“We Won This One for Him”: When Dale Earnhardt Dedicated Incredible Darlington Win to Father After HoF Induction

Dale Earnhardt conquered the Darlington Raceway nine times in his career. Three of those victories were in the daunting Southern 500. The 1989 edition of the Crown Jewel Race, in particular, saw a masterful performance from him. It ended up being extra special for deeply emotional reasons involving his father, the iconic Ralph Earnhardt.

Ralph had been posthumously (Died of a heart attack in 1973) inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association’s Hall of Fame during that race weekend. The award came for his strong contributions to stock car racing as a builder and a driver. So, when his son reached the checkered flag, it was obvious that he would be dedicating the win to him.

The Intimidator climbed out of his car after trumping the likes of Rusty Wallace and Harry Gant to say, “We won this one for him. He was riding with us all the way.” He’d led 153 laps in the iconic No. 3 car to secure the dominant win. The Darlington Raceway is a track that many drivers consider too tough to tame even today.

But for him, it was a breeze. His words about the raceway echo hard against its massive stands. They went, “You never forget your first love, whether it’s a high school sweetheart, a faithful old hunting dog, or a fickle race track in South Carolina. And, if you happen to be a race car driver, there’s no victory so sweet, so memorable as whipping Darlington Raceway.

Understanding Ralph Earnhardt’s legacy in NASCAR

Ralph was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina, in 1928. It was from there that he started his career as a car builder and later ventured into racing. Motorsports, for him, was the ticket to get out of poverty. He used the cars that he built to numerous state and track championships through the 1940s and the 1950s.

In 1956, he won the NASCAR Sportsman Championship and finished inside the series top-10 for six years. His best finish in the NASCAR Grand National Series came in 1961 (17th). Notably, he drove over 50 races in the premier series for team owners Lee Petty and Cotton Owens. Ralph was particularly known for his consistency in car maintenance.

Seldom did he get to the race track and work on his cars. He just got into them and drove them to victory, making him the man to beat for years. He won over 350 NASCAR-sanctioned races throughout his career and stands tall as one of the original heroes of stock car racing. The memories that Ned Jarrett had about him paint a clear picture of what he was like on the track.

The two-time Grand National champion said, “Ralph Earnhardt was absolutely the toughest race driver I ever raced against. On the dirt and asphalt short tracks in Sportsman competition, when you went to the track you knew he was the man to beat.”