘I don’t need a new place. I just need new windows. It’s hard to heat this house with these windows. I need some that are insulated.’
“And that was all she wanted. He wasn’t going to convince her. We got ready to go. He looked at her and said, ‘Go pick out your windows.’ He knew he was not going to win that argument.”
Martha Earnhardt still lives in that house. With new windows.
Although he made no attempts to seek publicity for his charitable work, Earnhardt was generous with his wealth. And, often, with his time.
Although Earnhardt turned down many, many fan requests – one had requested that Earnhardt drive the hearse at his funeral, for example, he made some dreams come true.
“He spent a couple of hours one day with a blind lady who had turned 90 and her birthday wish was to meet Dale Earnhardt,” Triplett said. “The time he took with her was just amazing. He had her and her family over to his farm. She wanted to be beside the race car, and he took her hand and ran her hand along the car. It wasn’t long after the family left that he told me, ‘I do not want any of this publicized.’
“He always appreciated what he had because he remembered what it was like when he didn’t have it. He knew what it was like to have to win a race to cover a check he’d written at the bank.”
Did he think he was the Intimidator?
“The only time I ever heard it referenced,” Triplett said, “was something he said about, ‘Boy, that would look good on a T-shirt,’ and, he said, ‘I’ll leave that up to the marketing guys. I drive.’ ”
Friday: Building DEI
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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