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Over the past 20-plus years, Dale Earnhardt captured nearly every NASCAR Winston Cup race except the one he wanted the most -- the Daytona 500. Earnhardt finally put that to rest February 15, 1998 driving the Richard Childress Racing #3 GM Goodwrench Chevy to an emotional win in the event. The win, Earnhardt's only triumph of the '98 season, was the 71st of his career and came in his 575th Winston Cup start, placing him sixth on the all-time wins list.
The rest of the 1998 campaign proved to be an up and down season for the seven-time Winston Cup champion. In all, Earnhardt scored five Top 5 and 13 Top 10 finishes in what proved to be an inconsistent campaign. In an effort to turn the team around, Childress stepped in and made a bold personnel move -- Earnhardt and his teammate, Mike Skinner, changed crewchiefs -- swapping Larry McReynolds for Kevin Hamlin. The result proved inconclusive as Earnhardt soldiered on to an un-Earnhardt like eighth place finish in the final point standings.
There was never any doubt in Earnhardt's mind about what he wanted to be in life. As a young boy watching his father Ralph race -- and win -- in Stock car events throughout the Southeast, Dale developed a love for the sport that would ultimately fuel one of the most successful careers in the history of motorsports.
In his late teens, Dale began racing Hobby-class cars in and around his native Kannapolis, NC, working full-time by day, welding and mounting tires, and either racing or working on his cars by night. He financed his own effort, often times having to borrow money to buy parts and pieces to run on the weekends, hoping to win enough to pay back the bank on Monday.
In 1973, Ralph Earnhardt died of heart failure while working on his race car. Crushed by the loss, Dale eventually learned to cope by becoming more determined than ever to be successful as a driver. He continued to compete on the Sportsman circuit, racing at speedways near his home such as Hickory, Concord, and Metrolina Fairgrounds.
Dale made his Winston Cup debut in 1975, finishing 22nd while driving Ed Negre's Dodge in the World 600 at Charlotte in a deal put together by CMS President Richard Howard. Over the next three years, he made a total of eight more starts, the last of which was the 1978 Dixie 500 at Atlanta, when he drove a second car for Rod Osterlund. Earnhardt finished fourth in the race, one spot behind Osterlund's regular driver, Dave Marcis.
Marcis left after the 1978 season to start his own team, leaving Osterlund with a list of candidates to fill the seat in his Chevrolet. He decided to take a chance on the young driver and offered Dale his first full-time Winston Cup ride for the 1979 season. Earnhardt considers the offer the biggest break of his career. In his first full season of competition, Dale scored his initial Winston Cup win at Bristol in just his 16th career start. Eight races later, he notched his first career pole at Riverside. By the end of the season, he had driven to 11 Top 5 finishes and beat Harry Gant, Terry Labonte and Joe Millikan for the rookie title in one of the most competitive rookie battles ever.
In 1980, with a young, yet solid team, good equipment and the determination to prove he belonged at racing's highest level, Earnhardt beat tough veteran Cale Yarborough for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series title. In doing so. Earnhardt became the only driver ever to win the rookie crown and the series' championship in consecutive seasons. Midway through the 1981 season, Osterlund sold his team to Jim Stacy. Earnhardt, disenchanted with the performance of the new team, left after only four races, deciding to finish the season driving for Richard Childress. By the end of the year, Childress realized that his cars were not performing at a level that justified a talent like Earnhardt's, so he urged Dale to accept an opportunity to drive for the well-established team of Bud Moore and big-dollar sponsor, Wrangler. Earnhardt accepted the ride in the #15 Fords, in which he competed for two seasons, winning three races and finishing 12th; then 8th in the points.
Meanwhile, Childress, with driver Ricky Rudd, was building his team into a championship contender. In the off-season between 1983 and 1984, Earnhardt made the decision to rejoin Childress. Driver and owner immediately began a program to achieve the level of performance both believed would take them to a NASCAR Winston Cup championship. Neither could have envisioned the success they would achieve together.
In 1986, the duo captured their first championship beginning a reign that would bring them six titles over the next nine seasons, accumulating records that attest to the talent and ability of one of the greatest drivers ever to have raced the short tracks and superspeedways of NASCAR. Earnhardt's career highlights include:
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