RALPH LEE EARNHARDT - 02/23/1928 - 09/26/1973
was a NASCAR racing legend. He was the father of Dale Earnhardt, the grandfather of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Kerry Earnhardt, and great grandfather of Jeffrey Earnhardt. Earnhardt helped get Bobby Isaac his start in racing. He spent many years working in a cotton mill in North Carolina. One of the only ways out of this poor living conditions was racing. Earnhardt began racing in 1949, and in 1953 it became his full-time occupation. Ralph started his racing career on dirt tracks where he was famous for keeping his car in top condition throughout each race. In 1956, he won the NASCAR Sportsman Championship, and was runner-up in 1955 and third in 1957. In 1967, he was the reigning South Carolina state champion, and track champion at Columbia Speedway and Greenville-Pickens Speedway. He won the pole and finished second in his first NASCAR Cup race in 1956 at Hickory Speedway. 1957 Ralph raced in nine Cup
events. All but one of those races he drove the Petty Enterprises #188 Oldsmobile. He had three top 10 finishes with a best of seventh at Charlotte and eight of his starts he would finish inside the top 14. 1958 Earnhardt just attempted one Cup start; and it would come at Martinsville VA. 47 cars would start the event and Ralph would just miss making the field. He skipped racing the Cup series in 1959 and 1960. He returned to run eight races in 1961 and would run eight events. He finished second at Charlotte in a World 600 qualifying race and would go on to finish 11th in the 600 itself. 1962 saw Earnhardt run in his most races in one season. He would start 17 races and finish third at Concord Speedway in Concord NC. He also would post six top 10 results. Earnhardt didn't have a very good season the following year as he only had a best finish
of 18th; the only race he actually completed. He'd run 11 races in 1964 and this would be his final season. Eleven times he'd take the green flag; and only on four occasions would his car last the entire distance to see the checkered flag fly. His best finish was at Hillsboro NC where he started 26th and would work his way all the way up to fourth. His final start would come at Concord NC where he started fifth. But a blown motor on lap 55 saw his day ended 145 laps short of the finish in 13th place. Ralph never ran more than a hand full of race each year. This is why he had his highest points finish by finishing 17th in the Cup point standings. Even though Earnhardt only ran a few races each season he was a fierce competitor. He only ran 51 races in his 6 year career. 1961 saw Ralph fill in as a relief driver for Cotton Owens in the Daytona 500, running more than 300 miles and finishing 5th. He is often
credited with the first use of tire stagger. He talked about "bite" in his race cars before anyone knew what it was, and installed crash bars in the driver door for safety, probably saving many lives. Ralph Earnhardt died at the age of 45 on September 26, 1973 from a heart attack and was found on the kitchen floor by his wife Martha. It has been a long standing 'urban legend' that he died in his garage and was found by his son Dale. Some info from WikiPedia
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