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Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951 – February 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 driving the No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. The third child of racing driver Ralph Earnhardt and Martha Earnhardt, he began his career in 1975 in the World 600. Earnhardt won a total of 76 Winston Cup races over the course of his four-decade career, including four Winston 500s (1990, 1994, 1999, and 2000) and the 1998 Daytona 500. He is the only driver in NASCAR history to score 1 win in 4 decades (1st career win in 1979, 38 wins in the 1980s, 35 wins in the 1990s, & his final 2 career wins in 2000). He also earned seven Winston Cup championships, a record held with Richard Petty and Jimmie Johnson. Although he is tied for most championships, he is the only driver in NASCAR history to win 7 championships under one single points system, and he is also the only driver in NASCAR history to finish either 1st or 2nd in the standings 10 times under one single points system. His aggressive driving style earned him the nicknames "The Intimidator", "The Man in Black", and "Ironhead". He is regarded as one of the greatest drivers, and by millions of NASCAR fans, the greatest driver, in NASCAR history. Both Dale Earnhardt and his friend/fan rival Jeff Gordon are considered to be 2 of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all-time, due to Earnhardt helping NASCAR grow as a sport alone and making it must see TV from the 1980s to the early 1990s, and Gordon for helping NASCAR reach mainstream popularity, making it into a global phenomenon, and more importantly, turning NASCAR from a regional, to a national sport, in the mid to late 1990s, a popularity that still stands to date.

On February 18, 2001, Earnhardt died in a sudden last-lap crash during the Daytona 500, an event that is regarded in the racing industry as being a crucial moment in improving safety in all aspects of car racing, especially NASCAR. Earnhardt has been inducted into numerous halls of fame, including the NASCAR Hall of Fame inaugural class in 2010.