**The Life and Legacy of Dale Earnhardt**

Dale Earnhardt, known as "The Intimidator," was a NASCAR legend who left an indelible mark on the sport. On February 18, 2001, at the age of 49, he died in a crash during the Daytona 500.

The incident occurred when Earnhardt's car spun out and crashed into a wall at over 155 miles per hour. Despite his tragic death, Earnhardt's legacy lives on through his dedication to the sport and his unwavering passion for racing.

**A Brief History of Dale Earnhardt**

Dale Earnhardt was born on April 29, 1951, in Kannapolis, North Carolina. He began his NASCAR career in the late 1970s and quickly established himself as one of the top drivers in the sport. Earnhardt's aggressive driving style earned him the nickname "The Intimidator," which became synonymous with his fearless approach to racing.

Throughout his career, Earnhardt accumulated an impressive array of accolades, including seven NASCAR championships, three Daytona 500 wins, and numerous other awards. He was also a successful businessman, owning several car dealerships and a clothing line.

**The Daytona 500 Crash**

On February 18, 2001, Earnhardt's life came to a tragic end when his car spun out on the final lap of the Daytona 500. The incident occurred at around 5:16 p.m., and Earnhardt was pronounced dead shortly thereafter at Halifax Medical Center.

The news of Earnhardt's death sent shockwaves through the NASCAR community, with fans and fellow drivers alike paying tribute to the racing legend. Nascar officials pulled a red flag for cleanup, and the race was restarted with 20 laps remaining.

**Remembering Dale Earnhardt**

In the months following his death, the NASCAR community came together to pay tribute to Earnhardt's memory. Each track had a special tribute, including a moment of silence, jets flying overhead in formation, and big number three floral arrangements in the infield.

Fans held their hands aloft with three fingers extended on the third lap of every race, a gesture that became a symbol of respect for "The Intimidator." The outpouring of support was a testament to Earnhardt's enduring legacy as one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time.

**Dale Earnhardt's Legacy**

Earnhardt's death led to significant changes in safety protocols within the sport. Eight months after his passing, Nascar mandated the use of the HANS (Head and Neck Support) device, which has undoubtedly saved scores of lives since its implementation.

Through his dedication to racing, Earnhardt inspired countless fans and fellow drivers alike. His legacy extends far beyond his impressive list of accomplishments on the track; he represents a true American icon who embodied the values of hard work, perseverance, and passion.

**Conclusion**

Dale Earnhardt's life was cut short in a tragic accident, but his impact on the world of NASCAR will be felt for generations to come. His legacy serves as a reminder to pursue one's dreams with unrelenting passion and dedication. The American Dream is alive and well, thanks in part to the tireless efforts of this beloved racing legend.

As we reflect on Earnhardt's life and achievements, it's clear that his influence extends far beyond the world of NASCAR. He was an inspiration to millions, a testament to the power of hard work and determination.

We honor his memory by continuing to pursue our own dreams and passions with the same level of enthusiasm and dedication that defined "The Intimidator." Thank you for reading this tribute to Dale Earnhardt; may his legacy continue to inspire us all.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhe's the only driver in nascar history to directly follow a rookie of the year award with a winston cup championship title one of three men to ever take the cup an astonishing seven times and perhaps most importantly he was drawn into an episode of king of the hill few racing drivers have achieved and inspired more than this hard-charging iron-willed legend known simply as the intimidator we're talking about the man the myth the mustache all good things come in threes just like the number on the side of his darth vader black car this is everything you need to know to get up to speed on dale earnhardt well dude for dale thanks to keeps for sponsoring today's video welcome to our new home my parents farm this is where i grew up oh hello i wasn't expecting company they're not here for you mama jerry they're watching up to speeds oh oh is your girlfriend jerry watching i always liked her she's a sweetheart hi jerry i'm his mother she's not my girlfriend ma everything changed when i became one out of the two or three guys to experience some form of male pattern baldness by the time i was 35. ah gross mom landed right on top of the white bread i'll be right back i'll just wipe it off you're probably wondering uh jerry what's with all the birds well my family has been in a bird farm business for generations that's how i met dave i wish i'd use keeps they make it easy by having hair loss consultations online with real doctors then they'll ship you your hair loss medication directly to your door every three months so when you're ready to start your treatment head on over to keeps.com slash uptospeed50 or click the link in the description to receive 50 off your first order okay here you go everybody ma i told you they're watching the show okay it's not for them separate time ready dave quick under the table dale earnhardt had racing in his jeans and i'm not talking about his wranglers he was born on april 29 1951 in kannapolis north caccolac cackalacka the dirt track wizard ralph earnhardt and his wife martha when dale was two years old his pappy quit his day job at the local mill and became a full-time self-supported race car driver dale earnhardt grew up trackside watching his daddy shred dirt in his home built race cars he spent a lot of time turning wrenches too racing like north carolina barbecue sauce was in his blood maybe that's where his aggressive piss and vinegar driving style came from because you know north carolina barbecue sauce it's vinegar based it's my favorite barbecue sauce dale ran his first race at 19 years old driving his brother-in-law's old 1956 six-cylinder ford club sedan now you're probably visualizing a badass black bruiser with big old number three on the side well you're wrong dead wrong thanks to an inexplicable paint mix-up the man in black's first race car was pink dale's obsession with racing took off as hard and fast as a slayer riff everything he did he did keep himself behind the wheel he took out loans and worked multiple odd jobs while living with his wife and young son carrie in a trailer behind his parents house most of his free time was spent wrenching in his dad's garage times were tough but racing was everything for dale in 1974 dale left the dirt track behind him moving on to nascar's sportsman series a feeder to the winston cup it's similar to the xfinity series that we have today dale earnhardt made his winston cup debut at the 1975 charlotte 600 but that opportunity only lasted a single race and dale was back to borrowing money begging for sponsors and working odd jobs to keep himself on track two more one shots led to more disappointment as did a five race ride in 1978 dale was stroking wait what did you say i said dale was stroking you see back in the day three or four teams with big time sponsors and factory support dominated the winston cup they were the only teams with a real chance at the podium teams running on smaller budgets fought each other for midfield finishes and remaining sponsorship bucks knowing that they had almost no chance at big time glory in typical southern fashion nascar folks had a kentucky fried slang term for this frustrating pursuit of good life stroking my uncle got busted for doing that at a golden corral well just like your uncle dale knew if he gritted his teeth and kept stroking something big was about to happen the winds of change tickled dale's mustache when california home building magnate and newly minted nascar team owner ron osterlund noticed dale's determination and bold driving style osterlund decided to give him a chance not only did he sign him on as a driver he helped him buy a house and establish a budget pulling dale out of poverty and getting him on his feet what is this guy me with nolan i bought nolan a house we made a mr beast video about it i used to be mr beast i wasn't as good at being mr beast as the current mr beast i did stuff like i put eight orbeez in my friend's backyard he didn't even notice dale pulled off his first winston cup win in 1979 in the southeastern 500 at bristol at the time he was only the fourth winston cup rookie to win a race in nascar history a ripper of a season that year earned dale nascar's 1979 rookie of the year award austin signed dale to a five-year contract looks like dale's stroking days were over that's what my uncle's defense attorney said at his trial he lied in 1980 dale's second year in the winston cup he took the championship boom because the dynamite and boob goes a daughter by on top of the glory and the respect he earned nearly 600 thousand dollars of winnings that year no more ripped jeans and oil stained flannels for this bad boy now we're talking about structurally intact jeans and fresh clean flannels dale's finally living his gasoline dreams earnhardt's time at australian was cut short when a kentucky coal baron brought him out dale and his new boss didn't really jive plain and simple and dale quit after just four races but this was a good thing because the next year our man found his forever home in an up-and-coming outfit run by another north cackalacka stroker made good richard childress's nascar trajectory looked a lot like dales he'd been running a solo program in the sportsman series for years finally deciding to give up driving and try out team ownership for the 1981 season it all came together for childress and one miraculous weekend when he picked up a gm factory support a goodyear tire deal and sponsorship with the root and toot and folks wrangler jeans in one incredible boot-cut swoop since earnhardt and childress shared experiences fighting their way to the top they had a mutual understanding and respect for one another so when things didn't go exactly as they'd hoped in the 1981 season childress advised his buddy to jump ship to the more experienced budmore racing team and asked dale to consider coming back when childress had figured it out that is so cool our heroes daytona dreams appeared in reach with his signing to the big budget heavies at budmore racing but like dale's relationship with the daytona 500 his two seasons with more were defined by frustration the team's ford thunderbirds broke down far too often and as a hardcore chevy guy dale was pissed he re-signed with the new and improved children's racing in 1984 and stayed there for the rest of his career dale was back with childress racing and stoked to be in a chevy racing for his homies now the childress crew had learned themselves a thing or two while dale was cursing bud moore's forwards they became obsessed with durability and endurance so much that the team would eventually manufacture almost every single part of their race car in-house and what do you get when you combine an indestructible car with a fearless driver total domination this was the beginning of dale's decade of glory he took the winston cup championship in 1986 and again in 1987 he still didn't pull off a daytona 500 win but he was winning scores of fans through regular displays of four-wheel finesse like the miraculous high-speed save enshrined in nascar history as the famous pass in the grass all right it's the 1987 winston invitational and bill elliot is killing it holding the lead for 121 of the races 135 laps in his number nine coors thunderbird but jeff beaudine and dale earnhardt are hot on his tail bodine pulls his number five levi garrett monte carlo alongside elliot edging ahead but in his zeal to overtake bodine miscalculates the maneuver and spins elliott eases on the brakes to avoid him and our boy dale scoots past on the low side to take the lead but elliot's ford is growing in his rear view mirror dale keeps his eyes on his mirror and blocks elliot's moves which are getting bolder he pushes his good years to the limit and then beyond the limit in an aggressive high speed block coming out of turn four the rear steps out he nabs it before he slips away but ends up pointing the car towards the grass he knows any attempt to avoid the green stuff and triple digit speed won't end well so he grits his teeth he holds the wheel straight and dips the car into the chlorophyll the world goes silent everything slows down and through some occult application of instinct and art dale's back on the tarmac in a split second still in the lead hot diggity dog dale won the winston and earnhardt loses it goes on the grass comes back and elliott goes inside and earnhardt still got no just be clear the pass in the grass wasn't really a pass but it was an impressive feat of car control and rhyming stuff sounds more epic they could have also called it the unpaved save when wrangler pulled out of racing after the 1987 season childress racing took on gm goodwrench as a sponsor which was cool but now the team had to come up with a new livery and a new color for their car all right guys got the new sponsor wrangler's out jim goodwrench is in we gotta figure out a new color new design basically new everything we gotta come up with it fast how about a green car because green's like money money's good you want our boy out there looking like a dang leprechaun brown oh like a sasquatch yellow tail purple purple like a unicorn farf farf i know i ran out of colors how many even are there 12. have uh have you guys seen star wars man we're talking dash car stuff you over here talking about dang star war shut up let him finish oh just you know darth vader he wears all black he looks pretty tough an all black race car that is the most badass thing i have ever heard of i am sorry i ever doubted you that actually happened dale earnhardt's car is black because darth vader looks cool darth vader means dark father in german dale earnhardt is the dark father with back to back winston cup victories under his belt a badass nickname a freaking darth vader card dale earnhardt became a bonafide superstar the 80s were great for the intimidator despite not having won a daytona 500 yet but the 90s were even better baby the man in black pulled down two more back-to-back championship wins taking the winston cup in 90 and 91 and then again in 93 and 94. now that 94 championship was the big one the record tire the seventh before dale only one man had won that many winston cups uh and his name was richard petty you ever freaking heard of him here's a sick picture of the two of them together here's a picture of me with him only one other driver has matched this milestone since when jimmy johnson tied the record in 2016. dale was big before but his celebrity now freaking sploded like pop culture icon exploded he was rubbing elbows with the grape he even got to meet boomhauer hey man i don't remember that dang old terror third turned darlington man who wanted to turn loose man this rope sure is soft and pretty i noticed it when we unloaded my car that clip shows that he has a freaking hilarious sense of humor by the year 2000 forbes magazine and named dale 40th in their list of world's 100 richest celebrities between rosie o'donnell and the band kiss the band the whole band kiss those guys are so good at merchandising the cat guy the star-lord tongue man and the greek one the intimidator never showed any signs of fixing to give up the wheel but with his 50s on the horizon he had to think about the future so in 1995 the 44 year old speed freak founded his own racing team dale earnhardt inc or dei but dale's loyalty to richard childress ran so deep that dale himself stayed with children's racing for the rest of his career racing against his own dei drivers eventually including his son up and coming star future legend dale earnhardt jr now like it or not things started changing for dale after his 94 championship went it wasn't a bad year he made second at the 95 daytona 500 narrowly missing out on that win that he's been after the whole time he celebrated his first road course victory then he took five checkered flags all said and done but the aging man in black very symbolically lost the 95 winston cup to 24 year old jeff gordon and his dupont sponsor technicolor dream chevy the opposite of dale's black car the winds of change were tickling at dale's mustache again whether he chose to acknowledge him or not and that tickle turned into a full-on punch in the face of talladega in 1996. things looked pretty good for dale at the start of the season folks were talking about a possible earth-shattering eighth winston cup championship title talladega changed everything it's a beautiful day for the 1996 die hard 500 and dale earnhardt is feeling fine boy he's second in points towards the winston cup championship his monte carlo is running like a tased ape and he's managed to fight his way to the front of the back all of his troubles are literally behind him sterling marlin in the number four kodak chevy is coming up on his right rear and ernie irvin in the number 28 javelin forward is right on his ass the man in black leads the sardine tight pack of cars into the tri-oval talladega's fastest section irvine makes contact with marlin marlin noses into dale in an unavoidable high-speed pit maneuver and the intimidator shoots up the track straight into the wall at nearly 200 miles per hour the number three car is barely off the wall before it's hit from behind at an angle and pushed up on its side car after car slides in for impact unable to avoid the chaos ahead dale chevy rolls multiple times before coming to a rest on its wheels it looks bad now incredibly the intimidator survived and walked to the ambulance with a broken collarbone a busted sternum and a bruised pelvis and if that ain't enough incredible for you dig this dale remained conscious for the whole thing he even gave a play-by-play at the press conference the following week in excruciating detail this guy got the same injury from flipping a nascar a million times that nolan got for falling off his bmx bike he's made different nolan does have hollow bones though like a bird he only weighs 75 pounds if doctors say if he had wings he could fly amazingly dale got back in a race car to qualify for the brickyard 400 one week after that crash with his busted collarbone secured with a flak jacket this guy he started that race but wisely pitted after the first lap but a week later he set a new track record at watkins glen this guy this guy despite vicious adversity dale finished the 96 winston cup season fourth in points folks were mumbling as folks tend to do that the 45 year old intimidator was either invincible the goat or boat that made the next year pretty tough to swallow truth is that that monstrous talladega crash did something to the intimidator the first sign came at the 97 mountain dew southern 500 in darlington where he experienced a bizarre blackout episode during a parade lap before the race and crashed into the wall at low speed five doctors examined dale and not one of them could find anything wrong well they didn't check me to see if i was pregnant but everything else they did so 1997 was a crushing year for dale earnhardt and his fans it was the first season since 1981 that he didn't win a single race now people started mumbling if it was time for the man in black to walk off into the shadows donut just hit 5 million subscribers on youtube and we're so grateful for all the support that the donut community has shown us over the years every meme every piece of fan art every mo powell baby we see in the comments fuels us to bring you more stuff and to celebrate this monumentous occasion we're releasing this limited edition sticker that says hey i was there when donut hit five million now you've only got seven days to order one at donutmedia.com and then we're never gonna make it again never ever ever ever ever never you guys are the reason we make this stuff seriously thank you so much for being here thank you guys so so much it means the world to me five million people i literally can't even imagine that number very well honestly donut changed my life thank you guys so much for all your support i love you obviously dale's winless season shook him to the core he was two years older than his dad was when he died and he was scarred by that big crash at talladega but all that adversity did the same thing it always done to dale it motivated 1998 was gonna be his and there'd be no better way to prove it than to finally achieve the one thing that had eluded him his whole career victory at the daytona 500 despite the intimidators undeniable skill iron will and stellar team support nascar's equivalent of the super bowl remained frustratingly out of reach for 19 seasons a history of dale at the daytona 500 is a history of engine failures blown tires fuel runouts harrowing crashes and just plain old bad luck but this year this year was going to be different dale and his team could feel it this year they had luck on their side before the season began dale had paid a visit to some fans through the make-a-wish foundation and a little girl gave him a good luck penny oh god me man we're not even the sad part this is all the happy parts yeah i know christina and a little girl gave him a good luck penny saying it would help him win the daytona 500 and dale took that to heart and glued that penny on his car's dashboard there it is catching light as the number three flies down the track under the florida sun now dale's holding strong at the front of the pack jocking for position with jeff gordon but by lap 123 gordon's out of the picture his car badly hobbled by a bad luck run in with a piece of debris on the track exactly the kind of malarkey that used to spoil dale's daytona 500 dreams at lap 140 of 200 the intimidator takes the lead rusty wallace and bobby labonte in particular aren't making it easy to hold first place but dale's blocking game as always is on point and when johnny andretti and lake speed crash in the thick field of cars behind dale on the second to last lap our hero cruises to victory under the caution flag finally the daytona 500 was his dale celebrated by ripping donuts carving a giant number three into the grass which is the sickest i don't even know how you would do that like what car control the daytona 500 was dale's only win in the 98 season but it was such a big deal that the intimidator was more popular than ever which helped drown out the media's incessant retirement speculation dale senior came back hard in 2000 renewed by neck surgery to repair a ruptured disc and no doubt the chance to race alongside his son the number eight budweiser car the same number ralph earnhardt made famous the 48 year old professional athlete the intimidator fell short of the points necessary to nab an eighth winston cup title in 2000 that shut down all the retirement rumors smack dab in the middle of 2001 daytona speed week the orlando sentinel ran a three-part series on driver deaths in motorsport culminating in a focus on recent nascar driver fatalities adam petty kenny irwin and tony roper all died of basal skull fractures sustained in wrecks in the past year this was an all too common fatal injury in motorsports responsible for the deaths of at least 12 racing drivers between 1991 and 2001. the hans device or head and neck support device was developed in the late 80s to protect drivers from this exact injury but nascar didn't officially require drivers to wear them at this time now dale was highly favored to take that record-breaking eighth winston cup championship in 2001. him and his team and his fans were all stoked for the daytona 500 an astonishing 17 million people tuned in for that race the most viewers in the history of the sport at the time earnhardt started the race in seventh and ran in the middle of the pack most of the day early in the race he bumped rookie kurt busch and in typical intimidator fashion was caught on camera flipping him to burn dale's longtime friend recently retired driver and newly recruited tv announcer daryl waltrip said he imagined earnhardt would have a word with bush after the race more in the form of fatherly advice than indignant danger dale was 49 now and despite his lingering reckless driving style he'd matured accepting his role as something like a father figure to his younger competition many of whom cited him as their childhood inspiration one of those young drivers that he inspired was dale jr who's on track that day for dei let's not forget his teammate michael waltrip in the number 15 napa chevy on lap 174 robbie gordon collided with ward burton and tony stewart sending stewart's home depot car into a spin and multiple flips 19 cars were involved in that crash dale jr michael waltrip and dale senior running first second and third respectively avoided the massive wreck track officials pulled a red flag for cleanup the race restarted with 20 laps to go dale jr was in pole position dale senior in third sterling marlin in the number 40 coors light car came up from behind battling junior and waltrip for the lead at five laps to go marlin was in fourth behind dale senior junior and waltrip held first and second in a moment i'm sure that was full of immense pride dale senior advised his son to ride low on the track and turned his focus to blocking marlin's attempts to take the lead with less than three laps remaining in the 2001 daytona 500 the intimidators part-time rival long-time friend and brand spanking new nascar announcer daryl waltrip said marlin would have to beat the front end off of his car trying to get around dale senior whose aggressive blocking resulted in the inevitable on the last lap earnhardt's rear end made contact with the nose of marlin's car at 185 miles per hour dale slid down toward the bottom of the track then turned hard right and went straight into the wall at over 155 miles per hour now this is exactly the kind of wreck that veteran drivers fear daryl waltrip remembers pushing those fears down and hoping for the best he'd seen dale survive worse certainly he was okay he'd pull himself out of the car any minute on february 18 2001 at 5 16 p.m dale earnhardt was pronounced dead at the halifax medical center nascar broke the news at 7 00 pm the intimidator died instantly when he hit that wall he was 49 years old as ferocious as ever still relentlessly pursuing the dream he'd inherited from his father and passed on to his son ralph dale earnhardt senior died doing what he loves we should all be silly it ran real super i'd like to say hi to the kids at home watching on tv the 2001 nascar season was like a traveling funeral service every track had a tribute a moment of silence jets flying overhead in formation big number three floral arrangements in the infield hundreds of thousands of fans held their hands aloft with three fingers extended on the third lap of every race after some controversy between nascar officials and the investigative reporting team at the orlando sentinel dale's cause of death was ruled as a basil skull fracture and eight months later nascar mandated the hans device undoubtedly saving scores of lives in the ensuing years dale earnhardt found a dream in his father's passion and made it his own doing it his own way to say it was easy would be an outright lie but through hard work dedication and the sheer power of his own insurmountable will the intimidator made those dreams a reality he is a true tale of the american dream he went from a trailer to being the 40th richest celebrity on the planet stories like this are rare and they're beautiful and we need them now more than ever thorns and all perfection is a farce and those who wait for the perfect moment to make their moves will live out their days in limbo dale earnhardt wouldn't wait he couldn't wait the man is more than an american icon he's a legend and you know what they say about legends they never die so follow your dreams i've followed mine let's do it for dale thank you guys so much for watching up to speed and everything else on donut i really loved the this story and uh it was hard to get through it but uh i i just love it make sure you hit that subscribe button so you don't miss anything if you like it uh speaking of following dreams adam the guy who wrote this script has a phd in journalism so look at me ma i'm a doctor's boss follow me on instagram and twitter at jamespumphrey follow donut donutmedia on everything if you want some cool merch uh go to donutmedia.com i love youhe's the only driver in nascar history to directly follow a rookie of the year award with a winston cup championship title one of three men to ever take the cup an astonishing seven times and perhaps most importantly he was drawn into an episode of king of the hill few racing drivers have achieved and inspired more than this hard-charging iron-willed legend known simply as the intimidator we're talking about the man the myth the mustache all good things come in threes just like the number on the side of his darth vader black car this is everything you need to know to get up to speed on dale earnhardt well dude for dale thanks to keeps for sponsoring today's video welcome to our new home my parents farm this is where i grew up oh hello i wasn't expecting company they're not here for you mama jerry they're watching up to speeds oh oh is your girlfriend jerry watching i always liked her she's a sweetheart hi jerry i'm his mother she's not my girlfriend ma everything changed when i became one out of the two or three guys to experience some form of male pattern baldness by the time i was 35. ah gross mom landed right on top of the white bread i'll be right back i'll just wipe it off you're probably wondering uh jerry what's with all the birds well my family has been in a bird farm business for generations that's how i met dave i wish i'd use keeps they make it easy by having hair loss consultations online with real doctors then they'll ship you your hair loss medication directly to your door every three months so when you're ready to start your treatment head on over to keeps.com slash uptospeed50 or click the link in the description to receive 50 off your first order okay here you go everybody ma i told you they're watching the show okay it's not for them separate time ready dave quick under the table dale earnhardt had racing in his jeans and i'm not talking about his wranglers he was born on april 29 1951 in kannapolis north caccolac cackalacka the dirt track wizard ralph earnhardt and his wife martha when dale was two years old his pappy quit his day job at the local mill and became a full-time self-supported race car driver dale earnhardt grew up trackside watching his daddy shred dirt in his home built race cars he spent a lot of time turning wrenches too racing like north carolina barbecue sauce was in his blood maybe that's where his aggressive piss and vinegar driving style came from because you know north carolina barbecue sauce it's vinegar based it's my favorite barbecue sauce dale ran his first race at 19 years old driving his brother-in-law's old 1956 six-cylinder ford club sedan now you're probably visualizing a badass black bruiser with big old number three on the side well you're wrong dead wrong thanks to an inexplicable paint mix-up the man in black's first race car was pink dale's obsession with racing took off as hard and fast as a slayer riff everything he did he did keep himself behind the wheel he took out loans and worked multiple odd jobs while living with his wife and young son carrie in a trailer behind his parents house most of his free time was spent wrenching in his dad's garage times were tough but racing was everything for dale in 1974 dale left the dirt track behind him moving on to nascar's sportsman series a feeder to the winston cup it's similar to the xfinity series that we have today dale earnhardt made his winston cup debut at the 1975 charlotte 600 but that opportunity only lasted a single race and dale was back to borrowing money begging for sponsors and working odd jobs to keep himself on track two more one shots led to more disappointment as did a five race ride in 1978 dale was stroking wait what did you say i said dale was stroking you see back in the day three or four teams with big time sponsors and factory support dominated the winston cup they were the only teams with a real chance at the podium teams running on smaller budgets fought each other for midfield finishes and remaining sponsorship bucks knowing that they had almost no chance at big time glory in typical southern fashion nascar folks had a kentucky fried slang term for this frustrating pursuit of good life stroking my uncle got busted for doing that at a golden corral well just like your uncle dale knew if he gritted his teeth and kept stroking something big was about to happen the winds of change tickled dale's mustache when california home building magnate and newly minted nascar team owner ron osterlund noticed dale's determination and bold driving style osterlund decided to give him a chance not only did he sign him on as a driver he helped him buy a house and establish a budget pulling dale out of poverty and getting him on his feet what is this guy me with nolan i bought nolan a house we made a mr beast video about it i used to be mr beast i wasn't as good at being mr beast as the current mr beast i did stuff like i put eight orbeez in my friend's backyard he didn't even notice dale pulled off his first winston cup win in 1979 in the southeastern 500 at bristol at the time he was only the fourth winston cup rookie to win a race in nascar history a ripper of a season that year earned dale nascar's 1979 rookie of the year award austin signed dale to a five-year contract looks like dale's stroking days were over that's what my uncle's defense attorney said at his trial he lied in 1980 dale's second year in the winston cup he took the championship boom because the dynamite and boob goes a daughter by on top of the glory and the respect he earned nearly 600 thousand dollars of winnings that year no more ripped jeans and oil stained flannels for this bad boy now we're talking about structurally intact jeans and fresh clean flannels dale's finally living his gasoline dreams earnhardt's time at australian was cut short when a kentucky coal baron brought him out dale and his new boss didn't really jive plain and simple and dale quit after just four races but this was a good thing because the next year our man found his forever home in an up-and-coming outfit run by another north cackalacka stroker made good richard childress's nascar trajectory looked a lot like dales he'd been running a solo program in the sportsman series for years finally deciding to give up driving and try out team ownership for the 1981 season it all came together for childress and one miraculous weekend when he picked up a gm factory support a goodyear tire deal and sponsorship with the root and toot and folks wrangler jeans in one incredible boot-cut swoop since earnhardt and childress shared experiences fighting their way to the top they had a mutual understanding and respect for one another so when things didn't go exactly as they'd hoped in the 1981 season childress advised his buddy to jump ship to the more experienced budmore racing team and asked dale to consider coming back when childress had figured it out that is so cool our heroes daytona dreams appeared in reach with his signing to the big budget heavies at budmore racing but like dale's relationship with the daytona 500 his two seasons with more were defined by frustration the team's ford thunderbirds broke down far too often and as a hardcore chevy guy dale was pissed he re-signed with the new and improved children's racing in 1984 and stayed there for the rest of his career dale was back with childress racing and stoked to be in a chevy racing for his homies now the childress crew had learned themselves a thing or two while dale was cursing bud moore's forwards they became obsessed with durability and endurance so much that the team would eventually manufacture almost every single part of their race car in-house and what do you get when you combine an indestructible car with a fearless driver total domination this was the beginning of dale's decade of glory he took the winston cup championship in 1986 and again in 1987 he still didn't pull off a daytona 500 win but he was winning scores of fans through regular displays of four-wheel finesse like the miraculous high-speed save enshrined in nascar history as the famous pass in the grass all right it's the 1987 winston invitational and bill elliot is killing it holding the lead for 121 of the races 135 laps in his number nine coors thunderbird but jeff beaudine and dale earnhardt are hot on his tail bodine pulls his number five levi garrett monte carlo alongside elliot edging ahead but in his zeal to overtake bodine miscalculates the maneuver and spins elliott eases on the brakes to avoid him and our boy dale scoots past on the low side to take the lead but elliot's ford is growing in his rear view mirror dale keeps his eyes on his mirror and blocks elliot's moves which are getting bolder he pushes his good years to the limit and then beyond the limit in an aggressive high speed block coming out of turn four the rear steps out he nabs it before he slips away but ends up pointing the car towards the grass he knows any attempt to avoid the green stuff and triple digit speed won't end well so he grits his teeth he holds the wheel straight and dips the car into the chlorophyll the world goes silent everything slows down and through some occult application of instinct and art dale's back on the tarmac in a split second still in the lead hot diggity dog dale won the winston and earnhardt loses it goes on the grass comes back and elliott goes inside and earnhardt still got no just be clear the pass in the grass wasn't really a pass but it was an impressive feat of car control and rhyming stuff sounds more epic they could have also called it the unpaved save when wrangler pulled out of racing after the 1987 season childress racing took on gm goodwrench as a sponsor which was cool but now the team had to come up with a new livery and a new color for their car all right guys got the new sponsor wrangler's out jim goodwrench is in we gotta figure out a new color new design basically new everything we gotta come up with it fast how about a green car because green's like money money's good you want our boy out there looking like a dang leprechaun brown oh like a sasquatch yellow tail purple purple like a unicorn farf farf i know i ran out of colors how many even are there 12. have uh have you guys seen star wars man we're talking dash car stuff you over here talking about dang star war shut up let him finish oh just you know darth vader he wears all black he looks pretty tough an all black race car that is the most badass thing i have ever heard of i am sorry i ever doubted you that actually happened dale earnhardt's car is black because darth vader looks cool darth vader means dark father in german dale earnhardt is the dark father with back to back winston cup victories under his belt a badass nickname a freaking darth vader card dale earnhardt became a bonafide superstar the 80s were great for the intimidator despite not having won a daytona 500 yet but the 90s were even better baby the man in black pulled down two more back-to-back championship wins taking the winston cup in 90 and 91 and then again in 93 and 94. now that 94 championship was the big one the record tire the seventh before dale only one man had won that many winston cups uh and his name was richard petty you ever freaking heard of him here's a sick picture of the two of them together here's a picture of me with him only one other driver has matched this milestone since when jimmy johnson tied the record in 2016. dale was big before but his celebrity now freaking sploded like pop culture icon exploded he was rubbing elbows with the grape he even got to meet boomhauer hey man i don't remember that dang old terror third turned darlington man who wanted to turn loose man this rope sure is soft and pretty i noticed it when we unloaded my car that clip shows that he has a freaking hilarious sense of humor by the year 2000 forbes magazine and named dale 40th in their list of world's 100 richest celebrities between rosie o'donnell and the band kiss the band the whole band kiss those guys are so good at merchandising the cat guy the star-lord tongue man and the greek one the intimidator never showed any signs of fixing to give up the wheel but with his 50s on the horizon he had to think about the future so in 1995 the 44 year old speed freak founded his own racing team dale earnhardt inc or dei but dale's loyalty to richard childress ran so deep that dale himself stayed with children's racing for the rest of his career racing against his own dei drivers eventually including his son up and coming star future legend dale earnhardt jr now like it or not things started changing for dale after his 94 championship went it wasn't a bad year he made second at the 95 daytona 500 narrowly missing out on that win that he's been after the whole time he celebrated his first road course victory then he took five checkered flags all said and done but the aging man in black very symbolically lost the 95 winston cup to 24 year old jeff gordon and his dupont sponsor technicolor dream chevy the opposite of dale's black car the winds of change were tickling at dale's mustache again whether he chose to acknowledge him or not and that tickle turned into a full-on punch in the face of talladega in 1996. things looked pretty good for dale at the start of the season folks were talking about a possible earth-shattering eighth winston cup championship title talladega changed everything it's a beautiful day for the 1996 die hard 500 and dale earnhardt is feeling fine boy he's second in points towards the winston cup championship his monte carlo is running like a tased ape and he's managed to fight his way to the front of the back all of his troubles are literally behind him sterling marlin in the number four kodak chevy is coming up on his right rear and ernie irvin in the number 28 javelin forward is right on his ass the man in black leads the sardine tight pack of cars into the tri-oval talladega's fastest section irvine makes contact with marlin marlin noses into dale in an unavoidable high-speed pit maneuver and the intimidator shoots up the track straight into the wall at nearly 200 miles per hour the number three car is barely off the wall before it's hit from behind at an angle and pushed up on its side car after car slides in for impact unable to avoid the chaos ahead dale chevy rolls multiple times before coming to a rest on its wheels it looks bad now incredibly the intimidator survived and walked to the ambulance with a broken collarbone a busted sternum and a bruised pelvis and if that ain't enough incredible for you dig this dale remained conscious for the whole thing he even gave a play-by-play at the press conference the following week in excruciating detail this guy got the same injury from flipping a nascar a million times that nolan got for falling off his bmx bike he's made different nolan does have hollow bones though like a bird he only weighs 75 pounds if doctors say if he had wings he could fly amazingly dale got back in a race car to qualify for the brickyard 400 one week after that crash with his busted collarbone secured with a flak jacket this guy he started that race but wisely pitted after the first lap but a week later he set a new track record at watkins glen this guy this guy despite vicious adversity dale finished the 96 winston cup season fourth in points folks were mumbling as folks tend to do that the 45 year old intimidator was either invincible the goat or boat that made the next year pretty tough to swallow truth is that that monstrous talladega crash did something to the intimidator the first sign came at the 97 mountain dew southern 500 in darlington where he experienced a bizarre blackout episode during a parade lap before the race and crashed into the wall at low speed five doctors examined dale and not one of them could find anything wrong well they didn't check me to see if i was pregnant but everything else they did so 1997 was a crushing year for dale earnhardt and his fans it was the first season since 1981 that he didn't win a single race now people started mumbling if it was time for the man in black to walk off into the shadows donut just hit 5 million subscribers on youtube and we're so grateful for all the support that the donut community has shown us over the years every meme every piece of fan art every mo powell baby we see in the comments fuels us to bring you more stuff and to celebrate this monumentous occasion we're releasing this limited edition sticker that says hey i was there when donut hit five million now you've only got seven days to order one at donutmedia.com and then we're never gonna make it again never ever ever ever ever never you guys are the reason we make this stuff seriously thank you so much for being here thank you guys so so much it means the world to me five million people i literally can't even imagine that number very well honestly donut changed my life thank you guys so much for all your support i love you obviously dale's winless season shook him to the core he was two years older than his dad was when he died and he was scarred by that big crash at talladega but all that adversity did the same thing it always done to dale it motivated 1998 was gonna be his and there'd be no better way to prove it than to finally achieve the one thing that had eluded him his whole career victory at the daytona 500 despite the intimidators undeniable skill iron will and stellar team support nascar's equivalent of the super bowl remained frustratingly out of reach for 19 seasons a history of dale at the daytona 500 is a history of engine failures blown tires fuel runouts harrowing crashes and just plain old bad luck but this year this year was going to be different dale and his team could feel it this year they had luck on their side before the season began dale had paid a visit to some fans through the make-a-wish foundation and a little girl gave him a good luck penny oh god me man we're not even the sad part this is all the happy parts yeah i know christina and a little girl gave him a good luck penny saying it would help him win the daytona 500 and dale took that to heart and glued that penny on his car's dashboard there it is catching light as the number three flies down the track under the florida sun now dale's holding strong at the front of the pack jocking for position with jeff gordon but by lap 123 gordon's out of the picture his car badly hobbled by a bad luck run in with a piece of debris on the track exactly the kind of malarkey that used to spoil dale's daytona 500 dreams at lap 140 of 200 the intimidator takes the lead rusty wallace and bobby labonte in particular aren't making it easy to hold first place but dale's blocking game as always is on point and when johnny andretti and lake speed crash in the thick field of cars behind dale on the second to last lap our hero cruises to victory under the caution flag finally the daytona 500 was his dale celebrated by ripping donuts carving a giant number three into the grass which is the sickest i don't even know how you would do that like what car control the daytona 500 was dale's only win in the 98 season but it was such a big deal that the intimidator was more popular than ever which helped drown out the media's incessant retirement speculation dale senior came back hard in 2000 renewed by neck surgery to repair a ruptured disc and no doubt the chance to race alongside his son the number eight budweiser car the same number ralph earnhardt made famous the 48 year old professional athlete the intimidator fell short of the points necessary to nab an eighth winston cup title in 2000 that shut down all the retirement rumors smack dab in the middle of 2001 daytona speed week the orlando sentinel ran a three-part series on driver deaths in motorsport culminating in a focus on recent nascar driver fatalities adam petty kenny irwin and tony roper all died of basal skull fractures sustained in wrecks in the past year this was an all too common fatal injury in motorsports responsible for the deaths of at least 12 racing drivers between 1991 and 2001. the hans device or head and neck support device was developed in the late 80s to protect drivers from this exact injury but nascar didn't officially require drivers to wear them at this time now dale was highly favored to take that record-breaking eighth winston cup championship in 2001. him and his team and his fans were all stoked for the daytona 500 an astonishing 17 million people tuned in for that race the most viewers in the history of the sport at the time earnhardt started the race in seventh and ran in the middle of the pack most of the day early in the race he bumped rookie kurt busch and in typical intimidator fashion was caught on camera flipping him to burn dale's longtime friend recently retired driver and newly recruited tv announcer daryl waltrip said he imagined earnhardt would have a word with bush after the race more in the form of fatherly advice than indignant danger dale was 49 now and despite his lingering reckless driving style he'd matured accepting his role as something like a father figure to his younger competition many of whom cited him as their childhood inspiration one of those young drivers that he inspired was dale jr who's on track that day for dei let's not forget his teammate michael waltrip in the number 15 napa chevy on lap 174 robbie gordon collided with ward burton and tony stewart sending stewart's home depot car into a spin and multiple flips 19 cars were involved in that crash dale jr michael waltrip and dale senior running first second and third respectively avoided the massive wreck track officials pulled a red flag for cleanup the race restarted with 20 laps to go dale jr was in pole position dale senior in third sterling marlin in the number 40 coors light car came up from behind battling junior and waltrip for the lead at five laps to go marlin was in fourth behind dale senior junior and waltrip held first and second in a moment i'm sure that was full of immense pride dale senior advised his son to ride low on the track and turned his focus to blocking marlin's attempts to take the lead with less than three laps remaining in the 2001 daytona 500 the intimidators part-time rival long-time friend and brand spanking new nascar announcer daryl waltrip said marlin would have to beat the front end off of his car trying to get around dale senior whose aggressive blocking resulted in the inevitable on the last lap earnhardt's rear end made contact with the nose of marlin's car at 185 miles per hour dale slid down toward the bottom of the track then turned hard right and went straight into the wall at over 155 miles per hour now this is exactly the kind of wreck that veteran drivers fear daryl waltrip remembers pushing those fears down and hoping for the best he'd seen dale survive worse certainly he was okay he'd pull himself out of the car any minute on february 18 2001 at 5 16 p.m dale earnhardt was pronounced dead at the halifax medical center nascar broke the news at 7 00 pm the intimidator died instantly when he hit that wall he was 49 years old as ferocious as ever still relentlessly pursuing the dream he'd inherited from his father and passed on to his son ralph dale earnhardt senior died doing what he loves we should all be silly it ran real super i'd like to say hi to the kids at home watching on tv the 2001 nascar season was like a traveling funeral service every track had a tribute a moment of silence jets flying overhead in formation big number three floral arrangements in the infield hundreds of thousands of fans held their hands aloft with three fingers extended on the third lap of every race after some controversy between nascar officials and the investigative reporting team at the orlando sentinel dale's cause of death was ruled as a basil skull fracture and eight months later nascar mandated the hans device undoubtedly saving scores of lives in the ensuing years dale earnhardt found a dream in his father's passion and made it his own doing it his own way to say it was easy would be an outright lie but through hard work dedication and the sheer power of his own insurmountable will the intimidator made those dreams a reality he is a true tale of the american dream he went from a trailer to being the 40th richest celebrity on the planet stories like this are rare and they're beautiful and we need them now more than ever thorns and all perfection is a farce and those who wait for the perfect moment to make their moves will live out their days in limbo dale earnhardt wouldn't wait he couldn't wait the man is more than an american icon he's a legend and you know what they say about legends they never die so follow your dreams i've followed mine let's do it for dale thank you guys so much for watching up to speed and everything else on donut i really loved the this story and uh it was hard to get through it but uh i i just love it make sure you hit that subscribe button so you don't miss anything if you like it uh speaking of following dreams adam the guy who wrote this script has a phd in journalism so look at me ma i'm a doctor's boss follow me on instagram and twitter at jamespumphrey follow donut donutmedia on everything if you want some cool merch uh go to donutmedia.com i love you