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Home > Nascar > Nextel Cup Champions > Ralph Dale Earnhardt
Ralph Dale Earnhardt
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 is best known for his success in the Winston Cup Series. He won seventy-six races, and seven championships, tied for most all-time with Richard Petty. His highly aggressive driving style made him a fan favorite and earned him the nickname "The Intimidator." Earnhardt was named second among NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998 (ranked behind David Pearson). Earnhardt was posthomously named NASCAR's Most Popular Driver in 2001, the only time he recieved the award.
Earnhardt died in a last-lap crash during the 2001 Daytona 500, the fourth NASCAR driver to die in the nine months since Adam Petty's death 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.
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