Jay Busbee - Earnhardt Nation: The Full-Throttle Saga of NASCARs First Family

FOR MOM AND DAD,

MY FIRST READERS

AND

RILEY AND LOGAN,

MY COOLEST

Ralph Earnhardt alongside one of his hand-tooled No. 8 Chevrolets in 1971. Young Dale would check out Ralphs cars the morning after a race; a spotless bumper was good news. (SMYLE MEDIA)

Ralph Earnhardts gravesite, Kannapolis, North Carolina. The names of his three sons, including Dale, are inscribed just behind the front wheel. (COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR)

A twenty-three-year-old Dale Earnhart at Charlotte Motor Speedway, October 1974. Earnhardt was already on his second marriage, and was racing just to keep his family above the poverty line. (SMYLE MEDIA)

Dale Earnhardt tore up plenty of cars in his early days, like this wrecked No. 2 from a 1979 Rockingham race. Once he learned how to drive around other cars, not just through them, he became a champion. (SMYLE MEDIA)

Generations collide: Richard Petty, in his trademark cowboy hat and sunglasses, sits alongside then-reigning rookie of the year, Dale Earnhardt, at Nashville in 1980. Petty had just won his seventh NASCAR championship, a mark Earnhardt would eventually match. (SMYLE MEDIA)

Dale Earnhardt celebrates, following a victory at the Busch Nashville 420 in July 1980. This was Earnhardts fourth career Cup-level win; later that year, hed claim his first championship. (SMYLE MEDIA)

Dale Earnhardt poses with daughter, Kelley, and son Dale Earnhardt Jr. for a Wrangler promotional session in 1981. Dale didnt always have the closest relationship with his children, but they always craved his approval. (SMYLE MEDIA)

Many of Dale Earnhardts fiercest rivals gathered in advance of the first Winston All-Star Race in 1985. Top row, left to right: Tim Richmond, Darrell Waltrip, Richard Petty, Earnhardt, Bill Elliott. Bottom row: Geoff Bodine, Cale Yarborough, Harry Gant, Ricky Rudd, and Terry Labonte. (SMYLE MEDIA)

Dale and Teresa in 1995. Teresa was the power behind the throne, crafting the contracts and cementing the business deals that made the Intimidator a national icon. (SMYLE MEDIA)

One of Dale Sr.s most vocal competitors was Rusty Wallace, seen here running alongside the Intimidator in Atlanta. Wallace and Earnhardt were rivals on the track, occasionally nearly coming to blows, but were close friends off it. (ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY)

Generations collide again: Jeff Gordon, then just twenty-five years old, with Earnhardt at North Wilkesboro in 1996. The two had almost nothing in common, save for championship talent and mutual respect. (SMYLE MEDIA)

Of all the third generation of Earnhardt drivers, Kelley may well have been the most talented. Here she is at Myrtle Beach Speedway in 1996 in what would be one of her final races before hanging up the wheel. (SMYLE MEDIA)

Dale and Teresa Earnhardt, along with their daughter, Nicole, await the start of an Atlanta race. In his later years, Earnhardt spent more time with his family, as nagging injuries mounted up and wins declined. (ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY)

The International Race Of Champions (IROC) series pitted drivers from all over the world against one another in identical cars, and was intended as a test of pure driving skill. Naturally, Dale Earnhardt Sr. flourished there, winning four championships. Dale Jr. has the edge in this photo, taken at Michigan in 1999, but Senior would go on to win the race. (SMYLE MEDIA)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. arrived on the scene in NASCAR with a brashnessand an ill-advised hairstylethat belied his trepidation about following in his fathers very large footsteps. (ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY)

Dale Earnhardt Sr. raced against his son at the Cup level for only one full season, in 2000, but Juniors two victories that year ranked among Seniors proudest moments. (NIGEL KINRADE)

Dale Earnhardt died on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. The shock from Kenny Schraeders car (36) turned Earnhardt into the wall at a sharper angle, magnifying the force of the fatal impact. (AP)

Kerry Earnhardt, seen here in Daytona one year after his fathers death, is the spitting image of Dale Earnhardt Sr. Kerry didnt have the same success as his father or brother, and in 2009 retired from racing for good. (SMYLE MEDIA)