Dale Earnhardt - Wikipedia.com

Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. (April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001) was an American race car driver, best known for his career driving stock cars in NASCAR's top division. Earnhardt had four children, Kerry, Kelley Earnhardt Elledge, Dale Jr., and Taylor Earnhardt. His widow, Teresa Earnhardt (whom he married in 1982) was the owner of Dale Earnhardt, Inc., the race team and merchandising corporation Earnhardt founded with her in February 1980. The team has since merged with Chip Ganassi and is now known as Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.

Dale Earnhardt is known for his success in the Winston Cup Series, now known as the Sprint Cup Series. He won seventy-six races (including his only Daytona 500 victory in 1998), and his seven championships are tied for most all-time with Richard Petty. His highly aggressive driving style made him a fan favorite and earned him the nicknames "Ironhead", "Mr. Restrictor Plate", "The Man in Black" and most famously, "The Intimidator."

Earnhardt died in a last-lap crash during the 2001 Daytona 500, the fourth NASCAR driver to die in a nine month period that began with the death of Adam Petty in May 2000. On October 4, 2001 Blaise Alexander died in a ARCA race car crash at Lowe's Motor Speedway, suffering from the same life ending injuries as Dale Earnhardt. After 6 deaths in less than two years NASCAR began an intensive focus on safety that has seen the organization begin to require the use of head-and-neck restraints such as the HANS device, oversee the installation of SAFER barriers at all oval tracks, set rigorous new rules for seat-belt and seat inspection, develop a roof-hatch escape system (used briefly, but later eliminated), and develop a next-generation race car built with extra driver safety in mind, dubbed the Car of Tomorrow.