Earnhardt (2025) s01e01 Episode Script
Ironhead
1
How do I turn it on?
How do I turn it on?
- [man] It's on.
- [Dale] Now?
[man] Yeah, it's rollin'.
Hey, buddy. My old pal.
My old hard-headed Earnhardt.
- How you doin', pal?
- Ready.
[man] Good.
[interviewer]
Do you think your reputation on the track
has made you misunderstood off the track,
as far as who Dale Earnhardt really is?
[interviewer 2] How long did you race
before you reckon' you were really good?
You had to know that you could beat guys.
[interviewer 3]
You like the anti-hero image you have,
the Man in Black, the Intimidator?
There were people, Dale, who said
sometimes success can be a bad thing.
[man] You sacrifice your family,
you sacrifice everything.
You put your whole life
into what you're doin'.
[crowd cheering]
[interviewer 4] If your dad was here,
what do you think he'd say?
[interviewer 5] You talk about
how long it takes to feel physical pain.
How long does it take you
to get over the mental pain?
[interviewer 6] What is the story
behind the Man in Black?
[man] I mean, what drives Dale Earnhardt?
[building epic music]
[commentator]
And around goes Earnhardt, up in the air.
[crowd cheering]
[Dale] All right. We're ready.
It's hot in here.
[man 2] Part of what we're gonna do is
I don't care, just ask the question.
[man 2] For a feature.
What feature?
[man 2] An up-close-and-personal
on Dale Earnhardt.
You have to do more than this shit.
Come ride around the farm with me, I'll
show you personal Dale Earnhardt bullshit.
[man 2] Was there ever a time you didn't
think about being a race car driver?
Probably when I was born.
I didn't know any better.
[man 2] I mean, from the get-go,
with your dad and everything.
I mean, racing was all you knew.
All I ever remember is racing.
So, you know,
from the time I can remember, racing.
["Ride Away" by Roy Orbison]
[Kyle Petty]
When you grow up in the Southeast,
we didn't have professional sports.
We didn't have baseball,
basketball, football.
We had racing. That was it.
♪Two wheels a turnin'♪
[Kyle] There was
a local short track everywhere.
♪One girl a-yearnin'♪
[Kyle] Every gas station,
somebody knew somebody that run local.
♪Big motor burnin' the road♪
They raced, because they could
make more money ridin' around in circles
than they could workin'
7:00 to 4:00 in a mill.
It's a way of life.
♪I'll ride the highway♪
♪I'm goin' my way♪
[announcer over PA]
Good afternoon, sports fans,
at NASCAR's Grand National
stock car racing.
[cheering]
♪Pretty girls behind me
But pretty girls are everywhere♪
♪Big motor wind up ride on away from here♪
[commentator 2]
Man, this exciting NASCAR season
has got everybody talking
stock car racing.
Everybody has their favorite
they're pulling for,
and they want to win.
At that time in the sport,
it was a changing of the guard.
You had the old guard
[commentator]
Cale Yarborough, David Pearson,
Buddy Baker, Bobby Allison,
and the king of stock car racing,
Richard Petty.
I think it's more exciting, in the sense
that the competition and everything
is so much better now.
I think I get jacked up a little bit more
for racing now than I used to.
[engine turns over]
[Darrell] We all looked up to Richard.
I mean, Richard was the King.
Richard Petty, the King.
And so, we all wanted to be
at least as good as he was,
if not better.
[commentator]
A driver has to be good and lucky.
Darrell Waltrip, do you feel lucky today?
No, but I feel good.
[Kyle] You know, I think
that Darrell Waltrip had seen himself
as the heir apparent to the old guard.
An interesting,
perhaps changing of the guard
taking place this year,
with Darrell Waltrip up on top
and two rookies in the top six
in the point standings.
[Kyle] He had put in his eight
or ten years to get to that point.
But when he turned around,
there was another guy standin' there
that slid in behind him to take his crown.
And it was Earnhardt.
Number two, Dale Earnhardt,
Kannapolis, North Carolina.
[upbeat orchestral music]
[reporter]
As a rookie, a new kid on the block,
do you get intimidated running
with the Pettys and the Waltrips?
Nah, we get along pretty good. So, I think
it's gonna be a hell of a race.
I think it was '79 in Bristol.
Dale was driving for Osterlund
at the time, a 2 car.
We were racing each other.
We were passin' and passin' and passin'.
[commentator] The battle is between
Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip.
They were dueling side-by-side
going for across the stripe.
[Darrell] And he had bumped me
out of the way to get the lead,
and then he won the race.
[grandiose orchestral music]
I said to myself, "You have got to be
kidding me. Who is this guy, anyway?"
And then, we became rivals.
[commentator] Darrell Waltrip back
to within catching distance of Earnhardt.
He was somebody you had to reckon with
every week.
[commentator 2]
Earnhardt has the inside covered.
Darrell being forced to go high in three.
[commentator] Earnhardt not intimidated.
[Hank Parker]
He won Rookie of the Year in 1979.
Well, I won the Bassmaster Classic
in 1979.
And bass fishing was
bigger than NASCAR in 1979.
When Earnhardt won,
he got a 742 Remington 30-06 deer rifle
and a Weaver scope. Total value, $400.
And he thought he had made the big time.
Four hundred dollars.
[engine revving]
[Dale] I was racing on credit
and borrowed time, more or less.
Pretty much in debt.
And I was looking for the big chance.
I used to listen to the race
on the radio at home,
listening to Richard Petty and Cale
and those guys racin',
and dreamin' about being there
someday myself,
and wonderin' what it'd be like.
And it's just the biggest thrill
I've ever had.
I never wanted anything
as much as I want to race.
I've let it get in my way
of personal feelings a lot of times,
and I've chosen racing every time.
I can have all kind of problems,
and people will say,
"Well, doesn't it bother you
on the race track?
Don't you think about it
on the race track?"
I think about beatin' the guy
in front of me or behind me.
[interviewer chuckles]
Why would you want to do something
that you know darn well
could turn around and bite you,
could kill you?
I ain't never wanted to do anything else.
[reporter]
'Scuse me, who you pullin' for today?
Uh, Bobby Allison.
- Why?
- Well, I like a Ford.
[reporter] Who you gonna cheer for today?
- Richard Petty.
- [reporter] How come?
'Cause I want to, that's why.
I got to go with Dale Earnhardt.
He's probably one of my favorites now.
[reporter] Why?
I like to see the young boys run with 'em.
You know what I mean?
[commentator 2]
In 10th position will be Dale Earnhardt.
You can't say enough
about this young driver.
Last year, he made the veterans sit up
and take notice of his driving style.
The whole team was
we were all new. I was new.
Do you feel a lot of pressure?
Uh, not Well, there's more pressure
now, but I'm tryin' to put it aside.
We're trying to win this championship
this year.
It'll be the first time a rookie
has ever won Rookie of the Year
and went on the next year
to win the championship.
[Darrell] You always strive to get
to the top. You want to be the best.
So, you had to put a year together,
32, 34, 36 races.
Get as many wins as you could,
get as many points as you could,
and hopefully hang on
and win the championship.
There's some people in front of me
that are, uh, I'm maybe not one to talk,
but they're lesser experienced than I am.
And lesser-experienced drivers,
no matter how good they are,
sometimes cause problems.
Some of us rode awhile, raced awhile,
rode awhile, raced awhile.
Dale raced all the time.
He didn't care.
He was hard on a car.
He would wear a car out.
[pit commentator]
Here's Dale Earnhardt in the pits,
as they try
to tape the thing back together.
He drove the hell out of it every race.
Every lap, every inch.
["Strychnine" by The Sonics]
♪Some folks like water♪
[commentator]
You talk about horse racing. Look at that.
That number 2 is running
really tough out here today.
♪Of straight strychnine♪
[Hank] What people don't realize,
in that race car,
if you take your head and you go
That's what it's like.
It's like your brains,
your fluid in your head
and your eyeballs vibratin' so bad.
[Kyle]
He was comfortable being out of control.
♪Wine is red♪
He'd be laid back in the seat,
leanin' to the side,
lookin' out the side window.
♪Strychnine is good♪
That's how he got comfortable.
[commentator]
Dale Earnhardt jumps on the brakes
and barely misses Richard Petty.
[Doug]
But when it all did all come together,
it's like, all of a sudden,
he's drivin' his butt off.
He's passin' people left and right.
We were having good pit stops.
I mean, everything's gotta click.
You know what it is, Darrel?
Yeah, it's smokin'.
[pit commentator]
He doesn't know what the problem is.
Sitting there fuming
and waiting for things to get better.
[commentator] Dale Earnhardt currently
leads the Grand National points standing
in the chase
for the national driving title.
The edge is what you have to find
to win NASCAR racing.
Do you take that chance
and run that car in
a little bit deeper,
that it might not stick?
♪Make you jump It'll make you shout♪
[Hank] You have to be able
to run every lap on the edge,
just flirtin' with disaster.
[commentator] Look at
that precision driving, right to the line.
Earnhardt will win it.
[crowd cheering]
In the victory lane,
it is absolute ecstasy.
[pit commentator]
I think he's a little shocked.
It's somethin' else.
I just can't handle it.
This team has really worked hard,
and it's comin' all together now.
I just can't believe it.
[Doug]
You gotta think, a lot of veteran drivers,
well, they'd been doin' it for years
when we showed up.
And then, here comes this kid,
and he beats 'em.
[commentator] Earnhardt will become
the first sophomore driver in history
to ever win the national championship.
["Workin' Man Blues" by Merle Haggard]
♪It's a big job just getting by
With nine kids and a wife♪
♪But I've been a working man
Dang near all my life♪
♪And I'll keep on workin'♪
We all went to the airport
and welcomed him home, you know.
"Welcome, Champion,"
and that kind of thing.
[cheering]
[Dale] It feels great, I'm tellin' ya.
I wasn't expecting this reception.
I got a lot of people to thank.
I reckon I ought to thank them all
one at a time, there's so many of 'em.
We all met up at the shop, Daddy's shop.
Dale came, brought his trophy.
We all celebrated with some champagne.
Of course, all of Kannapolis was excited.
You one of their local heroes
up there now?
I think so. I got a lot of fans up there.
♪I'll drink a little beer that evening♪
♪Sing a little bit
Of these working man blues♪
[David Allen]
I had just been hired by Wrangler.
You know, their marketing campaign was,
"Here comes Wrangler, one tough customer."
[horse whinnies]
They had a model from L.A.
coming out here.
Puts on a fake mustache
and pretends he's a cowboy.
It's like, what are we doin'?
Here comes Dale
like John Wayne in a race car.
They didn't get any tougher.
♪But I'll go back working♪
♪I gotta buy my kids
A brand-new pair of shoes♪
[David] It was all built around Dale.
He was our image,
he was our point of sales.
He was everything.
♪This song's for the working man♪
[reporter] Not all moments are fast
and hectic for this young lion.
Dale enjoys quiet moments,
hunting and fishing with his dog, Killer.
And he lives here
in this three-bedroom split-level home
on Lake Norman in North Carolina.
[Dale Jr.] I remember back then,
Dad's career is starting to take off.
He'd just won the championship in 1980.
But during this period, we lived with Mom
in a mill house in Kannapolis.
I don't remember regular visits.
But like, there were times
when we were living with Mom
that we were seeing Dad.
But it was very rare.
[Kelley] My mom worked third shift.
And I kind of was, like, the mother hen.
So I would get our lunch together
or get us ready in the mornin' for school,
because she would
just be coming home from work.
I mean, just really
looking after the two of us.
[Cathy] When Dale and Brenda got married,
and then, they got pregnant
with Kelley and Dale Jr., and all that,
family wasn't a priority.
Dale was trying to build a career racing,
and Brenda was working full time,
wanting a husband that was helping
pay her bills and buy her groceries.
And Dale wasn't doing any of that.
And I think that started
breakin' 'em both apart.
[Dale Jr.]
I know that racing was number one.
Everything sacrificed to race.
But he ends up getting
where he wants to go.
He ends up becoming a Cup Series champion
in just two years
after Mom and him split up.
So, in his mind,
he was right to sacrifice.
[Dale]
Things are going great for us right now.
You know, just bigger and better,
all the time.
[Dale Jr.] Woke up one morning,
Mom's boyfriend, he comes in there,
"Get up, man,
we gotta get outta here quick."
I put on some Incredible Hulk Underoos.
We walk out of the bedroom,
and I look to the right,
I'll never forget it.
It was like a blanket of fire.
[crackling]
[Kelley] After the fire, I remember them
bringin' in these two bags of our stuff,
that this is all we had left.
[Dale Jr.] We had nothing. We were broke.
And so, Mom was like,
"I can't take care of these kids.
We got nowhere to stay, live.
What am I gonna do?
I'm gonna go to Norfolk, Virginia,
to try to get my life back together.'
I guess they had a conversation.
Dad said, "I can provide for these kids."
And so, he's like, "I'll take 'em."
[Kelley] You know, you're leaving
your mom to go live with your dad
who you didn't really
super know that well.
I remember goin' to a place in Kannapolis,
it was a furniture store.
We got these 18" black-and-white
televisions,
and we each had a stuffed animal.
And I remember the ride
to my dad's lake house.
That anxiousness, you know.
[geese honking]
[birdsong]
[Dale Jr.] Dad put me in this bedroom.
Kelley was on the end of that hall.
And we're happy. We're in a good place.
[Cathy] I know they had those regrets
when they divorced,
but when the fire happened,
and the kids needed a place to live,
I think it kinda gave him the opportunity
to give as a father.
[Dale Jr. laughs]
Miller tore my butt up!
[people laugh]
[Dale] That cement's rough, ain't it?
[Dale Jr.] Yeah!
[Dale] You know, the pressure is on
a little bit more this year
than what it was last year.
As far as having a sponsor like Wrangler,
so you feel like you gotta produce.
Plus, being the defending
Grand National champion.
Earnhardt was a meteor.
Whoosh! Straight to the top.
But when you're the best,
or you're perceived as the best
you don't rest on what you just did.
You gotta go prove to everybody
you can do it again.
[man] You got speed, you got audio.
Anytime you're ready.
When Dale won the championship,
it was demoralizing.
I hated it.
[reporter] How do you feel
about this new crew?
New year, new crew.
Well, really, it's one of
the most exciting things
that's ever happened to me
in my whole racing career.
To be with Junior Johnson
and to have a new sponsor, Mountain Dew.
It's like a rebirth for me.
And I couldn't be happier.
Dale was the most aggressive driver
I've ever raced with.
He was the hardest guy
on the racetrack to pass.
And so, I prided myself in being
unpredictable.
I kinda set you up, figured you out,
and then made my pass.
[commentator] With one lap to go, Waltrip
outran Earnhardt to take the lead,
and took the checkered flag
a half second ahead of Earnhardt.
[David] Darrell, he understood finesse.
[reporter] What is your job here today?
Try to relax
and just take good care of the car.
Don't do anything foolish,
don't beat myself. That's the main thing.
[David]
And Dale didn't have time for finesse.
How do you feel?
Great, man. Ready for it.
He's ready for 'em. He's always ready.
One of the hardest chargers,
young lions in this sport.
He wasn't like Darrell Waltrip.
[Darrell] You can't pass
going into turn three
because you get up in the loose stuff
going in there
and you go right straight into the wall.
And that's the best philosophy to use
at this race track. Don't race nobody.
[David] Dale couldn't stand that.
It's a race. It's not get in line
and follow till 40 laps to go.
[commentator 3]
And there's Dale Earnhardt making a move
on Darrell Waltrip, and he gets through.
He's passed him for second place.
But Earnhardt hits the wall,
and hits it again.
[David] He almost became
his own worst enemy at times.
And it was hard to build equipment
to stay under him.
[reporter] We are in Dale Earnhardt's pit,
and the engine is not running
right at the moment.
And it looks like he's coming
behind the walls.
[reporter 2] The Sophomore jinx.
It's something all Grand National
Rookie of the Year winners
are supposed to suffer through
in year two.
So, what's wrong?
Has a Sophomore jinx
come to Earnhardt a year late?
Hopefully, over the year
I can learn to cope with it,
the pressure and you know,
people asking me things at the wrong time.
I just got to learn to save my emotions
at the right times, you know.
[commentator]
Darrell Waltrip in Victory Lane
for the eighth time this season.
[Dale] I was a real rough diamond.
You know, young and, uh
excited about racing.
But I really didn't pay attention
to financial things going on around me.
Until '81, when Osterlund
walked out on the deal and sold it.
[contemplative music]
The shockwaves are still being felt here
at what was the Osterlund Racing Team.
It was gone, sold, lock, stock, and barrel
as of about nine o'clock this morning.
The asking price,
approximately two million dollars
for Jim Stacy to buy
the Rod Osterlund Racing Team.
[Dale] All of a sudden, the five-year deal
I had, or thought I had,
with Osterlund was gone.
And I was driving for a guy,
you know, Jim Stacy, that told me,
he said, "Well,
you can stay and drive, or you can quit.
It really don't matter to me."
And that really, you know said, "Well,
this guy really cares a lot about me."
[Doug] Dale was furious.
You know, just thought we were
like a bunch of cattle
that just got sold to the next farm,
you know.
He just couldn't believe it.
And so, when he decided to leave,
we all just up and left.
[Kyle] And that was unheard of.
You've got people begging for rides.
And you say, "I'm out, I'm gone.
See ya, bye."
I think everybody took a step back
and said, "Whoo,
maybe this kid's not thinkin' right."
You are the son of another NASCAR driver,
Ralph Earnhardt, who was also very famous.
And he was nicknamed Ironheart.
Now, you've kind of inherited
that little nickname.
But I understand some fans
call you "Ironhead."
Why is that?
I think it's 'cause I'm hard-headed.
I don't know.
Your father passed away how long ago?
Uh-huh. Of a heart attack.
[Dale] He was 1956 Sportsman champion.
I started drivin'
a year or so before he died.
[commentator 2] And there he goes,
from Kannapolis, North Carolina,
Ralph Earnhardt.
Winner of the Modified Sportsman's 250
here at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
From what Mother has told us,
he come home one day
and said, "Martha, I want to race."
I threatened to leave him when he first
started talkin' about racin'.
But then, I could see I was gonna have
to join him or leave him.
[Cathy] He said, "I promise you,
if I can't feed you and the kids racin',
I'll stop."
[Martha] Ralph won 17 races straight
at Hickory.
They put a bounty on him to see,
to anybody that could outrun him.
But they had to wreck him to outrun him.
They never did outrun him.
[man] It was determination.
He had to be successful
to raise five kids and a family back then.
[Hank] Out of every race car driver
to ever live,
he held no one in esteem
like he did his dad.
His dad was his absolute hero.
[interviewer]
He of course, encouraged you.
- Well, not really.
- No?
He didn't want me to race.
He wanted me to do something else.
But he knew it was tough.
[Martha]
Dale didn't really concentrate on school.
His dad tried really hard to get him
to finish school, but he wouldn't.
So, Ralph wouldn't do anything
to help him, you know.
He said, "If you want to drive bad enough,
you'll go out and get your own ride."
So, Dale did everything his own self.
[Hank] Ralph was just trying
to protect Dale by pushing him away.
Because it's a tough business.
But Dale took that as rejection.
[Cathy] When Daddy died,
Dale changed. He really did.
When he first died, I was mad
for several years about it.
Didn't think about it.
Didn't even want to think about it.
But, uh, he's still with me all the time.
[reporter] I'm with Bud Moore,
the crew chief on the Dale Earnhardt car.
Bud, you're a veteran campaigner
of many years,
but I must say,
you're looking a little nervous right now.
- Thank you.
- [reporter chuckles]
[commentator] Here's Earnhardt,
coming up behind Richmond.
Oh, we've got trouble in turn one!
That's Dale Earnhardt
in the Wrangler Jeans machine.
Upside down. As you can see,
oil pouring out of the rear of that car.
Safety crew is on the Speedway
to see if Earnhardt is okay.
And there's Earnhardt. He's okay.
[Kelley] You know,
right after my dad got hurt at Pocono,
his girlfriend at the time,
Teresa went to see him in the hospital.
And the next thing I know,
you know, they're professing their love
for each other.
And then, we had a wedding in November.
When I first met him, you know,
we were just acquaintances and friends,
because he used to race
against my uncle and my dad.
[Dale] From the time we met,
we've been friends.
And then, we started dating.
Teresa was there
when I didn't have anything.
And she stayed there, and she's been there
through the whole thing
till we got something.
[Dale Jr.] We were living with them
when they had the wedding.
[Kelley] I just remember us being
so excited as kids, runnin' around,
and the excitement to be a part
of something grown up, you know.
But I mean, honestly,
I don't really remember a relationship
with her prior to that, at all.
It was like some new person came in.
[Dale Jr.] I think when Teresa's like,
"Hey, you know, I want to marry this guy,
and I want to build this life with him,"
me and Kelley weren't in that life.
And so, I can imagine
when Dad and her sit down,
and they're like, "Hey,
we're gonna take this on,"
probably not exactly
what she had signed up for.
- [engines revving]
- [crowd cheering]
[commentator] Darrell Waltrip has won
a tremendous victory here this afternoon.
I would like to thank the Good Lord,
'cause He rode with me all day.
And I'm so proud
of this Mountain Dew Buick.
I'd like to thank Goodyear tires,
'cause I'm gonna tell you one thing,
the tires took a punishment today,
and they stood up and they took it.
So did our Valvoline oil
Just want to say hi to all those folks.
Oh, listen, '81 and '82
were two of my best years ever.
To be dominating is what every owner
and what every team strives for.
I won 11 or 12 races that year, in '81.
[cheering]
And the championship.
Again, in '82 I won 10, 11, 12 races,
and the championship.
[reporter] Looked like an easier day
for you. What kind of race was it for you?
That's the problem with me,
I make it look too easy.
We were unbeatable.
[audience applauding]
After winning the championship last year
and again this year,
there's a couple of things that a race
driver just can't get along without
money and money.
[audience laughs]
To think about how fortunate
everybody in this room is
to have the type of sponsors
that we have acquired the last few years,
we figured it was about time
we gave something back to you.
So, if you would
[David] Darrell was a sponsor's dream.
I mean, he knew how to schmooze.
And he knew how to talk. He knew the game.
Don't ask me anything new.
I've got all my answers prepared.
[reporter] I know you do.
Darrell thought he was moving the sport
from blue collar to white collar.
And these people are really
gonna pay attention,
because I comb my hair
when I get out of the car.
And then, here comes Earnhardt.
And Earnhardt's just a throw-back redneck.
Well, we're workin' on you.
Does that look like a man
you'd buy a used car from?
One tough customer.
[David] Dale was very conscious
of not being overly educated
in terms of being articulate,
that kind of stuff.
He'd always be like,
"I don't want to go talk to those guys.
They're gonna ask me the same dumb shit."
[reporter] How's the psychological factor
of doing so well one year
and not doing well at all this season?
Is that pressed on your mind a whole lot?
[David] At that time,
Dale was driving for Bud Moore.
And Bud Moore had been
around the sport forever.
I mean, he was a legend.
But it just wasn't happening.
[commentator]
Earnhardt slowing just a bit.
You can see some smoke
off the back of the car.
Bad break for Earnhardt.
Given the black flag.
I wonder if he could see it
as he came through there.
[David] He's blowin' up engines,
he's pushing the limit on things.
You had the black flag for a number
of laps, 'cause you were leaving smoke.
Did you see that black flag?
Wasn't lookin' for it.
I was lookin' for the checkered.
[reporter] For that violation,
NASCAR fined Dale $10,000.
[David] He just couldn't stand
to be anywhere but in front in a race.
[commentator] Earnhardt and Waltrip,
they're still banging each other.
[commentator 2]
That is hand-to-hand combat.
That's take off the gloves
and go to the middle of the ring.
I mean, he was one tough customer.
I think he bought into that.
And that's how he drove.
[David] And so, he's startin'
to get this reputation of,
"Man, this guy's a bull in a china closet.
How did he ever win one championship?"
I remember the newspaper column
about how he was a one-hit wonder.
[newscaster] Dale Earnhardt's critics
have called him a flash in the pan.
He was Rookie of the Year in 1979,
national champion in '80.
And then in 1981,
he was stock car racing's
biggest and most baffling disappointment.
He didn't win a race,
and his harshest critics said
he might never be a big winner again.
[David] He had started hearing
that Wrangler was gonna get out
or move somewhere.
And I know Dale was very concerned
about losing the sponsorship.
[engine revs, tires squeal]
So, I arrange a meeting with Dale
at Talladega in '83.
And I'll never forget it.
He said, "I want to go with Wrangler.
I want Wrangler to stay with me.
I'm gonna get this figured out.
And I can do this."
[slow, ambient music]
[Richard Childress]
Dale and I were hunting buddies.
I remember us dragging an old trailer to
our huntin' camp with a six-pack of beer.
We'd lay back there and talk
about the fun we had racin' together.
[pit commentator]
Here's Richard Childress,
one of the major independent drivers
on the circuit.
[reporter] What kind of competitor was he
on the track when he was driving?
[Dale] Well, he was serious.
You know, sure, he wanted to win
and had all those thoughts and dreams
like I do of winnin'
and being competitive,
but the money, the equipment, you know,
sort of held him back in ways.
[Kirk Shelmerdine] We were not doing well.
Independent teams and racers
were really struggling at that point
'cause there were more and more big teams.
You know, most of the guys that drove that
were independents, like Richard Childress,
they would run the tires
that the good teams were taking off
just to try to save money.
[Richard] That's the way I had to operate.
When they'd drop that green,
all them four or five good teams
that had new tires, they were gone.
We were back there slidin'
and holdin' on for life.
I could see if I didn't do something,
I was gonna be out of business.
[Kirk] Dale and Richard had come up
the same way, really, from nothing.
Buildin' their own cars.
Scrapin' together wherever they could
to race at any little track.
I knew his dad.
I raced against Ralph way back when,
at Concord and dirt tracks.
Ralph Earnhardt was a legend
on his own time.
He was the guy you had to beat
when you went to the racetrack.
That's what Dale wanted to be.
"I want to be the guy like my dad.
When I pull in the racetrack,
you know you gotta beat me."
He knew where he came from.
And he knew he didn't want
to go back there, just like me.
And we talked about
what we felt we could do together,
and that was go out
and win the championship.
[slow, ambient music]
I'd like to say the rest of it's history.
[upbeat music]
[commentator] And now
the President of the United States.
[President Reagan over PA]
Gentlemen, start your engines.
[engines revving]
[commentator 2] Ladies and gentlemen,
the starting grid
for the 1984 Daytona 500.
We saw ourselves as a little small
like Engine That Could kinda team,
versus all the mega guys.
[CBS reporter]
Well, I'm in the Goodyear tower
where the president of
the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
has his corporate guests
and business customers.
Lovely ladies are here.
We just had some great food,
a catered luncheon.
Ozzie Olson, Roger Penske,
and other people are here
looking at the competition on the track.
It's really the great way
to see the Daytona 500.
[upbeat music]
[commentator]
And here comes Terry Labonte for the lead.
Whoop. Earnhardt's there, too.
[commentator 3]
Dale Earnhardt is rather ignored,
but he has been in that lead group
the whole time.
[commentator] Let's go to Ned Jarrett.
We're standing by with Richard Childress,
a former driver himself.
Now, the owner of the car Dale Earnhardt
is running in third place.
We didn't have the number of employees
these other teams had.
So, I had to get people
that were versatile to win races.
[Chocolate] I was the underneath guy.
If we're changing the engine,
I'm under the car,
doin' whatever we needed to do.
And then, I was also the gas guy.
It was pretty simple.
The least amount of time
you spend on pit road
is the further up the racetrack
you're going to be.
[commentator]
Dale Earnhardt, first man out.
[commentator 3] Dale Earnhardt's crew
have been working extremely well today.
He's made some very good pit stops.
[commentator 2]
The Richard Childress crew.
[David] Their whole persona,
the guys that were on the crew,
Kirk and Will and Chocolate,
and all those guys,
they just fit so well with who Dale was.
[Chocolate] We just needed something
to put up there, so we stuck it up there.
Then, we got a taxidermist friend there
at home, he fixed the back for us.
[crew mechanic] You'd do anything
to get off work, won't you?
Everybody has their family,
and they have their racing family.
[crew mechanic] Y'all ready back there?
[man] Ready.
What else? Do you want some of that?
Come and get it!
[Chocolate] And I'm telling you,
we spent more time with our racing family
than we did our family.
Forget it! February 8th, you're gone!
You're through!
Peace! Peace! Down, boy. Down, down.
If you wanted to work on a race car,
you had to be totally devoted to it.
We'd work right up to the time
the truck was loaded
and get in the van
and drive to the racetrack.
Rinse and repeat. Every week.
[power tools whirring]
Get back Sunday night and
get up the crack of dawn Monday morning
and start all over again.
There's damn few racers
that had that same passion.
You know, they might last a few months,
or maybe a year or two,
and they just couldn't take it,
and they'd quit
because they didn't have that bug.
[Chocolate] A lot of folks
that were a part of that team
had never been to Victory Lane before.
But we knew that Dale was the guy
that was the difference-maker, for sure.
["Asphalt Cowboy" by Sleepy LaBeef]
[commentator] Crew's done their job,
it's all up to the driver.
[commentator 2] Terry Labonte in front,
Earnhardt is there in second.
♪He sits high in the saddle♪
♪And drags a heavy load♪
[commentator] Earnhardt closes ground.
He's gonna try the high side.
They are side-by-side
coming through the fourth turn.
Back in front goes Earnhardt.
The checkered flag belongs today
to the Richard Childress crew.
Dale Earnhardt's crowd
on pit road ecstatic.
[shouting indistinctly]
We only won one race.
But we couldn't kind of believe it.
Like, "Damn, we're good now."
Or, "We're okay."
♪Asphalt cowboy♪
[Dale] You know, this crew's
just doin' better and better all the time.
Gettin' stronger and stronger.
And I think next year will be our year.
If kids and family stay healthy,
everything'll be all right.
[announcer] Here's the rundown.
It took two hours, thirty-two minutes
[interviewer] Tell me about
your daughter, Kelley, and Dale Jr.
I know they're big parts of your life.
[Dale] Teresa, my wife,
has really done a good job with 'em.
They all get along good.
It's just, you know, an ideal situation.
[fanciful orchestral music]
[Kelley] When my dad married Teresa,
life at our house just got a lot stricter,
and you know, all these different rules
we had to abide by, and things like that.
[commentator 4] Looks like he's gonna
and he is. A reverse suplex.
He grabbed a baseball bat.
I've never seen anything like this
[Dale Jr.] I was hyper, like any kid.
Loved watching wrestling
on Saturday morning.
And man, I had this big pillow.
It was kind of like one of them
chair pillows that had arms.
Corduroy.
I would take that thing and body slam it,
and I wrestled on the floor
every Saturday morning.
[crowd cheering]
And Teresa would say,
"You're not allowed to watch wrestling.
It makes you too hyper."
And I'm like, "Shit."
And I was mad because Dad wasn't there.
And in my mind, if he was here,
he would freakin' be on my side.
Teresa, what's it like being married
to a race car driver?
Hectic.
[interviewer] Do you travel with him?
Yes. I try to go everywhere that I can.
[Dale Jr.] When Dad went out of town
to a race with Teresa,
we had nannies
that lived in the house with us.
And man, we missed Mom.
We missed Mom terribly.
So, Kelley and I latched onto each other
in this time.
You know, she was always
lookin' out for me.
Making sure that I had lunch money.
Or if she heard an argument,
coming in the room
after everything had settled down,
"Are you okay?"
I mean, he and I, mainly me,
looked out for him.
Um, but he was my support person.
Because we didn't really have
that safe, secure person in our house.
[commentator] On this Father's Day,
we are at Michigan International Speedway.
More people are in attendance
at this two-mile oval than ever.
[interviewer] Are you a good dad?
I try to be. It's a tough job.
It's a tough job.
Oh, I think the best you can do is
try to teach them the right way,
and if they make it, they make it.
I mean, that's the way I was done.
One thing I know about Dale
more than anything else,
he was starved
for Ralph Earnhardt's approval.
He maybe wanted a relationship
Daddy wasn't capable of givin', you know.
For Christmas one year,
Dale got a model motor.
It come in pieces,
and Dale put it together by himself.
And when my daddy looked at it, he said,
"Well, wasn't that supposed to be
on this side?"
And walked out of the room.
He never said, "Good job, boy." Nothin'.
[soft ambient music]
'84 and '85 both, we had these
like flashes of brilliance,
but making it consistent, we still had
a lot of work to do on that part of it.
[commentator] Dale Earnhardt now
is without power steering,
so the car is awfully hard to drive.
My arms kept goin' to sleep, you know,
tuggin' on it all the time.
[Kirk] We didn't have as good a car
as he needed.
And if you had three or four bad races,
you're fucked for the year.
[Richard] I remember, I told Dale, I said,
"Man, you don't need to be drivin' here.
You're a champion,
you have a lot of championships in ya."
I never will forget him lookin'
over at me, and he said,
"We started together,
we're gonna finish it together."
[Kirk] We know he's unbelievably,
he's like this Superman.
But we can't hamstring him
with shit with the car.
So, within everything that you build,
suspension stuff,
- bodywork, even things with the engine
- [engine revs]
you tailor it
to what he thinks he needs.
There's a half a dozen, maybe ten,
great, well-financed cars.
You're not gonna be way faster
than everybody else on the straightaway.
But the cars slow down in the corners.
And you're in the corners
more than half the lap.
I mean, everybody's goin' 150
tryin' to control the thing.
What if we can go 160?
That's where you're gonna pass him.
Dale's the guy
that wants to drive the corners
as fast as the straightaway.
He doesn't slow down.
So, let's give it to him.
[power tools whirring]
Nobody was thinking like that.
[commentator] Dale Earnhardt,
not running as fast as Darrell Waltrip,
but he's been able to hold back
Darrell Waltrip
because he's been running perfect circles
as they say. And this is tremendous.
But anything that had a long straightaway,
we'd blow the engine on.
I think we blew eleven engines.
We'd pull the pan off. Spent all night
tryin' to find out what was happening.
[engine revs]
[Kirk] We didn't have a handle
on some things yet,
but Dale believed we could get there.
[commentator]
Waltrip jumps right underneath, bang.
And they touch twice,
and Waltrip's in the grass.
Johnny, you called it.
Earnhardt will do what he has to do.
[audience applauds]
[man] It was an up and down year
for Dale Earnhardt
and the Richard Childress Wrangler team.
For finishing eighth in
the Winston Cup points standings,
I'd like to present Dale
with a check for $40,087.
[audience applauds]
This is all I get.
[audience chuckles]
We had a lot of problems this year
with engines, but uh,
next year, I'd like to be set up
where Darrell is.
I think it'd be all right then.
[audience applauds]
[chuckles] In a strange way,
Darrell brought out the worst in Dale.
[tense ambient music]
[overlapping chatter]
[pit commentator] Dale Earnhardt,
they call you the Street Fighter.
You won this race last year.
Can you do it again?
Well, we feel confident we can.
Car's runnin' real good.
And you know, we're startin' from tenth,
but I think we can get up to the front.
Short tracks are
That's That's a driver's track.
[announcer over PA]
Gentlemen, start your engines.
[Darrell] That's where you get up
on the wheel and you drive that car.
[commentator] This is a track
that can just chew you alive.
As they go into turn number three,
there are the leaders.
And directly behind them,
three cars spinning into the wall.
Waltrip is in the wall. Five, six,
seven, eight automobiles tangled up.
Hey, this may be the race
that nobody wins.
On to pit road goes
Darrell Waltrip's number 11, a lap down.
And Earnhardt
[commentator 2] Earnhardt down the front,
leaning out the window,
cleanin' off so he can see.
He's determined not to go in the pits
and start at the rear of the field.
He's gonna start up front if it kills him.
[commentator] And here comes Earnhardt,
looking on the inside,
he slams it down to the bottom.
And Earnhardt pulls up another spot.
[commentator 2] Oh, Earnhardt,
in the grass. He wants by.
[commentator]
Crowd's up and excited about this one.
Earnhardt tries the inside.
Earnhardt's in first.
Waltrip has made up his lap.
[Darrell] Junior was on my case
from the very beginning of that run.
You gotta get by Dale,
you gotta get by Dale.
[commentator 2] Five laps to go.
[Darrell] I was just trying to get by him.
That's all I wanted to do.
[commentator 2] This is what
it's all about, trying to win the race.
You got a faster car, but the guy
in front of you ain't lettin' you go by.
Darrell Waltrip, what are you
gonna do now?
[commentator] He's runnin' out of time.
[Darrell] I'm pushin' him a little bit,
he's pushin' me a little bit.
And Junior's on the radio, go, DW, go!
[commentator] Waltrip moves in,
down to the inside.
Side-by-side.
[Darrell] I get alongside of him,
and I got him.
I got him.
I got him!
[commentator] Oh!
Four cars. There he goes.
Caution is on the racetrack.
Checkered flag will come down,
and I think Kyle Petty has won it.
We want to look again
at exactly what happened
up here in turn number three.
[pit commentator] Dale, what was your view
on what happened in that accident?
Just hung up with ol' Darrell.
We got in the wall.
[pit commentator] Who do you feel hit who
on that last thing with Darrell?
I'm just racin'. I ain't gonna
You know, me and Darrell's gotta race
week to week. There ain't nothin' to it.
[light orchestral music]
[Darrell] I've never had anybody
do anything like that to me.
This was an all-time best.
[pit commentator]
What about this makes you the maddest?
That it's been goin' on as long as it has.
You know, all of last year, and now,
it's started off the same way this year.
I don't think anybody in the grandstands
are surprised about what happened.
Well, who hit who, anyway?
[crowd shouts]
To me, Earnhardt definitely
put Waltrip in the wall
and ruined the whole finish
of the race, I think.
I don't know any other way to put it.
He was a better driver than that.
[Will] Darrell should've won the race.
I mean, he had us beat.
Dale just flat out wrecked him.
But we didn't care. If he backed into
somebody, it was still their fault, right?
We were 100% on board with our guy
and whatever he did.
[Darrell]
I'm numb. I don't really know what to say.
[sighs heavily]
It's supposed to be
a family kind of a thing.
[reporter] You think they should be fined?
I think somebody should get somethin'
out of the deal.
'Cause look at all the mess they made.
[David] Richard comes to my house
the day after the race,
and was all worried about,
"Well, man, with all that negative
publicity and whatnot,
what's Wrangler want us to do?"
And I was like, "Huh, do it again!"
["Stumbling Block"
by Champion Jack Dupree]
[commentator] And we have a crash.
It's Richard Petty
on the main straightaway.
Petty bangs the wall.
[pit commentator] What happened out there?
Anytime you get close to racin'
with Earnhardt, you're in trouble.
And I wasn't smart enough
to get out of his way.
♪Well, I ain't gonna be
Your stumbling block no more♪
[commentator] Two laps to go.
It's a sprint race, Earnhardt and Waltrip.
He looks inside Waltrip is sideways!
Unbelievable!
Dale Earnhardt is on the lead
and accepts the checkered flag
and wins the TranSouth 500.
Dale Earnhardt has won
his second consecutive Winston Cup race.
This year, it has developed
into somewhat of a soap opera.
It has. And at this point in the season,
each of the drivers has learned
to play his particular role.
[child] I love you!
[ABC reporter 2]
For example, Darrell Waltrip,
current national champion.
You're leading the points, and I believe
it's consistency that you want to go for.
Well, we want to finish all the races.
If you do that,
then you'll win the championship.
[ABC reporter 2]
Or how about Dale Earnhardt?
He's the tough guy, being feared.
And he likes it that way.
You race all day, and you
get down there to the last lap
and you get your front end in there,
and the guy tries to cut you off,
or you know, he tries to do what he can
to keep you back there,
you stand your ground.
[commentator] Kyle Petty has spun up
in turn number three.
[Bob Jenkins]
Kyle, this is Bob Jenkins up in the booth.
What happened up there?
[Kyle] Earnhardt knocked the trash
outta me in the rear.
Spun me goin' into three.
I don't know where he thinks this is!
[Bob] I don't think it was an indication
that he thought that Dale was number one.
A lot of times it comes out bad,
but a lot of times you win races, too.
[newscaster] For Earnhardt,
that's win number three this season.
He looks a sure bet
to win a mid-season $150,000 bonus
from Winston
for leading the points standings.
[Kirk] So, in '86,
everything's in pretty fuckin' good shape.
Like, we weren't sure,
but damn, we're runnin' good.
Seemed like our formula,
whatever it was at the time,
was good enough.
'Course, it was never that simple.
[cars zoom by]
[commentator] And here they come.
Off the fourth corner,
it's Darrell Waltrip.
Darrell Waltrip. So important to win here.
I know all along,
it's only gonna be two cars
chasin' them points
at the end of the year.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator]
And smoke. It's Dale Earnhardt,
and he's
you can see he's losing control!
Remember that is the leader
in the championship.
[man] I don't know
how many races we won in '86.
We had twice that many won,
and somethin' happened.
[commentator] Waltrip and Earnhardt,
the two main contenders
for the national championship.
Trouble out of turn two,
and Earnhardt tags the wall.
Loops it around, tags it again
with the rear of the car.
Already missing the right front fender.
Well, it's break out the sledgehammer time
in the Wrangler pit.
I'd like to be the body man on
Richard Childress's race team right now.
[commentator 2]
That's job security, isn't it?
[commentator laughs]
Can it be happening again?
Is Darrell Waltrip making yet another
late-season patented charge
to lead the Winston Cup championship?
[Darrell] It was a hard race.
My car ran great thanks to Budweiser
and Goodyear and Valvoline and
Kentucky Fried Chicken and the Lord.
[upbeat orchestral music]
[reporter] Hey, what about the run
for the Winston Cup?
Looks like another page
the way you did it in '81 and in '82,
and then last year.
[Darrell] Get a few more runs in
like tonight, and we may just have 'em.
- Whoo!
- [crowd cheering]
[commentator]
It could all end here this afternoon,
as far as the Winston Cup is concerned.
You're looking live at Dale Earnhardt.
His quest, the Winston Cup championship.
There's only one man
that can keep him from that.
That's Darrell Waltrip.
[Darrell] I think
things are gonna tighten up today.
I just got a feelin'. I got a gut feelin'.
I've had 'em before.
And most of the time, I'm right.
[commentator] Back out onto the racetrack,
Darrell Waltrip.
And now Darrell Waltrip is in trouble.
A big puff of smoke from that car.
He's pulling directly into the pit area.
This could be the season for Waltrip
right here.
[Richard] We'd worked so hard
all the way through the season.
We all wanted it for him.
But we knew
that we had to finish that race to win.
[commentator] Dale Earnhardt
from Kannapolis, North Carolina,
34 years of age.
His father, Ralph, was one of
the most feared dirt track drivers
in the very early days of NASCAR racing.
[Hank] I think that
every time he was in that race car,
he didn't worry about
what anybody else thought.
I think he cared about
what that ghost thought.
And I think Dale would've
given everything he had
just for his dad to come back,
put his arm around him
and say, "Boy, I'm proud of you.
I love you, Dale."
[commentator] Look who Earnhardt
is getting ready to lap.
[commentator 2] Richard Petty, the King.
[commentator] Richard moves down
to protect his position.
He's trying to hold on
as long as he possibly can.
[Hank] I think that was the rabbit
out in front of the greyhound.
He was chasin' a ghost.
[commentator]
Dale Earnhardt is on the back stretch.
He won Rookie of the Year in 1979.
He came back the next year
and won the Winston Cup in 1980.
And now, Dale Earnhardt
wins the Atlanta Journal 500
and wins the Winston Cup
for the second time in his career.
Dale Earnhardt is champion.
[Kirk] No way we fuckin' did that.
Us! [giggles]
[pit commentator]
Welcome to Victory Lane, champion.
[Dale] It feels good, don't it?
And I'll tell you what.
[pit commentator] Somehow,
you can feel the presence
of the late Ralph Earnhardt
here in Victory Lane.
He's been with me all year, Jack.
It's the reason I've been winnin'
and runnin' so good this year.
I'd like to say hi to the kids back home,
Dale Jr. and Kelley.
They worked hard for us all year long,
too, and pull for us awful hard.
We're comin' home tonight.
We wanted to win a championship.
Really, for Richard Childress
and his team, they've worked awful hard.
You know, it's nice
to win it for Dale Earnhardt,
but it's great to win it for that team.
[Darrell] I coulda won this race.
And I coulda won this championship.
We'll never know, will we?
You never think it's you.
The car's not good enough,
the team's not good enough.
Motors aren't good enough.
You never look at yourself in the mirror
and say, "It might be you."
What I always wanted
when I came in this sport was
to be on Madison Avenue, Wall Street,
all those places
that all of us would like to be.
And I think NASCAR is there now.
I think I've helped a little bit.
[Kyle] Darrell had his years,
will go down as one of
the greatest race car drivers ever to set.
But he wasn't Dale Earnhardt.
Ladies and gentlemen, again,
the 1986 Winston Cup champion,
Mr. Dale Earnhardt.
[crowd applauds]
♪Bad, bad, bad, bad, boy♪
♪You make me feel so good♪
If you would, Dale, we'll ask you
to step over to the other podium.
Darrell left his shopping bag, and I think
they're about to fill it up for you.
[Darrell] You know, I have a deep concern
for where our sport is headed.
Dale's reputation, no matter what
Dale Earnhardt does or doesn't do,
his reputation
and what he's done in the past
is gonna make him guilty of whatever crime
or whatever incident he's involved in.
[tense ambient music]
[crowd cheering]
[David] Dale learned the value
of becoming Dale.
But none of us had any idea
that it would blow up into what it did.
[engine revs]
[tense ambient music continues]
How do I turn it on?
How do I turn it on?
- [man] It's on.
- [Dale] Now?
[man] Yeah, it's rollin'.
Hey, buddy. My old pal.
My old hard-headed Earnhardt.
- How you doin', pal?
- Ready.
[man] Good.
[interviewer]
Do you think your reputation on the track
has made you misunderstood off the track,
as far as who Dale Earnhardt really is?
[interviewer 2] How long did you race
before you reckon' you were really good?
You had to know that you could beat guys.
[interviewer 3]
You like the anti-hero image you have,
the Man in Black, the Intimidator?
There were people, Dale, who said
sometimes success can be a bad thing.
[man] You sacrifice your family,
you sacrifice everything.
You put your whole life
into what you're doin'.
[crowd cheering]
[interviewer 4] If your dad was here,
what do you think he'd say?
[interviewer 5] You talk about
how long it takes to feel physical pain.
How long does it take you
to get over the mental pain?
[interviewer 6] What is the story
behind the Man in Black?
[man] I mean, what drives Dale Earnhardt?
[building epic music]
[commentator]
And around goes Earnhardt, up in the air.
[crowd cheering]
[Dale] All right. We're ready.
It's hot in here.
[man 2] Part of what we're gonna do is
I don't care, just ask the question.
[man 2] For a feature.
What feature?
[man 2] An up-close-and-personal
on Dale Earnhardt.
You have to do more than this shit.
Come ride around the farm with me, I'll
show you personal Dale Earnhardt bullshit.
[man 2] Was there ever a time you didn't
think about being a race car driver?
Probably when I was born.
I didn't know any better.
[man 2] I mean, from the get-go,
with your dad and everything.
I mean, racing was all you knew.
All I ever remember is racing.
So, you know,
from the time I can remember, racing.
["Ride Away" by Roy Orbison]
[Kyle Petty]
When you grow up in the Southeast,
we didn't have professional sports.
We didn't have baseball,
basketball, football.
We had racing. That was it.
♪Two wheels a turnin'♪
[Kyle] There was
a local short track everywhere.
♪One girl a-yearnin'♪
[Kyle] Every gas station,
somebody knew somebody that run local.
♪Big motor burnin' the road♪
They raced, because they could
make more money ridin' around in circles
than they could workin'
7:00 to 4:00 in a mill.
It's a way of life.
♪I'll ride the highway♪
♪I'm goin' my way♪
[announcer over PA]
Good afternoon, sports fans,
at NASCAR's Grand National
stock car racing.
[cheering]
♪Pretty girls behind me
But pretty girls are everywhere♪
♪Big motor wind up ride on away from here♪
[commentator 2]
Man, this exciting NASCAR season
has got everybody talking
stock car racing.
Everybody has their favorite
they're pulling for,
and they want to win.
At that time in the sport,
it was a changing of the guard.
You had the old guard
[commentator]
Cale Yarborough, David Pearson,
Buddy Baker, Bobby Allison,
and the king of stock car racing,
Richard Petty.
I think it's more exciting, in the sense
that the competition and everything
is so much better now.
I think I get jacked up a little bit more
for racing now than I used to.
[engine turns over]
[Darrell] We all looked up to Richard.
I mean, Richard was the King.
Richard Petty, the King.
And so, we all wanted to be
at least as good as he was,
if not better.
[commentator]
A driver has to be good and lucky.
Darrell Waltrip, do you feel lucky today?
No, but I feel good.
[Kyle] You know, I think
that Darrell Waltrip had seen himself
as the heir apparent to the old guard.
An interesting,
perhaps changing of the guard
taking place this year,
with Darrell Waltrip up on top
and two rookies in the top six
in the point standings.
[Kyle] He had put in his eight
or ten years to get to that point.
But when he turned around,
there was another guy standin' there
that slid in behind him to take his crown.
And it was Earnhardt.
Number two, Dale Earnhardt,
Kannapolis, North Carolina.
[upbeat orchestral music]
[reporter]
As a rookie, a new kid on the block,
do you get intimidated running
with the Pettys and the Waltrips?
Nah, we get along pretty good. So, I think
it's gonna be a hell of a race.
I think it was '79 in Bristol.
Dale was driving for Osterlund
at the time, a 2 car.
We were racing each other.
We were passin' and passin' and passin'.
[commentator] The battle is between
Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip.
They were dueling side-by-side
going for across the stripe.
[Darrell] And he had bumped me
out of the way to get the lead,
and then he won the race.
[grandiose orchestral music]
I said to myself, "You have got to be
kidding me. Who is this guy, anyway?"
And then, we became rivals.
[commentator] Darrell Waltrip back
to within catching distance of Earnhardt.
He was somebody you had to reckon with
every week.
[commentator 2]
Earnhardt has the inside covered.
Darrell being forced to go high in three.
[commentator] Earnhardt not intimidated.
[Hank Parker]
He won Rookie of the Year in 1979.
Well, I won the Bassmaster Classic
in 1979.
And bass fishing was
bigger than NASCAR in 1979.
When Earnhardt won,
he got a 742 Remington 30-06 deer rifle
and a Weaver scope. Total value, $400.
And he thought he had made the big time.
Four hundred dollars.
[engine revving]
[Dale] I was racing on credit
and borrowed time, more or less.
Pretty much in debt.
And I was looking for the big chance.
I used to listen to the race
on the radio at home,
listening to Richard Petty and Cale
and those guys racin',
and dreamin' about being there
someday myself,
and wonderin' what it'd be like.
And it's just the biggest thrill
I've ever had.
I never wanted anything
as much as I want to race.
I've let it get in my way
of personal feelings a lot of times,
and I've chosen racing every time.
I can have all kind of problems,
and people will say,
"Well, doesn't it bother you
on the race track?
Don't you think about it
on the race track?"
I think about beatin' the guy
in front of me or behind me.
[interviewer chuckles]
Why would you want to do something
that you know darn well
could turn around and bite you,
could kill you?
I ain't never wanted to do anything else.
[reporter]
'Scuse me, who you pullin' for today?
Uh, Bobby Allison.
- Why?
- Well, I like a Ford.
[reporter] Who you gonna cheer for today?
- Richard Petty.
- [reporter] How come?
'Cause I want to, that's why.
I got to go with Dale Earnhardt.
He's probably one of my favorites now.
[reporter] Why?
I like to see the young boys run with 'em.
You know what I mean?
[commentator 2]
In 10th position will be Dale Earnhardt.
You can't say enough
about this young driver.
Last year, he made the veterans sit up
and take notice of his driving style.
The whole team was
we were all new. I was new.
Do you feel a lot of pressure?
Uh, not Well, there's more pressure
now, but I'm tryin' to put it aside.
We're trying to win this championship
this year.
It'll be the first time a rookie
has ever won Rookie of the Year
and went on the next year
to win the championship.
[Darrell] You always strive to get
to the top. You want to be the best.
So, you had to put a year together,
32, 34, 36 races.
Get as many wins as you could,
get as many points as you could,
and hopefully hang on
and win the championship.
There's some people in front of me
that are, uh, I'm maybe not one to talk,
but they're lesser experienced than I am.
And lesser-experienced drivers,
no matter how good they are,
sometimes cause problems.
Some of us rode awhile, raced awhile,
rode awhile, raced awhile.
Dale raced all the time.
He didn't care.
He was hard on a car.
He would wear a car out.
[pit commentator]
Here's Dale Earnhardt in the pits,
as they try
to tape the thing back together.
He drove the hell out of it every race.
Every lap, every inch.
["Strychnine" by The Sonics]
♪Some folks like water♪
[commentator]
You talk about horse racing. Look at that.
That number 2 is running
really tough out here today.
♪Of straight strychnine♪
[Hank] What people don't realize,
in that race car,
if you take your head and you go
That's what it's like.
It's like your brains,
your fluid in your head
and your eyeballs vibratin' so bad.
[Kyle]
He was comfortable being out of control.
♪Wine is red♪
He'd be laid back in the seat,
leanin' to the side,
lookin' out the side window.
♪Strychnine is good♪
That's how he got comfortable.
[commentator]
Dale Earnhardt jumps on the brakes
and barely misses Richard Petty.
[Doug]
But when it all did all come together,
it's like, all of a sudden,
he's drivin' his butt off.
He's passin' people left and right.
We were having good pit stops.
I mean, everything's gotta click.
You know what it is, Darrel?
Yeah, it's smokin'.
[pit commentator]
He doesn't know what the problem is.
Sitting there fuming
and waiting for things to get better.
[commentator] Dale Earnhardt currently
leads the Grand National points standing
in the chase
for the national driving title.
The edge is what you have to find
to win NASCAR racing.
Do you take that chance
and run that car in
a little bit deeper,
that it might not stick?
♪Make you jump It'll make you shout♪
[Hank] You have to be able
to run every lap on the edge,
just flirtin' with disaster.
[commentator] Look at
that precision driving, right to the line.
Earnhardt will win it.
[crowd cheering]
In the victory lane,
it is absolute ecstasy.
[pit commentator]
I think he's a little shocked.
It's somethin' else.
I just can't handle it.
This team has really worked hard,
and it's comin' all together now.
I just can't believe it.
[Doug]
You gotta think, a lot of veteran drivers,
well, they'd been doin' it for years
when we showed up.
And then, here comes this kid,
and he beats 'em.
[commentator] Earnhardt will become
the first sophomore driver in history
to ever win the national championship.
["Workin' Man Blues" by Merle Haggard]
♪It's a big job just getting by
With nine kids and a wife♪
♪But I've been a working man
Dang near all my life♪
♪And I'll keep on workin'♪
We all went to the airport
and welcomed him home, you know.
"Welcome, Champion,"
and that kind of thing.
[cheering]
[Dale] It feels great, I'm tellin' ya.
I wasn't expecting this reception.
I got a lot of people to thank.
I reckon I ought to thank them all
one at a time, there's so many of 'em.
We all met up at the shop, Daddy's shop.
Dale came, brought his trophy.
We all celebrated with some champagne.
Of course, all of Kannapolis was excited.
You one of their local heroes
up there now?
I think so. I got a lot of fans up there.
♪I'll drink a little beer that evening♪
♪Sing a little bit
Of these working man blues♪
[David Allen]
I had just been hired by Wrangler.
You know, their marketing campaign was,
"Here comes Wrangler, one tough customer."
[horse whinnies]
They had a model from L.A.
coming out here.
Puts on a fake mustache
and pretends he's a cowboy.
It's like, what are we doin'?
Here comes Dale
like John Wayne in a race car.
They didn't get any tougher.
♪But I'll go back working♪
♪I gotta buy my kids
A brand-new pair of shoes♪
[David] It was all built around Dale.
He was our image,
he was our point of sales.
He was everything.
♪This song's for the working man♪
[reporter] Not all moments are fast
and hectic for this young lion.
Dale enjoys quiet moments,
hunting and fishing with his dog, Killer.
And he lives here
in this three-bedroom split-level home
on Lake Norman in North Carolina.
[Dale Jr.] I remember back then,
Dad's career is starting to take off.
He'd just won the championship in 1980.
But during this period, we lived with Mom
in a mill house in Kannapolis.
I don't remember regular visits.
But like, there were times
when we were living with Mom
that we were seeing Dad.
But it was very rare.
[Kelley] My mom worked third shift.
And I kind of was, like, the mother hen.
So I would get our lunch together
or get us ready in the mornin' for school,
because she would
just be coming home from work.
I mean, just really
looking after the two of us.
[Cathy] When Dale and Brenda got married,
and then, they got pregnant
with Kelley and Dale Jr., and all that,
family wasn't a priority.
Dale was trying to build a career racing,
and Brenda was working full time,
wanting a husband that was helping
pay her bills and buy her groceries.
And Dale wasn't doing any of that.
And I think that started
breakin' 'em both apart.
[Dale Jr.]
I know that racing was number one.
Everything sacrificed to race.
But he ends up getting
where he wants to go.
He ends up becoming a Cup Series champion
in just two years
after Mom and him split up.
So, in his mind,
he was right to sacrifice.
[Dale]
Things are going great for us right now.
You know, just bigger and better,
all the time.
[Dale Jr.] Woke up one morning,
Mom's boyfriend, he comes in there,
"Get up, man,
we gotta get outta here quick."
I put on some Incredible Hulk Underoos.
We walk out of the bedroom,
and I look to the right,
I'll never forget it.
It was like a blanket of fire.
[crackling]
[Kelley] After the fire, I remember them
bringin' in these two bags of our stuff,
that this is all we had left.
[Dale Jr.] We had nothing. We were broke.
And so, Mom was like,
"I can't take care of these kids.
We got nowhere to stay, live.
What am I gonna do?
I'm gonna go to Norfolk, Virginia,
to try to get my life back together.'
I guess they had a conversation.
Dad said, "I can provide for these kids."
And so, he's like, "I'll take 'em."
[Kelley] You know, you're leaving
your mom to go live with your dad
who you didn't really
super know that well.
I remember goin' to a place in Kannapolis,
it was a furniture store.
We got these 18" black-and-white
televisions,
and we each had a stuffed animal.
And I remember the ride
to my dad's lake house.
That anxiousness, you know.
[geese honking]
[birdsong]
[Dale Jr.] Dad put me in this bedroom.
Kelley was on the end of that hall.
And we're happy. We're in a good place.
[Cathy] I know they had those regrets
when they divorced,
but when the fire happened,
and the kids needed a place to live,
I think it kinda gave him the opportunity
to give as a father.
[Dale Jr. laughs]
Miller tore my butt up!
[people laugh]
[Dale] That cement's rough, ain't it?
[Dale Jr.] Yeah!
[Dale] You know, the pressure is on
a little bit more this year
than what it was last year.
As far as having a sponsor like Wrangler,
so you feel like you gotta produce.
Plus, being the defending
Grand National champion.
Earnhardt was a meteor.
Whoosh! Straight to the top.
But when you're the best,
or you're perceived as the best
you don't rest on what you just did.
You gotta go prove to everybody
you can do it again.
[man] You got speed, you got audio.
Anytime you're ready.
When Dale won the championship,
it was demoralizing.
I hated it.
[reporter] How do you feel
about this new crew?
New year, new crew.
Well, really, it's one of
the most exciting things
that's ever happened to me
in my whole racing career.
To be with Junior Johnson
and to have a new sponsor, Mountain Dew.
It's like a rebirth for me.
And I couldn't be happier.
Dale was the most aggressive driver
I've ever raced with.
He was the hardest guy
on the racetrack to pass.
And so, I prided myself in being
unpredictable.
I kinda set you up, figured you out,
and then made my pass.
[commentator] With one lap to go, Waltrip
outran Earnhardt to take the lead,
and took the checkered flag
a half second ahead of Earnhardt.
[David] Darrell, he understood finesse.
[reporter] What is your job here today?
Try to relax
and just take good care of the car.
Don't do anything foolish,
don't beat myself. That's the main thing.
[David]
And Dale didn't have time for finesse.
How do you feel?
Great, man. Ready for it.
He's ready for 'em. He's always ready.
One of the hardest chargers,
young lions in this sport.
He wasn't like Darrell Waltrip.
[Darrell] You can't pass
going into turn three
because you get up in the loose stuff
going in there
and you go right straight into the wall.
And that's the best philosophy to use
at this race track. Don't race nobody.
[David] Dale couldn't stand that.
It's a race. It's not get in line
and follow till 40 laps to go.
[commentator 3]
And there's Dale Earnhardt making a move
on Darrell Waltrip, and he gets through.
He's passed him for second place.
But Earnhardt hits the wall,
and hits it again.
[David] He almost became
his own worst enemy at times.
And it was hard to build equipment
to stay under him.
[reporter] We are in Dale Earnhardt's pit,
and the engine is not running
right at the moment.
And it looks like he's coming
behind the walls.
[reporter 2] The Sophomore jinx.
It's something all Grand National
Rookie of the Year winners
are supposed to suffer through
in year two.
So, what's wrong?
Has a Sophomore jinx
come to Earnhardt a year late?
Hopefully, over the year
I can learn to cope with it,
the pressure and you know,
people asking me things at the wrong time.
I just got to learn to save my emotions
at the right times, you know.
[commentator]
Darrell Waltrip in Victory Lane
for the eighth time this season.
[Dale] I was a real rough diamond.
You know, young and, uh
excited about racing.
But I really didn't pay attention
to financial things going on around me.
Until '81, when Osterlund
walked out on the deal and sold it.
[contemplative music]
The shockwaves are still being felt here
at what was the Osterlund Racing Team.
It was gone, sold, lock, stock, and barrel
as of about nine o'clock this morning.
The asking price,
approximately two million dollars
for Jim Stacy to buy
the Rod Osterlund Racing Team.
[Dale] All of a sudden, the five-year deal
I had, or thought I had,
with Osterlund was gone.
And I was driving for a guy,
you know, Jim Stacy, that told me,
he said, "Well,
you can stay and drive, or you can quit.
It really don't matter to me."
And that really, you know said, "Well,
this guy really cares a lot about me."
[Doug] Dale was furious.
You know, just thought we were
like a bunch of cattle
that just got sold to the next farm,
you know.
He just couldn't believe it.
And so, when he decided to leave,
we all just up and left.
[Kyle] And that was unheard of.
You've got people begging for rides.
And you say, "I'm out, I'm gone.
See ya, bye."
I think everybody took a step back
and said, "Whoo,
maybe this kid's not thinkin' right."
You are the son of another NASCAR driver,
Ralph Earnhardt, who was also very famous.
And he was nicknamed Ironheart.
Now, you've kind of inherited
that little nickname.
But I understand some fans
call you "Ironhead."
Why is that?
I think it's 'cause I'm hard-headed.
I don't know.
Your father passed away how long ago?
Uh-huh. Of a heart attack.
[Dale] He was 1956 Sportsman champion.
I started drivin'
a year or so before he died.
[commentator 2] And there he goes,
from Kannapolis, North Carolina,
Ralph Earnhardt.
Winner of the Modified Sportsman's 250
here at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
From what Mother has told us,
he come home one day
and said, "Martha, I want to race."
I threatened to leave him when he first
started talkin' about racin'.
But then, I could see I was gonna have
to join him or leave him.
[Cathy] He said, "I promise you,
if I can't feed you and the kids racin',
I'll stop."
[Martha] Ralph won 17 races straight
at Hickory.
They put a bounty on him to see,
to anybody that could outrun him.
But they had to wreck him to outrun him.
They never did outrun him.
[man] It was determination.
He had to be successful
to raise five kids and a family back then.
[Hank] Out of every race car driver
to ever live,
he held no one in esteem
like he did his dad.
His dad was his absolute hero.
[interviewer]
He of course, encouraged you.
- Well, not really.
- No?
He didn't want me to race.
He wanted me to do something else.
But he knew it was tough.
[Martha]
Dale didn't really concentrate on school.
His dad tried really hard to get him
to finish school, but he wouldn't.
So, Ralph wouldn't do anything
to help him, you know.
He said, "If you want to drive bad enough,
you'll go out and get your own ride."
So, Dale did everything his own self.
[Hank] Ralph was just trying
to protect Dale by pushing him away.
Because it's a tough business.
But Dale took that as rejection.
[Cathy] When Daddy died,
Dale changed. He really did.
When he first died, I was mad
for several years about it.
Didn't think about it.
Didn't even want to think about it.
But, uh, he's still with me all the time.
[reporter] I'm with Bud Moore,
the crew chief on the Dale Earnhardt car.
Bud, you're a veteran campaigner
of many years,
but I must say,
you're looking a little nervous right now.
- Thank you.
- [reporter chuckles]
[commentator] Here's Earnhardt,
coming up behind Richmond.
Oh, we've got trouble in turn one!
That's Dale Earnhardt
in the Wrangler Jeans machine.
Upside down. As you can see,
oil pouring out of the rear of that car.
Safety crew is on the Speedway
to see if Earnhardt is okay.
And there's Earnhardt. He's okay.
[Kelley] You know,
right after my dad got hurt at Pocono,
his girlfriend at the time,
Teresa went to see him in the hospital.
And the next thing I know,
you know, they're professing their love
for each other.
And then, we had a wedding in November.
When I first met him, you know,
we were just acquaintances and friends,
because he used to race
against my uncle and my dad.
[Dale] From the time we met,
we've been friends.
And then, we started dating.
Teresa was there
when I didn't have anything.
And she stayed there, and she's been there
through the whole thing
till we got something.
[Dale Jr.] We were living with them
when they had the wedding.
[Kelley] I just remember us being
so excited as kids, runnin' around,
and the excitement to be a part
of something grown up, you know.
But I mean, honestly,
I don't really remember a relationship
with her prior to that, at all.
It was like some new person came in.
[Dale Jr.] I think when Teresa's like,
"Hey, you know, I want to marry this guy,
and I want to build this life with him,"
me and Kelley weren't in that life.
And so, I can imagine
when Dad and her sit down,
and they're like, "Hey,
we're gonna take this on,"
probably not exactly
what she had signed up for.
- [engines revving]
- [crowd cheering]
[commentator] Darrell Waltrip has won
a tremendous victory here this afternoon.
I would like to thank the Good Lord,
'cause He rode with me all day.
And I'm so proud
of this Mountain Dew Buick.
I'd like to thank Goodyear tires,
'cause I'm gonna tell you one thing,
the tires took a punishment today,
and they stood up and they took it.
So did our Valvoline oil
Just want to say hi to all those folks.
Oh, listen, '81 and '82
were two of my best years ever.
To be dominating is what every owner
and what every team strives for.
I won 11 or 12 races that year, in '81.
[cheering]
And the championship.
Again, in '82 I won 10, 11, 12 races,
and the championship.
[reporter] Looked like an easier day
for you. What kind of race was it for you?
That's the problem with me,
I make it look too easy.
We were unbeatable.
[audience applauding]
After winning the championship last year
and again this year,
there's a couple of things that a race
driver just can't get along without
money and money.
[audience laughs]
To think about how fortunate
everybody in this room is
to have the type of sponsors
that we have acquired the last few years,
we figured it was about time
we gave something back to you.
So, if you would
[David] Darrell was a sponsor's dream.
I mean, he knew how to schmooze.
And he knew how to talk. He knew the game.
Don't ask me anything new.
I've got all my answers prepared.
[reporter] I know you do.
Darrell thought he was moving the sport
from blue collar to white collar.
And these people are really
gonna pay attention,
because I comb my hair
when I get out of the car.
And then, here comes Earnhardt.
And Earnhardt's just a throw-back redneck.
Well, we're workin' on you.
Does that look like a man
you'd buy a used car from?
One tough customer.
[David] Dale was very conscious
of not being overly educated
in terms of being articulate,
that kind of stuff.
He'd always be like,
"I don't want to go talk to those guys.
They're gonna ask me the same dumb shit."
[reporter] How's the psychological factor
of doing so well one year
and not doing well at all this season?
Is that pressed on your mind a whole lot?
[David] At that time,
Dale was driving for Bud Moore.
And Bud Moore had been
around the sport forever.
I mean, he was a legend.
But it just wasn't happening.
[commentator]
Earnhardt slowing just a bit.
You can see some smoke
off the back of the car.
Bad break for Earnhardt.
Given the black flag.
I wonder if he could see it
as he came through there.
[David] He's blowin' up engines,
he's pushing the limit on things.
You had the black flag for a number
of laps, 'cause you were leaving smoke.
Did you see that black flag?
Wasn't lookin' for it.
I was lookin' for the checkered.
[reporter] For that violation,
NASCAR fined Dale $10,000.
[David] He just couldn't stand
to be anywhere but in front in a race.
[commentator] Earnhardt and Waltrip,
they're still banging each other.
[commentator 2]
That is hand-to-hand combat.
That's take off the gloves
and go to the middle of the ring.
I mean, he was one tough customer.
I think he bought into that.
And that's how he drove.
[David] And so, he's startin'
to get this reputation of,
"Man, this guy's a bull in a china closet.
How did he ever win one championship?"
I remember the newspaper column
about how he was a one-hit wonder.
[newscaster] Dale Earnhardt's critics
have called him a flash in the pan.
He was Rookie of the Year in 1979,
national champion in '80.
And then in 1981,
he was stock car racing's
biggest and most baffling disappointment.
He didn't win a race,
and his harshest critics said
he might never be a big winner again.
[David] He had started hearing
that Wrangler was gonna get out
or move somewhere.
And I know Dale was very concerned
about losing the sponsorship.
[engine revs, tires squeal]
So, I arrange a meeting with Dale
at Talladega in '83.
And I'll never forget it.
He said, "I want to go with Wrangler.
I want Wrangler to stay with me.
I'm gonna get this figured out.
And I can do this."
[slow, ambient music]
[Richard Childress]
Dale and I were hunting buddies.
I remember us dragging an old trailer to
our huntin' camp with a six-pack of beer.
We'd lay back there and talk
about the fun we had racin' together.
[pit commentator]
Here's Richard Childress,
one of the major independent drivers
on the circuit.
[reporter] What kind of competitor was he
on the track when he was driving?
[Dale] Well, he was serious.
You know, sure, he wanted to win
and had all those thoughts and dreams
like I do of winnin'
and being competitive,
but the money, the equipment, you know,
sort of held him back in ways.
[Kirk Shelmerdine] We were not doing well.
Independent teams and racers
were really struggling at that point
'cause there were more and more big teams.
You know, most of the guys that drove that
were independents, like Richard Childress,
they would run the tires
that the good teams were taking off
just to try to save money.
[Richard] That's the way I had to operate.
When they'd drop that green,
all them four or five good teams
that had new tires, they were gone.
We were back there slidin'
and holdin' on for life.
I could see if I didn't do something,
I was gonna be out of business.
[Kirk] Dale and Richard had come up
the same way, really, from nothing.
Buildin' their own cars.
Scrapin' together wherever they could
to race at any little track.
I knew his dad.
I raced against Ralph way back when,
at Concord and dirt tracks.
Ralph Earnhardt was a legend
on his own time.
He was the guy you had to beat
when you went to the racetrack.
That's what Dale wanted to be.
"I want to be the guy like my dad.
When I pull in the racetrack,
you know you gotta beat me."
He knew where he came from.
And he knew he didn't want
to go back there, just like me.
And we talked about
what we felt we could do together,
and that was go out
and win the championship.
[slow, ambient music]
I'd like to say the rest of it's history.
[upbeat music]
[commentator] And now
the President of the United States.
[President Reagan over PA]
Gentlemen, start your engines.
[engines revving]
[commentator 2] Ladies and gentlemen,
the starting grid
for the 1984 Daytona 500.
We saw ourselves as a little small
like Engine That Could kinda team,
versus all the mega guys.
[CBS reporter]
Well, I'm in the Goodyear tower
where the president of
the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
has his corporate guests
and business customers.
Lovely ladies are here.
We just had some great food,
a catered luncheon.
Ozzie Olson, Roger Penske,
and other people are here
looking at the competition on the track.
It's really the great way
to see the Daytona 500.
[upbeat music]
[commentator]
And here comes Terry Labonte for the lead.
Whoop. Earnhardt's there, too.
[commentator 3]
Dale Earnhardt is rather ignored,
but he has been in that lead group
the whole time.
[commentator] Let's go to Ned Jarrett.
We're standing by with Richard Childress,
a former driver himself.
Now, the owner of the car Dale Earnhardt
is running in third place.
We didn't have the number of employees
these other teams had.
So, I had to get people
that were versatile to win races.
[Chocolate] I was the underneath guy.
If we're changing the engine,
I'm under the car,
doin' whatever we needed to do.
And then, I was also the gas guy.
It was pretty simple.
The least amount of time
you spend on pit road
is the further up the racetrack
you're going to be.
[commentator]
Dale Earnhardt, first man out.
[commentator 3] Dale Earnhardt's crew
have been working extremely well today.
He's made some very good pit stops.
[commentator 2]
The Richard Childress crew.
[David] Their whole persona,
the guys that were on the crew,
Kirk and Will and Chocolate,
and all those guys,
they just fit so well with who Dale was.
[Chocolate] We just needed something
to put up there, so we stuck it up there.
Then, we got a taxidermist friend there
at home, he fixed the back for us.
[crew mechanic] You'd do anything
to get off work, won't you?
Everybody has their family,
and they have their racing family.
[crew mechanic] Y'all ready back there?
[man] Ready.
What else? Do you want some of that?
Come and get it!
[Chocolate] And I'm telling you,
we spent more time with our racing family
than we did our family.
Forget it! February 8th, you're gone!
You're through!
Peace! Peace! Down, boy. Down, down.
If you wanted to work on a race car,
you had to be totally devoted to it.
We'd work right up to the time
the truck was loaded
and get in the van
and drive to the racetrack.
Rinse and repeat. Every week.
[power tools whirring]
Get back Sunday night and
get up the crack of dawn Monday morning
and start all over again.
There's damn few racers
that had that same passion.
You know, they might last a few months,
or maybe a year or two,
and they just couldn't take it,
and they'd quit
because they didn't have that bug.
[Chocolate] A lot of folks
that were a part of that team
had never been to Victory Lane before.
But we knew that Dale was the guy
that was the difference-maker, for sure.
["Asphalt Cowboy" by Sleepy LaBeef]
[commentator] Crew's done their job,
it's all up to the driver.
[commentator 2] Terry Labonte in front,
Earnhardt is there in second.
♪He sits high in the saddle♪
♪And drags a heavy load♪
[commentator] Earnhardt closes ground.
He's gonna try the high side.
They are side-by-side
coming through the fourth turn.
Back in front goes Earnhardt.
The checkered flag belongs today
to the Richard Childress crew.
Dale Earnhardt's crowd
on pit road ecstatic.
[shouting indistinctly]
We only won one race.
But we couldn't kind of believe it.
Like, "Damn, we're good now."
Or, "We're okay."
♪Asphalt cowboy♪
[Dale] You know, this crew's
just doin' better and better all the time.
Gettin' stronger and stronger.
And I think next year will be our year.
If kids and family stay healthy,
everything'll be all right.
[announcer] Here's the rundown.
It took two hours, thirty-two minutes
[interviewer] Tell me about
your daughter, Kelley, and Dale Jr.
I know they're big parts of your life.
[Dale] Teresa, my wife,
has really done a good job with 'em.
They all get along good.
It's just, you know, an ideal situation.
[fanciful orchestral music]
[Kelley] When my dad married Teresa,
life at our house just got a lot stricter,
and you know, all these different rules
we had to abide by, and things like that.
[commentator 4] Looks like he's gonna
and he is. A reverse suplex.
He grabbed a baseball bat.
I've never seen anything like this
[Dale Jr.] I was hyper, like any kid.
Loved watching wrestling
on Saturday morning.
And man, I had this big pillow.
It was kind of like one of them
chair pillows that had arms.
Corduroy.
I would take that thing and body slam it,
and I wrestled on the floor
every Saturday morning.
[crowd cheering]
And Teresa would say,
"You're not allowed to watch wrestling.
It makes you too hyper."
And I'm like, "Shit."
And I was mad because Dad wasn't there.
And in my mind, if he was here,
he would freakin' be on my side.
Teresa, what's it like being married
to a race car driver?
Hectic.
[interviewer] Do you travel with him?
Yes. I try to go everywhere that I can.
[Dale Jr.] When Dad went out of town
to a race with Teresa,
we had nannies
that lived in the house with us.
And man, we missed Mom.
We missed Mom terribly.
So, Kelley and I latched onto each other
in this time.
You know, she was always
lookin' out for me.
Making sure that I had lunch money.
Or if she heard an argument,
coming in the room
after everything had settled down,
"Are you okay?"
I mean, he and I, mainly me,
looked out for him.
Um, but he was my support person.
Because we didn't really have
that safe, secure person in our house.
[commentator] On this Father's Day,
we are at Michigan International Speedway.
More people are in attendance
at this two-mile oval than ever.
[interviewer] Are you a good dad?
I try to be. It's a tough job.
It's a tough job.
Oh, I think the best you can do is
try to teach them the right way,
and if they make it, they make it.
I mean, that's the way I was done.
One thing I know about Dale
more than anything else,
he was starved
for Ralph Earnhardt's approval.
He maybe wanted a relationship
Daddy wasn't capable of givin', you know.
For Christmas one year,
Dale got a model motor.
It come in pieces,
and Dale put it together by himself.
And when my daddy looked at it, he said,
"Well, wasn't that supposed to be
on this side?"
And walked out of the room.
He never said, "Good job, boy." Nothin'.
[soft ambient music]
'84 and '85 both, we had these
like flashes of brilliance,
but making it consistent, we still had
a lot of work to do on that part of it.
[commentator] Dale Earnhardt now
is without power steering,
so the car is awfully hard to drive.
My arms kept goin' to sleep, you know,
tuggin' on it all the time.
[Kirk] We didn't have as good a car
as he needed.
And if you had three or four bad races,
you're fucked for the year.
[Richard] I remember, I told Dale, I said,
"Man, you don't need to be drivin' here.
You're a champion,
you have a lot of championships in ya."
I never will forget him lookin'
over at me, and he said,
"We started together,
we're gonna finish it together."
[Kirk] We know he's unbelievably,
he's like this Superman.
But we can't hamstring him
with shit with the car.
So, within everything that you build,
suspension stuff,
- bodywork, even things with the engine
- [engine revs]
you tailor it
to what he thinks he needs.
There's a half a dozen, maybe ten,
great, well-financed cars.
You're not gonna be way faster
than everybody else on the straightaway.
But the cars slow down in the corners.
And you're in the corners
more than half the lap.
I mean, everybody's goin' 150
tryin' to control the thing.
What if we can go 160?
That's where you're gonna pass him.
Dale's the guy
that wants to drive the corners
as fast as the straightaway.
He doesn't slow down.
So, let's give it to him.
[power tools whirring]
Nobody was thinking like that.
[commentator] Dale Earnhardt,
not running as fast as Darrell Waltrip,
but he's been able to hold back
Darrell Waltrip
because he's been running perfect circles
as they say. And this is tremendous.
But anything that had a long straightaway,
we'd blow the engine on.
I think we blew eleven engines.
We'd pull the pan off. Spent all night
tryin' to find out what was happening.
[engine revs]
[Kirk] We didn't have a handle
on some things yet,
but Dale believed we could get there.
[commentator]
Waltrip jumps right underneath, bang.
And they touch twice,
and Waltrip's in the grass.
Johnny, you called it.
Earnhardt will do what he has to do.
[audience applauds]
[man] It was an up and down year
for Dale Earnhardt
and the Richard Childress Wrangler team.
For finishing eighth in
the Winston Cup points standings,
I'd like to present Dale
with a check for $40,087.
[audience applauds]
This is all I get.
[audience chuckles]
We had a lot of problems this year
with engines, but uh,
next year, I'd like to be set up
where Darrell is.
I think it'd be all right then.
[audience applauds]
[chuckles] In a strange way,
Darrell brought out the worst in Dale.
[tense ambient music]
[overlapping chatter]
[pit commentator] Dale Earnhardt,
they call you the Street Fighter.
You won this race last year.
Can you do it again?
Well, we feel confident we can.
Car's runnin' real good.
And you know, we're startin' from tenth,
but I think we can get up to the front.
Short tracks are
That's That's a driver's track.
[announcer over PA]
Gentlemen, start your engines.
[Darrell] That's where you get up
on the wheel and you drive that car.
[commentator] This is a track
that can just chew you alive.
As they go into turn number three,
there are the leaders.
And directly behind them,
three cars spinning into the wall.
Waltrip is in the wall. Five, six,
seven, eight automobiles tangled up.
Hey, this may be the race
that nobody wins.
On to pit road goes
Darrell Waltrip's number 11, a lap down.
And Earnhardt
[commentator 2] Earnhardt down the front,
leaning out the window,
cleanin' off so he can see.
He's determined not to go in the pits
and start at the rear of the field.
He's gonna start up front if it kills him.
[commentator] And here comes Earnhardt,
looking on the inside,
he slams it down to the bottom.
And Earnhardt pulls up another spot.
[commentator 2] Oh, Earnhardt,
in the grass. He wants by.
[commentator]
Crowd's up and excited about this one.
Earnhardt tries the inside.
Earnhardt's in first.
Waltrip has made up his lap.
[Darrell] Junior was on my case
from the very beginning of that run.
You gotta get by Dale,
you gotta get by Dale.
[commentator 2] Five laps to go.
[Darrell] I was just trying to get by him.
That's all I wanted to do.
[commentator 2] This is what
it's all about, trying to win the race.
You got a faster car, but the guy
in front of you ain't lettin' you go by.
Darrell Waltrip, what are you
gonna do now?
[commentator] He's runnin' out of time.
[Darrell] I'm pushin' him a little bit,
he's pushin' me a little bit.
And Junior's on the radio, go, DW, go!
[commentator] Waltrip moves in,
down to the inside.
Side-by-side.
[Darrell] I get alongside of him,
and I got him.
I got him.
I got him!
[commentator] Oh!
Four cars. There he goes.
Caution is on the racetrack.
Checkered flag will come down,
and I think Kyle Petty has won it.
We want to look again
at exactly what happened
up here in turn number three.
[pit commentator] Dale, what was your view
on what happened in that accident?
Just hung up with ol' Darrell.
We got in the wall.
[pit commentator] Who do you feel hit who
on that last thing with Darrell?
I'm just racin'. I ain't gonna
You know, me and Darrell's gotta race
week to week. There ain't nothin' to it.
[light orchestral music]
[Darrell] I've never had anybody
do anything like that to me.
This was an all-time best.
[pit commentator]
What about this makes you the maddest?
That it's been goin' on as long as it has.
You know, all of last year, and now,
it's started off the same way this year.
I don't think anybody in the grandstands
are surprised about what happened.
Well, who hit who, anyway?
[crowd shouts]
To me, Earnhardt definitely
put Waltrip in the wall
and ruined the whole finish
of the race, I think.
I don't know any other way to put it.
He was a better driver than that.
[Will] Darrell should've won the race.
I mean, he had us beat.
Dale just flat out wrecked him.
But we didn't care. If he backed into
somebody, it was still their fault, right?
We were 100% on board with our guy
and whatever he did.
[Darrell]
I'm numb. I don't really know what to say.
[sighs heavily]
It's supposed to be
a family kind of a thing.
[reporter] You think they should be fined?
I think somebody should get somethin'
out of the deal.
'Cause look at all the mess they made.
[David] Richard comes to my house
the day after the race,
and was all worried about,
"Well, man, with all that negative
publicity and whatnot,
what's Wrangler want us to do?"
And I was like, "Huh, do it again!"
["Stumbling Block"
by Champion Jack Dupree]
[commentator] And we have a crash.
It's Richard Petty
on the main straightaway.
Petty bangs the wall.
[pit commentator] What happened out there?
Anytime you get close to racin'
with Earnhardt, you're in trouble.
And I wasn't smart enough
to get out of his way.
♪Well, I ain't gonna be
Your stumbling block no more♪
[commentator] Two laps to go.
It's a sprint race, Earnhardt and Waltrip.
He looks inside Waltrip is sideways!
Unbelievable!
Dale Earnhardt is on the lead
and accepts the checkered flag
and wins the TranSouth 500.
Dale Earnhardt has won
his second consecutive Winston Cup race.
This year, it has developed
into somewhat of a soap opera.
It has. And at this point in the season,
each of the drivers has learned
to play his particular role.
[child] I love you!
[ABC reporter 2]
For example, Darrell Waltrip,
current national champion.
You're leading the points, and I believe
it's consistency that you want to go for.
Well, we want to finish all the races.
If you do that,
then you'll win the championship.
[ABC reporter 2]
Or how about Dale Earnhardt?
He's the tough guy, being feared.
And he likes it that way.
You race all day, and you
get down there to the last lap
and you get your front end in there,
and the guy tries to cut you off,
or you know, he tries to do what he can
to keep you back there,
you stand your ground.
[commentator] Kyle Petty has spun up
in turn number three.
[Bob Jenkins]
Kyle, this is Bob Jenkins up in the booth.
What happened up there?
[Kyle] Earnhardt knocked the trash
outta me in the rear.
Spun me goin' into three.
I don't know where he thinks this is!
[Bob] I don't think it was an indication
that he thought that Dale was number one.
A lot of times it comes out bad,
but a lot of times you win races, too.
[newscaster] For Earnhardt,
that's win number three this season.
He looks a sure bet
to win a mid-season $150,000 bonus
from Winston
for leading the points standings.
[Kirk] So, in '86,
everything's in pretty fuckin' good shape.
Like, we weren't sure,
but damn, we're runnin' good.
Seemed like our formula,
whatever it was at the time,
was good enough.
'Course, it was never that simple.
[cars zoom by]
[commentator] And here they come.
Off the fourth corner,
it's Darrell Waltrip.
Darrell Waltrip. So important to win here.
I know all along,
it's only gonna be two cars
chasin' them points
at the end of the year.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator]
And smoke. It's Dale Earnhardt,
and he's
you can see he's losing control!
Remember that is the leader
in the championship.
[man] I don't know
how many races we won in '86.
We had twice that many won,
and somethin' happened.
[commentator] Waltrip and Earnhardt,
the two main contenders
for the national championship.
Trouble out of turn two,
and Earnhardt tags the wall.
Loops it around, tags it again
with the rear of the car.
Already missing the right front fender.
Well, it's break out the sledgehammer time
in the Wrangler pit.
I'd like to be the body man on
Richard Childress's race team right now.
[commentator 2]
That's job security, isn't it?
[commentator laughs]
Can it be happening again?
Is Darrell Waltrip making yet another
late-season patented charge
to lead the Winston Cup championship?
[Darrell] It was a hard race.
My car ran great thanks to Budweiser
and Goodyear and Valvoline and
Kentucky Fried Chicken and the Lord.
[upbeat orchestral music]
[reporter] Hey, what about the run
for the Winston Cup?
Looks like another page
the way you did it in '81 and in '82,
and then last year.
[Darrell] Get a few more runs in
like tonight, and we may just have 'em.
- Whoo!
- [crowd cheering]
[commentator]
It could all end here this afternoon,
as far as the Winston Cup is concerned.
You're looking live at Dale Earnhardt.
His quest, the Winston Cup championship.
There's only one man
that can keep him from that.
That's Darrell Waltrip.
[Darrell] I think
things are gonna tighten up today.
I just got a feelin'. I got a gut feelin'.
I've had 'em before.
And most of the time, I'm right.
[commentator] Back out onto the racetrack,
Darrell Waltrip.
And now Darrell Waltrip is in trouble.
A big puff of smoke from that car.
He's pulling directly into the pit area.
This could be the season for Waltrip
right here.
[Richard] We'd worked so hard
all the way through the season.
We all wanted it for him.
But we knew
that we had to finish that race to win.
[commentator] Dale Earnhardt
from Kannapolis, North Carolina,
34 years of age.
His father, Ralph, was one of
the most feared dirt track drivers
in the very early days of NASCAR racing.
[Hank] I think that
every time he was in that race car,
he didn't worry about
what anybody else thought.
I think he cared about
what that ghost thought.
And I think Dale would've
given everything he had
just for his dad to come back,
put his arm around him
and say, "Boy, I'm proud of you.
I love you, Dale."
[commentator] Look who Earnhardt
is getting ready to lap.
[commentator 2] Richard Petty, the King.
[commentator] Richard moves down
to protect his position.
He's trying to hold on
as long as he possibly can.
[Hank] I think that was the rabbit
out in front of the greyhound.
He was chasin' a ghost.
[commentator]
Dale Earnhardt is on the back stretch.
He won Rookie of the Year in 1979.
He came back the next year
and won the Winston Cup in 1980.
And now, Dale Earnhardt
wins the Atlanta Journal 500
and wins the Winston Cup
for the second time in his career.
Dale Earnhardt is champion.
[Kirk] No way we fuckin' did that.
Us! [giggles]
[pit commentator]
Welcome to Victory Lane, champion.
[Dale] It feels good, don't it?
And I'll tell you what.
[pit commentator] Somehow,
you can feel the presence
of the late Ralph Earnhardt
here in Victory Lane.
He's been with me all year, Jack.
It's the reason I've been winnin'
and runnin' so good this year.
I'd like to say hi to the kids back home,
Dale Jr. and Kelley.
They worked hard for us all year long,
too, and pull for us awful hard.
We're comin' home tonight.
We wanted to win a championship.
Really, for Richard Childress
and his team, they've worked awful hard.
You know, it's nice
to win it for Dale Earnhardt,
but it's great to win it for that team.
[Darrell] I coulda won this race.
And I coulda won this championship.
We'll never know, will we?
You never think it's you.
The car's not good enough,
the team's not good enough.
Motors aren't good enough.
You never look at yourself in the mirror
and say, "It might be you."
What I always wanted
when I came in this sport was
to be on Madison Avenue, Wall Street,
all those places
that all of us would like to be.
And I think NASCAR is there now.
I think I've helped a little bit.
[Kyle] Darrell had his years,
will go down as one of
the greatest race car drivers ever to set.
But he wasn't Dale Earnhardt.
Ladies and gentlemen, again,
the 1986 Winston Cup champion,
Mr. Dale Earnhardt.
[crowd applauds]
♪Bad, bad, bad, bad, boy♪
♪You make me feel so good♪
If you would, Dale, we'll ask you
to step over to the other podium.
Darrell left his shopping bag, and I think
they're about to fill it up for you.
[Darrell] You know, I have a deep concern
for where our sport is headed.
Dale's reputation, no matter what
Dale Earnhardt does or doesn't do,
his reputation
and what he's done in the past
is gonna make him guilty of whatever crime
or whatever incident he's involved in.
[tense ambient music]
[crowd cheering]
[David] Dale learned the value
of becoming Dale.
But none of us had any idea
that it would blow up into what it did.
[engine revs]
[tense ambient music continues]