By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Dale Earnhardt Sr. is a legendary NASCAR Cup Series driver. He is one of the all-time greats in the sport.
With the 20th anniversary of his passing this week, we’re going to look back at all of his 76 wins. We’re going to begin with his very first win at Bristol International Speedway.
Earnhardt drove the Rod Osterlund entry to the win in the Southeastern 500 on April 1st, 1979 in Bristol, Tennessee.
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The North Carolina native completed the race in two hours and 55 minutes. He won the race by a mere three seconds.
This win for Earnhardt was in the No. 2 Chevrolet entry. This was before he became the “Intimidator” with the No. 3 car.
When Earnhardt won this race in the seventh race of the season, only Darrell Waltrip, Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, and Buddy Baker also had won races early in the season. Allison had two wins.
Earnhardt was the latest winner of the season from the No. 9 spot, as Yarborough also won from the starting position on March 11th at Richmond. Also, he was the first Chevrolet winner since Waltrip at Riverside International Raceway on January 14th.
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Hodgdon and Moore sponsored driver Allison finished second in his Ford entry for owner Bud Moore. Gatorade sponsored driver Waltrip finished third in the race for his DiGard Racing entry.
Earnhardt led a race-high 163 laps of the 500. Waltrip, Baker, Allison also led multiple laps, while Donnie Allison and Yarborough led one lap each.
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