Ralph Lee Earnhardt (February 23, 1928 – September 26, 1973) was an American

stock car racer Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

. He was the father of 7 time

NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

champion

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...

, grandfather of

Kerry Earnhardt Kerry Dale Earnhardt (born December 8, 1969) is a former NASCAR driver and the eldest son of seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt. He is the half-brother of former NASCAR Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. He was employed by Dal ...

Kelley Earnhardt Miller Kelley King Earnhardt Miller (née Earnhardt; formerly Earnhardt-Elledge; born August 28, 1972) is an American businesswoman. She is the Chief Executive Officer of JR Motorsports which she co-owns with her brother, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and she is ...

, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Taylor Earnhardt Putnam and great grandfather of Bobby Dale Earnhardt and

Jeffrey Earnhardt Jeffrey Lynn Earnhardt (born June 22, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro for Alpha Prime Racing. He is the son of Kerry Earnhardt, gran ...

. Earnhardt helped give

Bobby Isaac Robert Vance Isaac (August 1, 1932 – August 14, 1977) was an American stock car racing driver. Isaac made his first NASCAR appearance in 1961, and quickly forged a reputation of one of the toughest competitors of the 1960s and 1970s. He was most ...

his start in racing.

Background

Earnhardt had German ancestry. He was born in

Kannapolis, North Carolina Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. Th ...

as the son of Effie Mae Furr (August 30, 1895 – September 1979) and John Henderson Earnhardt (Mar 23, 1879 – Nov 5, 1953). John Henderson Earnhardt's first wife was Florence Phillips (Oct 7, 1877 – Nov 18, 1922). He and Florence had four daughters — Mary, Eula, Margie, and Octa Vayne. He spent many years working in a cotton mill in North Carolina. One of the only ways out of this poor living was racing. Ralph started his racing career on dirt tracks where he was famous for keeping his car in top condition throughout each race.

Racing career

Earnhardt began racing in 1949, and in 1953 it became his full-time occupation. 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

Grand National Series The name NASCAR Grand National Series refers to former names of the following NASCAR series: *National-level stock car series: **NASCAR Cup Series (known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 to 1970, then the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand Nation ...

race in 1956 at Hickory Speedway. In 1961, Earnhardt had his highest finish by finishing 17th in the Grand National point standings. 1961 also saw Earnhardt fill in as a relief driver for

Cotton Owens Everett "Cotton" Owens (May 21, 1924 – June 7, 2012) was a NASCAR driver. For five straight years (1957–61), Owens captured at least one Grand National Series win. Owens was known as the "King of the Modifieds" for his successes in modified ...

in the Daytona 500, running more than 300 miles and finishing 5th. Earnhardt was the first car builder/driver to understand and use tire stagger. In 1972, he raced his son

at Metrolina Speedway in a race with cars from semi mod and sportsman divisions. Earnhardt won 350 NASCAR races in different series.

Death

Earnhardt died from a heart attack on September 26, 1973 at the age of 45 while working on a carburetor at his kitchen table.

In media

In the film '' 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story'', Ralph Earnhardt was portrayed by

J. K. Simmons Jonathan Kimble Simmons (born January 9, 1955) is an American actor, considered one of the most prolific and well-established character actors of his generation. He has appeared in over 200 films and television roles since his debut in 1986. He i ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Earnhardt, Ralph 1928 births 1973 deaths American people of German descent Burials in North Carolina

Ralph Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees NASCAR drivers People from Kannapolis, North Carolina Racing drivers from Charlotte, North Carolina Racing drivers from North Carolina