The Dale Jr. Download - Becoming Earnhardt Vol. 1 - Proving Himself to a Ghost

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

In 1979, Dale Earnhardt scored the biggest opportunity of his budding career to run in the NASCAR Cup Series full-time for upcoming car owner Rod Osterlund. While there are remnants of that season’s events preserved through television and radio broadcasts, as well as other memorabilia, Dale’s older sister Kaye did what any supportive sibling in the 70s would do: she started scrapbooking. Within these scrapbook pages lie a comprehensive picture of what the 1979 NASCAR season was like from the perspective of the rookie Kannapolis driver. Decades later, it was these very scrapbooks that inspired Dale Earnhardt Jr. to create a new podcast series documenting the monumental season and his father’s rapid, meteoric rise to stock car stardom.In episode one of Becoming Earnhardt, listeners will gain a better understanding of what the world was like in 1979, not only in motorsports but the world as a whole. The landscape of NASCAR in the late ‘70s is unpacked, and the cast of characters who would set out to compete for the season crown of ‘79 are introduced. We also learn how 28-year-old Dale Earnhardt drove his way through the dirt short track ranks of the Charlotte area to land one of the most coveted opportunities in the NASCAR Cup garage, chauffeuring the number-2 blue and yellow stock cars for Osterlund Racing.FanDuel: Must be 21+ and present in select states (for Kansas, in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino) or 18+ and present in D.C. First online real money wager only. $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets which expire 7 days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat in Connecticut, or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call [phone] for 24/7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPENY in New York. Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The following is a production of Dirtymoe Media. The sensational driver from Canapolis, North Carolina, Dale Earnhardt, and the Australand Racing Oalsmobile. This is a podcast about Dale Earnhardt, but not the Dale Earnhardt that you remember. This is the Dale Earnhardt before the Intimidator. This is before the seven championships, and before he drove the number three.

This is the Dale Earnhardt of 1979, when he was nothing but a long-haired Rough around the edges, ripped. You can't say enough about this young driver. He made the veterans sit up and take notice of his driving style. I was five years old, and as any five-year-old would be, I was completely unaware of my dad's passion and oblivious to the significance that season would have on his career.

And that's not to say I wouldn't come to view the 1979 season as the most significant in NASCAR history for far more reasons than just my dad being in it. There was a fight between Kail Yarbril and Donnie Allison. The tempers overflowing. They're angry. They know they have lost. And what a bitter defeat. To this day, that's still one of the most watched NASCAR television broadcasts ever. In 1979, the series had all the ingredients to catapult NASCAR into the American mainstream.

And that is exactly what happened. But not until recently did I have my eyes opened up to 1970s. in ways I'd never imagined possible. Let me explain. On December 25th, 2021, my grandmother, Martha Earnhardt, passed away. In the aftermath of her loss, we spent a lot of time at her house, sitting around and looking through photo albums and keepsakes and records that she had kept a lot about my dad's career. This included scrapbooks of news articles and a couple that my Aunt Kay had created that actually

chronicle the 1979 NASCAR season. And that makes perfect sense, right? So my dad, her brother, was finally a full-time NASCAR driver after years of struggling to make ends meet. As any proud sister would, she clipped in saved news articles that mentioned her brother, any that she could find, and I mean every single one. When Del got the ride with Austerlund, we were all so excited. So you just automatically, everything that happened and

It was documented, you know, you kept the articles and you kept your tickets, you kept everything. And we tried to go to as many races as we could. Thumbing through this collection of news articles was like discovering a treasure chest of hidden secrets. I was hooked. I knew a lot about that 1979 season, my dad being a rookie, but these news articles really filled a lot of gaps and a lot of holes and gave me a ton of context about dad, who he was and the path that he was on. This was before the name Dellenhart meant what it means today. This was my dad at Win Zero of 76.

I am Dellenhart Jr., and I can't wait to take you into my family's personal scrapbooks to unpack the 1979 season, race by race. Together we will learn all the developments that made that 1979 season so important to our sports history. One being, by no small measure, a 28-year-old overcoming obstacles and showing flashes of greatness on his way to becoming Earnhardt. All right, so let's go back in 1979 and look at some pop culture and sort of understand exactly how far we're going. Y'all remember the Dustbuster. That's Black and Decker's very own famous cordless mini vacuum that was released. Nickelodeon TV cable network began on April 1, 1979. ESPN began broadcasting in September of that year.

And the McDonald's Happy Meal first went on sale. My goodness. And the top song was My Sharona. We all know that one by the knack. And the Sony Walkman. A lot of people were walking around listening to My Sharona on their brand new Sony Walkman in 1979. Before we go any further, let's take a second to explain the American motorsports landscape in 1979. Honestly, it was at a crossroads.

For decades, open-wheel racing was king. Beginning in 1956, USAC was the major sanctioning body that governed what we know now as champ cars or indie cars. But by the end of 1978, many of USAC's race teams departed to form a new series called cart, leaving open-wheel racing in a compromised state. This opened the door for NASCAR to become the new household name in American Motorsports, as long as it produced a compelling product. This would make the 1979 season the most important in NASCAR's 30-year history. So now let me know a little bit about how far back in time we're going.

You know, Dad's going to drive for a particular team, and it is owned by a man named Rod Austerland. You're going to hear that name a lot throughout this story. So let's learn about Dad's car owner and the car owner. the race team. So in 1979, Dad would be racing for team owner, Rod Osterlin, and Osterlin, he had made his living in real estate in California. Rod Osterlin was a construction type business out there in California area where he would go in and build kind of like a resort type of place. This is Doug Reichert, long-time employee of Osterlin racing. Doug would play a major

role in dad's time with Australon as crew chief. But at this point, he's just a teenage Californian trying to find his way into the motorsports world. We all had metal shop, auto shop, and all that in school. So we were always messing with cars and stuff like Gap. Well, my buddy, Jeff, started dating Lana Australon. So as we were going up, you know, we got to talk and we were running at San Jose Speedway with a car there on the Oval. And Rod had rolling well. We're working for him also doing carpet. Roland Welotica ran a modified at San Jose. All of a sudden, we start talking racing, and they just made the decision,

and man, why don't we go racing? So Roland Wolatica got hooked up with Jeff. We all met one another. So we started building the hauler. We got a bare box moving trailer, and Roland and his dad, they designed the, ramp system that was in the back. And we actually showed up at the race track with the first two-car hauler on the circuit.

Roland would eventually vacate the driver's seat shortly after that to manage the race team. So Roland is Rod Osterlin's business manager. And Rod would actually purchase all of his assets to start his race team from Roger Penske. All right. So Roger had Bobby Allison and Dave Marcus and that familiar red and white number

two, well, Rod would buy the team, all the assets, and he would continue using the same number and the same font. And in 1978, they would keep Dave Marcus as their driver, and they would have 30 starts during that year with 14 top five finishes, a really solid year. The team had the speed, and they were right on the threshold of Victory Lane as they approached the 1979 season. But their path to Victory Lane would be disrupted by personnel. change in the driver's seat. More on that in a second. But first, let's talk Dale Earnhardt.

My dad's path to Australon Racing included a series of events, some of which didn't even involve him, beginning in the early 70s. He would first appear on the Austerlian racing radar, thanks to his rapid ascent from local semi-modified track champion to one of the top late model prospects in the Charlotte area. In fact, when dad inked his deal with Rod in 1978, it was only four years. and four months after his very first win on pavement, just to give you an idea of how quickly he was rising through the ranks. You see, Dad followed in his father, Rouse, footsteps into the dirt short track circuit.

By the early 70s, he was winning dozens of features and even track championships at local speedways, like Metroline and Concord, racing for family friend Tommy Russell. But Rouse's untimely death in 1973 would alter Dad's career path. I think after Daddy died, Dale kind of raced to prove. I now got to prove to Daddy. I got to prove to the world and show my daddy that I can do it. This is my aunt, Kathy Watkins.

She is the second oldest of five Earnhardt children and 16 months older than my dad. She had a firsthand view of dad's developmental years and the impact my grandfather's passing had on it. Del never said this to me. It's just a sister looking back at Del going into that shop. I lived right behind the shop with me and my girls, and I watched him work all hours of the day and night and sleeping on a creeper. But Dale in the 70s, I think his mission was proving himself to a ghost.

Upon Rouse's death, Dad decided to act on some advice he imparted to him about making it in auto racing. He had to learn to compete on asphalt. This task would prove easy when NASCAR legend Ned Jarrett took over promotional duties at Metrolina and laid down a fresh coat of blacktop. Dad would purchase a 64 cheval from the reigning NASCAR sportsman champion, Harry Gann, and hit the ground running. It was actually at Metrolina that Dad would. would get his first cup start in a 200-lap non-points exhibition race in 1974, driving for Richard Brown.

Ironically, Dad would finish fourth, and his eventual car owner, Richard Childers, would take home his lone cup victory. Dad would make some other cup attempts in the mid-70s without much success, but his fortune would change in 1978, paving the way to his full-time ride with Austerlund. Mechanic mastermind Will Cronkite was preparing to field a Ford entry for Willie T. Ribs at the World 600 through a deal with track president Humpy Wheeler. But when the deal with Ribs fell through, Dad sprung into action. So Howard Johnson comes on the TV and he starts talking about Will Cronkwright's lost his driver. And that's all I hear. The phone rings since your dad.

He says, can I drive that car? Here's Will explaining how dad would end up being. his driver in 1978. And I said, you know, it's not my car. This is a deal program. I said, I'm not in charge. He says, well, you care if I ask Humphi? No, I don't care.

Harold Johnson's still talking about it on the television. Humphi calls. He says, you care if this young boy drives your car? I said, sure, I'd like to do that. The new duo of Dad and Will set out to conquer the 600. And after an impressive 17th place finish, they arranged to make more attempts that season. But old Humpy, determined to find Dad, the best possible opportunity to showcase his talent,

was still at work behind the scenes. What happened was, I'm down at Darlington, and your dad, they had a big race at Metroline that night after Darlington. And Osterlin was there, and I said, when are you going back? He said, I'm going back late tonight. I said, well, you can ride with me up there. I know he's taking that rental car. And I said, we might go to Metro-Lina Speedway.

And your dad started last for some reason. And he took off, and it was a hundred-lap race. And he hit everything but the women's room. And he kept passing, never mind. The last lap was Billy Scott, was leading. And your dad just went down there and caught him in the quarterfinal. And goodbye and won the race. and Austerlund was overwhelmed with his driving.

The strong first impression led to Rod giving Dad an audition in a sportsman car for the 1978 World Service Life 300. Dad would exceed expectations, finishing second to Bobby Allison by mere feet. The Australon team had seen enough, and they were ready to field Dad in a full-time ride for the 1979 season, running as a teammate to Dave Marcus. This, however, would unfortunately disrupt his plans with Will. He calls when he said, hey, he said, I got to ask you a favor. He said, Rod Ostelin wants me to drive his car next year. And he said they'd like me to drive one race this year without ruining his ability to run rookie the year next year.

You can't say no. I mean, it's clearly Osterlin had more to offer him than I did. had nothing in a way of sponsorship. I only had one car. So I said, yeah, I don't have a problem doing that. So this was for the second Charlotte race. I don't remember who, but somebody, I think Baxter Price, qualified the car, but your dad got in at the first caution and finished that race for me, and I admired him for that. He said he'd drive five, and he did his best to drive five races. I admire your dad's integrity. Dad's Cup debut for Australand

came in the 1978 Dixie 500 at Atlanta, the second to last race on the schedule. He'd notches first top five finish in the big leagues, coming home fourth behind teammate Dave Marcus. The young team seemed destined to make a big splash. But unfortunately, not everybody

was on board with the ambitious two-car plan. Marcus was considering what a full-time teammate might mean to his own efforts, and he didn't like the idea of racing for a car owner who was spread too thin. And on top of that, the Australand Brass had made a personnel change that Marcus he didn't like. What actually happened and why I left the team is they fired the crew chief, who was Dewey Live and Good. That was my crew chief. Dewey had worked for me many, many years before, and on my car and built engines for my hemies.

Here is Dave explaining his decision to depart the Australon team, despite a fifth-place points run in 1978. I think we had three races left. It's a first-year team. Dewey had his Rockingham car ready, his Atlanta car ready, and his Ontario, California car, and they fired them. No reason given. And Ostrelin always said to me, if there's ever a problem, it's just a phone call away. I tried calling them and they wouldn't take phone calls. So, you know, and Dewey didn't know why they fired them either. So I go to Rockingham, I drive the car. We were running, I think, we were either second or third in the points with three races left.

It just was working on me so much and so bad and bothered me when we went to Atlanta. After we qualified, I went up in the press box and told the press I was quitting Austerlund. With Dave's departure, the future was pretty simple. Austerlund would be fielding only one car, and Dad was now the number one driver for the team. The Australand Racing Driver Shakeup was actually just one wave in a turbulent, silly season that saw many of Cups' top drivers either threatening to leave their rides or actually jumping ship. Let's talk about a few of them. Throughout the 1978 season, Dygard driver Darrell Walter was rumored to be driving through a new team in 1979.

But by the time the 1979 season rolls around, Waltrip and owner Bill Gardner would have a new five-year contract. For 79, they buried the hatchet and signed the contract extension. Midway through the 1980 season, they would be at odds again over the contract. And as we know, Darrell would leave Diagard by the end of the 80 season for Junior Johnson's number 11 Mountain Dewitt. Now, MC Anderson, he was a new team owner on the circuit, and that had began in 1976 with driver Sam Summers,

but for 1978 they hired Buddy Baker to drive. The team showed speed, but only captured four top five finishes in 19 starts. Baker, he was looking for greener pastures and would leave the team at the end of the 1978 season. Anderson was so distraught over Baker leaving, whom he said he had built this team around, that he threatened to get out of Grand National Racing altogether. Baker was so torn by the decision to leave that he failed to tell Anderson until three days

before the official announcement of his departure. LG DeWitt was the owner of the famous number 72 championed by driver Benny Parsons. They'd won the title together in 1973, and they seemed inseparable. Midway through the 1978 season, DeWitt told Benny that he might have to shut down the whole team due to their sponsor City Court withdrawing its support. Things hadn't been going well for the team in recent months. In a span of two years, DeWitt had lost Hall of Fame engine builder Wadell Wilson, crew chief Jake Elder, and driver Benny Parsons.

And with no sponsor for 1979, it was unknown what type of program they put together, if any at all. LG DeWitt was reluctant to set out racing on the season without a sponsor and he also had financial interest in two speedways to protect. The Rainier Lundy team was brand new in 1978. They'd won at Talladega with driver Lenny Pond at the wheel and famed mechanic Herbnab running the pits. Lenny and Nab were fussing and arguing by May of that season

and by July the word was out that Darrell Walchrop was Reneer's choice for the car in 9th. 1979. Lanier pursued Darrow Walter for the ride. Ponds fans rallied around him and they cast crew chief Nab as the villain. At the September race in Richmond, a very popular area for Lenny Pond. Pond dropped out with a broken axle. A mob of angry fans had Herb Nab barricaded in his hauler. Nab eventually made an escape but he blamed Pond for not putting a stop to all the foolishness. The team

sputtered toward the end of the year, rarely speaking to one another until Pond was finally officially released. Racing season is underway. New customers download the Draft King Sportsbook app and use code Dail. Bet $5, and you get $150 in bonus bets instantly. That's code Dail only on Draft King's Sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler.

For state-specific disclaimers, check the show notes. 21 plus in most eligible states but age varies by jurisdiction. See draft kings.com slash sportsbook for details and state-specific responsible gambling resources. Bonus bets expire seven days after issuance. Eligibility, wagering, and deposit restrictions apply. Terms at sportsbook.draft kings.com slash auto racing terms. All right, so now we're going to set the class for 1979. I got these kind of grouped into different categories.

There's heavy hitters, the supporting cast, and then we're going to talk about the rookies. But so the heavy hitters, we're going to start right off with Richard Petty. The King of NASCAR, he's driving that familiar Petty. He prizes number 43. And then you have Darrell Walter. For Franklin, Tennessee, the Gatorade Oldsmobile. Bobby Allison is driving for Bud Moore in the Famous North 15. Kail Yarborough is in Junior Johnson's car, the number 11 coming off a three in a row championship run, 76, 77, and 78.

Benny Parsons, who I told you was leaving L.G.D. Witt, is now with MC Anderson in the number 27 car. The person that suggested Benny go to MC Anderson was Rod Osterlin. Buddy Baker is in the Reneer Lundy number 28. Baker was signed in the all-season and what Buddy considers the best opportunity of his long-storied career. Donnie Allison's going to be driving Hoss Ellington's number one, Hawaiian Tropic Park. Neil Bonnet, he's going to open. the season at Daytona with J.D. Stacey, but soon he would quickly bounce around a few different teams. And David Pearson from Spartanburg, South Carolina, he's going to start the season

into famous Wood Brothers No. 21. So now we'll move on to the supporting cast. These are journeyman drivers or younger drivers coming onto the scene. We'll start off with Richard Childers. He's in the famous number three car that Dad would eventually drive one day. And Ricky Rudd is driving for Junie Don Lively in the number 90. Buddy Arrington is driving his own car, number 67. D.K. O'Ritch in his own car, the number 40, and J.D. McDuffie in his McDuffie Racing number 70. James Hilton's out there in the number 48.

Dave Marcus was going to field his own entries, and he'll have the number 02 and the number 71 throughout the year. Dick Brooks, who had been driving for Junie Don Levy for so many years is now with Nelson Malick Racing in the number 05. Ty Scott is driving for Walter Ballard in the number 30, and Bill Elliott will be fielding his own cars, as well as driving for Roger Hanby on a few occasions in the number 9 and number 17. Now, we're going to move on to the rookie class,

and this is a tough field of rookies. Some say at the time the toughest field of rookies ever. You've had Terry Labani driving for Hagen Racing, in the number 44. And then you have Joe Milliken from Rathamon, North Carolina. And the DeWitt, number 72. You've got Dad in the Rod Austerlin number two. And Harry Gant.

Yes, Harry Gann is a rookie in the Kenny Childers Racing number 12. And he's also going to drive the Race Hill Farms car number 47. All right, so I wanted to introduce you to more about Joe Milliken. And the reason is is because obviously of the four drivers, we know. a lot about Terry Labani. We know Dad and Harry Gant. But Joe is going to be the one that gives Dad the toughest run for this rookie of the year title. So who is Joe Milliken? Joe Milliken from Rand of the North Carolina cut his teeth with a petty operation. Well, at the age of 15, he went to work for Petty Enterprises. And in the early 70s, he was

actually the Jackman for Buddy Baker's car when Buddy Baker drove for the Petty's in that famous number 11 Dodge. Joe Mulligan started on the second row this race. He worked his way into the driver's seat and began competing in the late model ranks around North Carolina at tracks like Carraway, and he quickly found Victory Lane. He also, all during this time, worked on Richard Petty's crew. In 1974, he began attempting late model sportsmen races in Petty built Dodges. He'd also win a track championship at Carraway, but he impressed everybody with a sixth place finish at Charlotte in the late model sportsman race in that year. year. He made his cup debut for Buddy Arrington at Rockingham in the same year running 17th. From 1975 to 1978, he continued running limited races on the sportsman circuit driving the

petty built dodges. He was very impressive with many results in the top five and runner-up finishes at Daytona and Martinsville in 1975. And he won the sportsman race at Daytona in 76 and the May Sportsman Race at Talladega in 1978. For 1979 when Benny Parsons left his longtime ride at DeWitt Racing to drive MC Anderson's car, Joe was tabbed as his replacement due to his connections in the sport through his work at Petty's and his impressive showings on the Super Speedways in the late model sportsman races. Okay, now that we have the field set, it's time to embark on the 31 race schedule that would make up the most influential season in NASCAR history.

Here goes tail on the inside. He'll make the move to the number one quarter. Milliken, the rookie driver goes into the room. On this season of becoming Earnhardt, we're going to cover NASCAR's deal to bring flag-to-flag racing to network television. Kail hits him. He slides. A fist fight that captivated millions and converted an entire new generation of stock car fans.

And there's a fight between Kail Yarborough and Donnie Allison. They're angry. They know they have lost. There's a messy divorce. of one of the most prolific partnerships in NASCAR history. The great-grandfather of Porter Racing, David Pearson, the silver fought the Winsbrothers. And then there's the points battle

between the old guard and the future of stock car racing. Gerald Walshrip and Walser Benzett is falling out of it for the moment. Betty is out in front. We've had a lot of talk about Dale Earnhardt. Meanwhile, we're gonna follow Dad's quest to take top honors in the most loaded rookie class in Cups existence.

A tight battle with Terry Lobney. That damn Earnhardt. As well as the triumphs he'd experience, like his first win. Earnhardt, the rookie from Connapples, North Carolina, slices his way to the front of the pack. And then, the challenges and adversity like he'd never faced before. That's something I haven't seen in a long, long time, if ever, in NASCAR races. Join us next time on becoming Earnhardt, as we kick the season off with the first of 31 races. Be the Winston Cup run national champion.

Do you really think you can do it your sophomore year? We're going to run it. The Coming Earnhardt is a podcast series by Dirty Mo Media. It is written and produced by myself, Dellenhart Jr., with Bobby Marcos and Mike Davis. Sound Design and Engineering by Alex Thames and Ben Potts. Production assistant by Andrew Curlin, Micah Codwell, Dustin Lee,

James Rosent, and Sean Senn. This project is in partnership with NASCAR, NASCAR Media Group, and the Motor Racing Network. For full replays of races from 1970, and more, listen to Motor Racing Network's Classic Races at MrN.com. Special thanks to Kay Earnhardt Schneitz, Kathy Earnhardt Wachton, Doug Reichert, Cadence 13, and Silver Tribe Media. For additional content on Becoming Earnhardt, including exclusive videos,

visit Dirtymo Media's YouTube page and follow us on all major social media platforms.