No. 2 – Dale Earnhardt Joins Richard Childress Racing, Again
Dale Earnhardt’s quick success on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit seemed to end as quick as it began. Earnhardt won the 1979 NASCAR Rookie of the Year title with team owner Rod Osterlund. Just one year later, Earnhardt was a Winston Cup champion.
However, not everything was going great. Earnhardt lost his crew chief Jake Elder during his 1980 championship run. Elder developed a rift with other team members and decided to leave the organization. By mid-1981 Osterlund fell on hard times and had to sell his race team to business man J.D. Stacy. Earnhardt did not want to drive for Stacy and began weighing his options.
Richard Childress was a solid competitor on the NASCAR Grand National tour from 1971-1981. He would finish in the top ten in points five times but in 1981 Childress began to see the sport changing a little bit and decided it was best to hang up his driving shoes and sign Earnhardt, who brought sponsor Wrangler with him. Earnhardt finished the year at Richard Childress Racing but Earnhardt decided to go in a different direction for 1982 and signed with Bud Moore Engineering.
Earnhardt moved to Bud Moore’s team and drove there through 1984, winning just four races in three seasons. It wasn’t that Earnhardt had lost any talent but the combination of Earnhardt’s aggressive driving style and Moore’s conservative approach made for inconsistency. After his contract was up following the 1984 season Earnhardt and sponsor Wrangler called up an old friend in Richard Childress and the duo began their second tenure together in 1985 and the rest as they say is history.
Earnhardt would win 66 races for Richard Childress Racing from 1985-2001 including six NASCAR championships. Earnhardt’s skill matched with the talented group of mechanics and pit crew made for a perfect match and the team was quickly becoming the most dominate team of that era. Whether it was a short track, speedway or superspeedway Earnhardt and the No.3 team were a favorite to win most times than not. His four champions in a stretch of five seasons was one of the most dominate times anyone had in NASCAR.
Earnhardt became known as “The Intimidator” because of his aggressive style and some fans loved it but some fans hated. No matter what side of the fence you were on, there is no doubt that Earnhardt’s move to Richard Childress Racing in 1985 was legendary and became one of the most successful team/driver combination in NASCAR history.
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