Eric's Life And Times Of Dale Earnhardt...  continued - 1985-1994
1985
In 1985 Dale won four times in his RCR Monte Carlo. That year he scored 10 top fives
and 16 top ten finishes in 28 starts.  this was the beginning of a racing empire!


Races Run
30
Wins:
2
Top Fives:
9
Top Tens:
14
Poles:
0
Final Standing:
8th place
Total Winnings:
$446.272

1986
In 1986, Dale had a big breakthrough...  He won his second Winston Cup Championship!
He won five races that year in his number three Monte Carlo.
He scored 16 top fives and 23 top ten finishes in 29 starts.

auau


Races Run:
29
Wins:
5
Top Fives:
16
Top Tens:
23
Poles:
1
Final Standing:
Champion!
Total Winnings:
$1,783,880

1987
Dale must have carried a whole bunch of momentum with him into the next season, because in 1987, he won ELEVEN races!  That's his personal best for any one year, and only two short of the current modern era record for most wins in a season which is shared by Richard Petty and Jeff Gordon.  Of course, winning so many races in one year, Dale also won his third Winston Cup Championship in 1987!  He scored 21 top fives and 24 top ten finishes in 29 starts.  This is also the year of the infamous "Pass in the Grass" during The Winston All Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

oohooh

oohooh


Races Run:
29
Wins:
11
Top Fives:
21
Top Tens:
24
Poles:
1
Final Standing:
Champion!
Total Winnings:
$2,099,243

1988
Dale won three races in the 1988 season.  He scored 13 top fives and 19 top ten finishes in 29 starts.  This was his first year driving the black and silver Goodwrench paint scheme, for which he would come to be known as "The Man In Black."  He was involved in a very close battle for the championship with Rusty Wallace and champion Bill Elliott.


Races Run:
29
Wins:
3
Top Fives:
13
Top Tens:
19
Poles:
0
Final Standing:
3rd place
Total Winnings:
$1,214,089

1989
In 1989 Dale won five races, and came very close to his fourth Winston Cup Championship.  He was leading with just a few races to go.  He had engine trouble one week and lost valuable points, but was still in the lead with three more races to go.  In the next race, he was leading on the last lap when Ricky Rudd raced him too hard in the corner, and spun them both out!  Rudd, always one to point a finger at the other guy, blamed Earnhardt.  In the next race, Rusty Wallace, who was also a championship contender that year, had a run in with Dale that took Dale out of the race and allowed Rusty to finish ahead of him.  The next week was the last race, and Earnhardt still had a shot...  Dale won the race, but Rusty finished just high enough to clinch the championship...  By only TWELVE POINTS!  Chevy stopped using the Monte Carlos this year in favor of the new Luminas.  Dale won five races and scored 14 top fives and 19 top tens in 29 races.

Dale drove this number three Pontiac in a couple Busch series races in 1989.


Races Run:
29
Wins:
5
Top Fives:
14
Top Tens:
19
Poles:
0
Final Standing:
2nd place
Total Winnings:
$1,435,730

1990
1990 was another great year!  Dale returned to the top of the latter, winning his fourth Winston Cup Championship!  He won 9 races and scored 18 top fives and 23 top ten finishes in 29 starts.  The race for the championship was a very close one between Dale and Mark Martin, with Earnhardt leading by only six points going into the last race of the year.  He finished third to Martin's sixth at Atlanta, resulting in a win of the championship by 26 points over Martin.

......


Races Run:
29
Wins:
9
Top Fives:
18
Top Tens:
23
Poles:
4
Final Standing:
Champion!
Total Winnings:
$3,083,056

1991
In 1991 Dale won his fifth Winston Cup Championship.  It was the second time in his career that he had won the title in back to back years!  He won four races and scored 14 top fives and and 21 top tens in 29 starts.  Some people began to say that he could beat or tie Richard Petty's record some day.

....................

Races Run:
29
Wins:
4
Top Fives:
14
Top Tens:
21
Poles:
0
Final Standing:
Champion!
Total Winnings:
$2,396,685

1992
1992 proved to be a tough year for Dale.  In 29 starts, he only won one race.  He did, however, score 6 top five's and 15 top ten finishes.  He was disappointed that he wasn't able to win three championships in a row though.  The Chevys were at a disadvantage to Fords who had a streak of thirteen race wins from September of 1991 through May of 1992.  If Chevy had done that, you know those Ford drivers would have been whining!  The last Chevy to win before that streak was Dale Earnhardt.  The driver to break the streak on May 25, 1992 in the Coca-Cola 600 and claim his only victory of the year was...  DALE EARNHARDT.  This was a stressful year for the whole team, and crew chief Kirk Shelmerdine resigned at season's end to take some time away from racing.  This is also known for being the year that Richard Petty retired from racing...  And there was a snot-nosed new kid on the block in the last race of the season...  Jeff Gordon!


Races Run:
29
Wins:
1
Top Fives:
6
Top Tens:
15
Poles:
1
Final Standing:
12th place
Total Winnings:
$915,463

1993
In 1993 Dale got back down to business...  With new crew chief, Andy Petree, he won his sixth Winston Cup Championship!  He won 6 races and scored 17 top fives and 21 top ten finishes in 30 starts.  This is the year that the evil Jeff Gordon came into Winston Cup as a rookie...  I see only bad things to come of this!

..............................


Races Run:
30
Wins:
6
Top Fives:
17
Top Tens:
21
Poles:
2
Final Standing:
Champion!
Total Winnings:
$3,353,789

1994
For the third time in his career, Dale won back to back championships in 1994!!!  He was now tied with Richard Petty for most Winston Cup Championships...  SEVEN!  He won 4 races and scored 20 top fives and 25 top ten finishes in 31 starts.  It seemed very possible that he would now break Petty's record of seven championships.  He dedicated his championship to his best friend Neil Bonnett who died in a practice crash at Daytona in February.

........................................

......

Earnhardt and Petty are the only drivers with seven championships.

The seven big ones!


Races Run:
31
Wins:
4
Top Fives:
20
Top Tens:
25
Poles:
2
Final Standing:
Champion!
Total Winnings:
$3,300,733

Continue...1995-1997
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This site was created in February, 2001, and last edited on January 25, 2007.  If you have
any questions or comments, please e-mail me at ericunderwood@hotmail.com
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