Ralph Earnhardt

Born	February 23, 1928(1928-02-23)
Hometown	Kannapolis, North Carolina
Died	September 26, 1973 (aged 45)
Cause of death	Heart attack
Awards	1956 NASCAR Sportsman champion 1989 inductee in the National Motorsports Press Association's Hall of Fame 1997 International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee 1998 Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers 2004 inductee in the Oceanside Rotary Club of Daytona Beach Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame 2007 inductee in the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame [1]
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series statistics
51 races run over 6 years
Best cup position	17th - 1961 (Grand National)
First race	1956 Buddy Shuman 250 (Hickory)
Last race	1964 unnamed race (Concord)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 16 1

Ralph Lee Earnhardt (February 23, 1928—September 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.

Contents 1 Background 2 Racing career 3 Trivia 4 Footnotes

[edit] Background

Ralph was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina to Effie Mae Barber and John Henderson Earnhardt.^[2] 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. Ralph died of a heart attack in the garage working on his car. Shortly after Dale Earnhardt, Sr. found him lying on the garage floor.

[edit] Racing career

In 1956, he won the NASCAR Sportsman Championship. He had a second place finish in his first Grand National (now Sprint Cup) race in 1956. In 1961, Ralph had his highest finish by finishing 17th in the Grand National point standings.

Ralph Earnhardt was the first car builder/driver to understand and use tire stagger. ^[3]

Ralph Earnhardt died at the age of 45 on September 26, 1973 from a heart attack in his garage and was found by his son Dale. ^[4]

[edit] Trivia

In the film 3: The Dale Earnhardt Story, Ralph Earnhardt was portrayed by J. K. Simmons.

[edit] Footnotes