Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Happy #NASCAR Birthday To Legend
Dale Earnhardt, Sr.

Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was born on April 29, 1951 Kannapolis, North Carolina. He died on February 18, 2001 at Daytona Beach, Florida when he was forty-nine from a crash in Turn 4 on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

Everything in between is pure NASCAR Legend. The Intimidator would have turned 63 today.



A 1988 feature from ESPN's Race Day America features Rusty Wallace playing a practical joke on friend and rival, Dale Earnhardt.

During a February 2014 interview Dale Sr. was paid a great compliment by six-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson's during a question about his biggest regret of his racing career?

Not having the opportunity to "get spun out or crashed" by Dale Earnhardt Sr.  Johnson answered.

Johnson touched on that topic and more in a wide-ranging interview with Fox NFL Sunday host Curt Menefee, which will aired on Friday, Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.

 
Here is an excerpt of part of Johnson's interview discussing the late seven-time NASCAR champion:

Johnson: "That’s one regret I have. Again, Richard (Petty) was too far removed for me to say that I had a chance to drive with him on the track. But Dale (Earnhardt), that could have happened. And I so regret that I'll never have that chance to honestly get spun out or crashed by him. That opportunity will never be there for me."

Menefee: "Really?"

Johnson: "I mean every kid, especially my generation, that black No. 3, the black No. 3, you know, that's what you wanted to be and race against. And knowing Jeff Gordon as I do and watching him race with Dale all those years and then talking about it with Jeff now there's some really cool experiences there that I would have loved to have had."
 
NASCAR Race Mom wonders what role Dale Sr. would be commanding now had he survived that last lap crash.  Do you think that he would still be a Sprint Cup Driver?


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