Career: 1975-2001
Arguably the most talented driver in the history of NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing, Dale Earnhardt won his seventh series championship in 1994. He is the only driver in NASCAR’s history to win the Rookie of the Year award (1979) and the series championship (1980) in successive seasons.
Earnhardt’s hard-driving style has earned him 76 series wins, ranking him sixth on NASCAR’s all-time wins list. His $41,538,362 in career winnings rank him first on the all-time winnings list. He ranks fifth all-time in laps led with 25,706.
He is the all-time race winner at Daytona International Speedway, with 29 wins in three different divisions. Earnhardt is a five-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association’s Driver of the Year award (1980, ‘87, ‘90, ‘94, ‘86—Co-winner with Tim Richmond). He is also a two time winner of the American Driver of the Year award (1987, ‘94). Dale Earnhardt tragically died in a last lap wreck in the 2001 Daytona 500