Dale Earnhardt Sr. was born on April 29th, 1951 in Kannapolis, North Carolina and sadly died at aged 49 on February 18th, 2001 as a result of massive head trauma from a crash in the final lap of 2001 Daytona 500. Earnhardt Sr. was also known as The Intimidator but those who knew him, would say differently. He was a philanthropist and never found the need for media coverage of his donations.
His father, Ralph Earnhardt, was one of the best known short-track drivers in North Carolina. He was not very encouraging of Earnhardt Sr’s ambition of racing cars as well and even when Earnhardt Sr. dropped out of high school to race, Ralph Earnhardt was hard on his son. Ralph Earnhardt did teach Earnhardt Sr. everything he knew and set the stage to make him the driver he turned into. His father realized that his driving skill came naturally and as such made his son view his mistakes as open mindedly as possible. Earnhardt Sr. appreciated everything his father did for him and missed his presence sorely when Ralph Earnhardt died of a heart attack in 1973.
Although Earnhardt Sr. started racing professionally at age 23, he ran his first race at Metolina Fairgrounds in...