Dale Earnhardt
Dale Earnhardt was born into a racing family. His father, Ralph, was already inked onto NASCAR's win list. The young Dale worked his way up to NASCAR with a variety of rides including a pinkish colored '55 Chevy, numbered K-2. The die-cast version is still a highly sought collectable.
His first rides in NASCAR Winston Cup were at a slow rate. One race a year from 1975 through 1977 was all he could get. Even in 1978 he only got five chances to race. In 1979 that changed, and Rod Osterlund gave the youngster a chance at a full-time ride. There was no holding Earnhardt back-he not only won Rookie of the Year honors but also won his first race and finished seventh in overall points. Now people started watching Ralph's kid.
The next year he really gave them something to talk about as he won five races, over half a million in purse money and the Winston Cup title. It would be the first of a record-tying SEVEN championships. To look at that in the proper perspective, Earnhardt and Richard Petty each have seven titles while the most any other driver has won is three-more than double.
Earnhardt drove for three different drivers the next year (1981), including a driver that had just decided to hang up his helmet, Richard Childress. Earnhardt brought his new Wrangler sponsorship with him but took a deal with Bud Moore, a NASCAR legend, to drive Moore's Fords. Earnhardt stayed there for two more years. Bud Moore told the story about Chevy trying to woo Earnhardt back to the Bow-Tie guys. Moore even called up Ford and told them they were going to lose Earnhardt because Chevy had given him a brand new Corvette, and Ford had better do something. The rest is history.
Dale Earnhardt and his Wrangler jeans threw in with Childress again in 1982 and found a home. Together, the two won six championships, 66 races, and the hearts of countless fans. They both chased the dream of winning the Daytona 500, and even though they own the record of winning their 125-mile qualifying race for 10 years straight, they did not win the 500 until 1998. After the win, Earnhardt used his Goodwrench Chevy to burn a number three-shaped donut into the infield grass and later asked the press how they liked his handwriting. The win was an emotional one as pit row was lined with crewmembers from all teams to high five the smiling winner as he slowly drove to Victory Lane. It had taken Dale 20 years to win NASCAR's biggest race, and it remained the highlight win of his career.
Overall on the NASCAR win list Dale sits in sixth position with 75 wins. Along with all those wins, Earnhardt won the most money of any modern day driver with well over $36 million in career earnings. And that elusive eighth Winston Cup title? Dale finished second last year in a highly contested battle.