......(Memorial
Page 3)......
This page is to remember Dale Earnhardt for some of his accomplishments other than driving... Dale was very successful team owner. His Dale Earnhardt Incorporated (DEI) teams have did a lot in the short time that they existed before Dale's passing, and have continued to do great things since. Ron Hornaday won two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championships for DEI, first 1996, and again in 1998. Hornaday and the NAPA sponsorship then moved from the truck to the Busch series in 2000 to take over the #3 car from Dale Earnhardt Jr. and AC Delco. Hornaday was runner up for Rookie Of The Year. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the 1998 and 1999 Busch Championships in the #3 AC Delco car, as well as two points races and The Winston All Star Race in his first year driving the #8 Budweiser car in Winston Cup. Dale Jr. was also runner up for 2000 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year. Steve Park won his first Winston Cup race in 2000, and won once more at Rockingham in 2001, the very first week after Dale passed away. Park had also won Rookie of the Year and some races with the #3 AC Delco car in the Busch Series (1997) before Dale Jr. took over in 1998. In 2001, the NAPA sponsorship moved up to Cup, leaving Ron Hornaday without a ride at DEI. Hornaday moved on to pursue a variety of other rides, eventually ending up with RCR in the #2 Busch car for a few years and most recently driving for Kevin Harvick's #33 Truck team. Michael Waltrip joined team DEI in the #15 Winston Cup car. DEI now consisted of three Cup teams and none in Busch or Trucks for 2001. Waltrip won his first Winston Cup race, the 2001 Daytona 500, driving Dale's NAPA car. This was Waltrip's first race driving for Earnhardt. It's just too bad that Dale wasn't around at the end of that race to see Michael's first win... I know he was watching from up above. Dale's drivers were like family to him..............
How did Dale Earnhardt become such a success in his business and family life?...
........He
Earned It!..............Dale
and Teresa Earnhardt standing in the DEI shop... Dale
.................................
.......and Teresa were not only a loving couple,
but were partners
.....................................in
the business of racing... Dale Earnhardt Incorporated.
Besides driving, Dale Earnhardt was a great car owner too.
.
Ron Hornaday: NAPA truck, 1995-1999.
Truck Series Champion in 1996 and 1998.
NAPA Busch car, 2000 (runner up
for Rookie Of The Year)
Steve Park, #1 Pennzoil Chevy, 1998-2003.....Dale
Earnhardt Jr., #8 BUD Chevy, 2000-present
......................
Michael Waltrip, #15 NAPA Chevy,
2001-2005 (2001 Daytona 500 Champion)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove this car
for his father in the Japanese exhibition race in November, 1998.
This marked the first time that
the father and son competed against each other in a Winston Cup race.
Dale Jr. finished ahead of his
dad on that day, but there would be more racing together to come in the
year 2000.
This car was driven by steve Park
in a limited number of Winston
Cup races during the 1997 season
preparing for his rookie year in 1998.
This car was driven by Steve Park
in the Busch series where he won Rookie Of The Year in 1997, and then by
Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 1998-1999. Dale Jr. won the Busch Championship
in both of these years. In the year 2000, the paint scheme on this
car was changed to NAPA blue and yellow, and driven by Ron Hornaday who
was runner up for Rookie Of The Year. The team was moved up to Winston
Cup series for 2001, and became the #15 NAPA Monte Carlo, driven by Michael
Waltrip. AC Delco sponsorship then went to the Richard Childress team's
#2 Busch car which a few years later would be driven by... Ron Hornaday!
Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove these four
paint schemes In Busch racing for a limited number of races in the 1997
season.
..
..
Dale with his 2000 Winston Cup drivers,
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (BUD), and Steve Park (Pennzoil).
...
Dale Earnhardt with his 2000 Winston
Cup drivers: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
and Steve Park, and his 2000 Busch
driver: Ron Hornaday.
...
From left to right: Steve Park,
Ron Hornaday, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dale Earnhardt.
Dale Earnhardt in 1999 with his
'99 Winston Cup driver: Steve Park, his '99 Busch
driver: Dale Earnhardt Jr., and
his '99 Truck Series driver: Ron Hornaday.
..
..
Dale with Steve Park after Park's
first Winston Cup victory - Watkins Glen 2000.
..
In this year 2000 picture, Dale
chats with future employee, Michael Waltrip. Waltrip joined team
DEI for the 2001 season driving the #15 NAPA car. Michael won his
very first Winston Cup race driving for DEI. It was his first Winston
Cup win in several hundred tries! The race tragically concluded with
the last lap accident that proved to be fatal for Dale Earnhardt - February
18th, 2001.
This is the three DEI drivers sitting
on the wall before the race at Rockingham, February 25, 2001. One
week had passed since the death of Dale Earnhardt, and his team knew that
they must carry on. This race was rained out shortly after it began...
It was finished on Monday February 25th, and won by Steve Park...
A very nice tribute to Dale Earnhardt. The hats worn here by Park
and Waltrip are a memorial to Dale... These were worn by almost everyone
at the track that day.
Continue on to: Remembering Dale Earnhardt:
Family Man (Memorial Page 4)
To move on to my fourth memorial page, click above.
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This site was created in March, 2001, and last edited on January 26, 2007. If you have
any questions or comments, please e-mail me at ericunderwood@hotmail.com
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