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Ralph Lee Earnhardt
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1928 - 1973
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 He no longer thunders through turn four with dust swirling, nor speeds down the front straightway passing everyone to take the checker flag. Those who knew Ralph Earnhardt can still see him. He was the epitome of a race car driver. The Earnhardt family can trace their roots back to the late 1700’s in North Carolina’s history. Ralph Earnhardt was born in 1928 in Kannapolis, N.C. In a garage behind the family home he began his life’s work, building race cars for himself and others. He drove those same cars to hundreds of wins and countless State and track championships. He won NASCAR Sportsman Championship in 1956, finished in the top ten in points in the NASCAR National Sportsman point standings six years in a row, and finished 17th in point standings in Grand National Series in 1961. Ralph Earnhardt “Mr. Consistency” . Preferred to race four or five times close to home. He did drive over 50 races in the Grand National circuit for such renowned car owners as Cotton Owens and Lee Petty. He was an innovator. He utilized tire stagger when no one else even knew what it was. He built “bite” into his cars and installed crash bars into the drivers side of the car. He never had to work on his car at the track. He changed tires and went out and beat everyone. According to Ned Jarrett “he was the toughest race driver I ever raced against.” Ralph Earnhardt whose career spanned 23 years of competition in NASCAR Modified, Sportsman, and Grand National series, won more than 350 NASCAR races and never looked back. He died of a heart attack in the family kitchen in 1973 at age 45. In the movie “3” they had it wrong by having him die in the garage. Was inducted into the International Sportsman Hall of Fame in 1977 |
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