Why Did Dale Earnhardt Drop Out of School? How Did His Father React?

Countless interesting stories have made it to the depths of NASCAR history over the years. Arguably, the most intriguing of them revolves around the name Earnhardt. One such story reveals to the racing fans how the great Dale Earnhardt dropped out of school at 16, even before graduation. But why, one may ask.

Earnhardt had a deep-rooted passion for racing ever since he was a kid. And one doesn’t learn to race by sitting in a classroom. Although his father, Ralph Earnhardt, was furious with his son for this decision, the 7 times Cup Series champion was adamant about giving this sport his everything. Unfortunately, this created a rift between the father and the son for a few years.

Of course, Ralph’s anger was justified. After all, he had to drop out of school in 6th grade, after which, he worked incessantly at his garage, building cars and engines and racing as many as three times every week to support his family of five. Needless to say, he didn’t want the same to happen to his beloved son.

When asked why the Intimidator quit school in the 9th grade, he replied, “I wanted to race; that’s all I ever wanted to do. I didn’t care about work or school or anything, all I wanted to do was to work on race cars and then drive race cars. It was always my dream, and I was just fortunate enough to be able to live out that dream.”

Dale Earnhardt was not the only one to quit school at a young age

Back in the day, it wasn’t uncommon for motorsport enthusiasts to quit school to pursue a racing career. Learning the basics of driving a stock car requires years of practice. And becoming successful in the arena of NASCAR requires an indomitable zeal to win, no matter what.

On that note, the Kannapolis native was not the only one to have quit formal education in exchange for a racing career. Besides his father, Richard Childress, the owner of his then-team, flunked school way before graduating. Even Hank Jones, Earnhardt’s first merchandising manager, left school early.