The Dale Jr. Download - Becoming Earnhardt Vol. 7 - Back In The Fight

Episode Date: December 20, 2025

As we roll into the CRC Chemicals 500 at Dover Downs International Speedway, our hero Dale Earnhardt has settled back into his role as driver of the Osterlund Racing number 2. However, six weeks out of the action has compromised his stamina, and his first race back the prior week in Richmond saw him seeking out assistance from fellow racer Lennie Pond. 500 miles at the challenging, high-banked one-mile oval in Delaware is demanding enough for a healthy driver, but for someone who is still mending two broken collarbones it’s unthinkable. Then again, that’s the Dale Earnhardt we’ve all come to know so well: never backing down from any challenge.In episode seven of Becoming Earnhardt, we deep dive into races 25 through 27 of the 1979 NASCAR Cup season. Three 500-mile contests at three of the most demanding speedways on the circuit: Dover Downs, Martinsville and Charlotte. With the Rookie of the Year battle at stake thanks to the continuous, consistent performance of Joe Milllikan, Dale Earnhardt is prepared to risk further injury to his already weakened body to claim the title sure to be the ticket to a bright future in the top ranks of stock car 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. Critical but stable. The J.C. Elder, the crew chief on that car, the Austerlin machine, has backed him down a little bit to kind of conserve himself and go as far as he can here this afternoon or if there is a problem on the car. Here's Earnhardt across the striven. What a remarkable story on this youngster all year. He's been one of the top drivers, very impressive and talent, but so are several of the other rookie drivers. The competition has been extremely close in that battle for the first National City Rookie of the Year honors. Earnhardt, very certainly one of the most impressive in that crop. When I set out to create becoming Earnhardt,

I wanted to tell the story of my dad before he became the Intimidator, before the 76 wins and the seven championships. I wanted to tell the original story of the sports greatest superhero through the lens of the sports greatest season, the 1979 campaign. And through this journey, I've learned so much about my dad, Things that I never knew and things that honestly blew my mind. But at the same time, I noticed things that were familiar to me, mannerisms that I remember being uniquely dad and character traits that made him Dale Earnhardt.

But nothing embodied the man quite like the way he answered this question from the Motor Racing Network prior to the September 1979 race at Dover. Yesterday, as he was sitting in the garage area, I asked him, Dale, how tough was it? We know you're hurting now, but how tough was it to sit out? So many races and watch David Pearson and Jake Elder go to the win in the Southern 500. How hard was it for you as a rookie? It was rough than it is getting back in it and hurting. You know, I was real uncomfortable about watching the car running not me being. You know, we've been building something all year as a team,

and I was a competitive end of the rookie race and a point chase and everything. You know, it just defeated me to have to sit and watch the points dwindle back down and them guys fast in the back. It was good to get back in it. Dad's admission that it was more difficult watching David Pearson win in Dad's number two obstacle and racing car than dealing with the excruciating pain of two broken collarbones is frankly the tough SOB I remember the most. I'm Dellenhart Jr.

And on this episode of Becoming Earnhardt, Dad has just eight races left to prove that he's the top rookie in 1979. The problem is he's no long. longer the leader in the rookie of the year point standings. That's Joe Milliken, and he's close to claiming what Dad has worked all year to get. This episode of Becoming Earnhardt is presented by Chevrolet. To keep up with all of Team Chevy's winning programs in NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA, and MSA, visit Chevrolet.com slash motorsports or follow Team Chevy on all social media platforms. Coming up later, I'll share with you, my family's deep history with Chevrolet,

But for now, let's get on with Volume 7 of Becoming Earnhardt. At the end of the last episode, Dad has returned to the driver's seat of his Austral and Chevrolet, and he's going to sit on the pole for the race in Richmond. Now, while he didn't drive the entire race, needing relief from Lenny Pond, they did finish in the top five, and they gained on Joe Milliken in the rookie of the year standings. He now just sits six points behind Joe, and around this time, Dad's going to write another bi-monthly article. Okay, so this is the fifth and final bi-monthly article that Dad's going to write during the 1979 season. And I haven't read this one.

So we're going to learn everything that's in this one together. Starts off by saying that Dad's writing this from Lake Norman, and here we go. It wasn't any special miracle drug that helped me get over my injuries from the Pocono Rick. I wanted back in that race car so bad I must have just psyched myself back to being healthy. The doctors couldn't believe it. My regular appointment wasn't until Thursday after the Southern 500, but I called him and we moved it up to Tuesday, the day after the race in Darlington. He checked the x-rays and just shook his head. He told me nobody was supposed to heal that fast.

He said everything looked fine, but I might have a stamina problem in the first. first few races. He said he didn't know what I'd been doing, but I must have been doing something right. Then he released me and wished me luck at Richmond. All the way to Richmond, I kept thinking how nice it would be if I could sit on the pole. Really? Because I knew there were some people who had already figured I was flat out of the picture. Jake Elder, my crew chief, and the guys had that car set up perfect for qualifying. And zap! Right on the pole position. Boy, did that answer a lot of questions in a hurry. Cole Earnhardt was back in action. I led some of the race too and the car was competitive all day. Right early I kind of suspected it was going to be Bobby Allison's race. I could

tell when he got by me early that his car was just working super good. I could pull anybody but him. I felt pretty good but the muscles in my neck started pulling about halfway through the race. I tightened my straps trying to get comfortable but it was still hurting. I told Jake on the radio that My neck was starting to hurt, so he had Lenny Pond standing by in the pits to relieve me. I kept remembering that Bobby Allison had told me at Darlington, if you start hurting to get out. So, we got the next caution, and Lenny took over. It's still going to take me a few more races before I feel like I've got myself sorted out physically. I've been doing a good bit of exercises, especially riding my bike, and just being back in the race car helps too.

All thoughts of ever being hurt went out the window when our crew unloaded that race cart Richmond. We were back together again. It's really amazing to be part of a team like that. You can't describe the feeling. I was back and those guys were just as excited as I was. They went crazy when we sat on the pole. I'll say one thing about coming back from an injury. The other drivers are anxious to help you.

Bobby Allison, Kale, Arboral, Richard Petty, they all spent a good bit of time talking to me, telling me what to expect. The advice that they gave me helped a lot. If there's ever been anybody hurt who had to come back, it's those guys. They told me what to do to feel more comfortable in the seat, what physical signs to look for. And they all told me to have enough sense to get out of the car if I'm hurting. I'm feeling pretty good now though And I'll be 100% in another week

I know it takes time But I must be a fast healer or something What's really amazing is that it's almost time for Charlotte again The Napa 500 is the first weekend in October I knew it must be getting close Because all of my buddies around home started asking for tickets If I gave everybody a ticket who asked for one They'd have to build another grandstand

Please guys I just drive the race car. I don't have any tickets. I was out at Charlotte the other day looking over the new paved turns in turns three and four. Man, are those drivers going to be in for a few surprises when they show up for practice? It's going to be like going to a new speedway. They're not going to bleed the speeds either. We'll be faster at Charlotte this time. And think of all that money, all the lap money and all the qualifying money. Somebody, though, has got to put a stop to the Wood brothers. They have been winning poll money at Charlotte for as long as I can remember. We were talking about the Charlotte pole at the shop the other day. The folks around Canapolis

think it would be kind of nice to see an old Earnhardt win that pole, while they might have to close down Cannon Meals if I did. It was last October at Charlotte when things started looking pretty good for me. I'll have to write about it next time. And that's it. That's the final article that dad's going to write. This one felt personal for sure, but you could see or sent some of the PR work behind the scenes. He obviously, you know, had a hand in writing all of these articles throughout the year. And it's a shame that we don't get another one of these at the very end of the season. But that's the last one. These were a lot of fun for me to read. And I think they really added a lot to the series.

More becoming Earnhardt coming right up. But first, a message from our sponsors. Hey, everybody, Dale Jr. here. Let's take a minute to talk about Chevrolet. You know, as you know, the Earnhardt family is a Chevrolet family, and we've always raised Chevys and my dad's relationship with Chevrolet is well documented. Dad's connection to Chevrolet is as much a contributor to his legacy as anything else. Consider this.

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Well, good afternoon, everyone, from Dover Downs. They call it the Incredible Mile. Dover Downs International Speedway. It's a track that plays no favorites from rookie to veteran. It'll just reach out and grab you when you least expect it. It's one wail of a racetrack, and there's always some of the best competition on the Winston Cup tour when we come here. But heading into Dover, we're going to race 25 on the season. and dad knew there was going to be a tough, tough challenge ahead.

The speeds and the G-forces his body would have to deal with at the one mile over were going to be difficult on his injured collarbones. I think I do pretty good here. The banking on the track helps me out some and don't. You don't have the pressure pushing over to the right as you think you would have. You lean over in the car and you're about set straight up now for us. What the race tracks, the pressure on the race track. This was the CRC Chemicals 500.

That's 500 laps. These days we only run 400 lap events at Dover, and those were considered relatively lengthy races today. Imagine 500 laps. Just the thought of any contact or collision forcing his body into the shoulder harnesses, that gives me chills. The pain that he could endure would be unbearable in those situations. And Jackie Root the rookies this week have done a number on the field in the Winston Cup circuit,

particularly here at Dover, starting on Friday afternoon the first round of qualifying. when the rookie driver Dale Earnhardt picked up two pole positions in a row. He did it at Richmond, Virginia last weekend. He came here on Friday, and he did it again. But when the day ended on Friday, the blue and yellow number two was back on top of the board again. Dad had won the poll now two weeks in a row. Quite an accomplishment, honestly, as I would not call Dad one of the better qualifiers throughout his long career. Dad's quick time may have been aided by a brief rain shower that cooled the track surfing,

right before he went out. Only the top two positions were locked in on Friday, with Darrell Walshup running the second fastest lap. All the other positions would be settled in second round qualifying the next day, and Harry Gantt would put down a lap on Saturday that would set a new track record. Temps were cooler, speeds were higher, and Gant used those McQuarrie race tires to break a record set by David Pearson back in 1975. Also on Saturday, the track held a 50-mile baby grand event.

NASCAR's Baby Grand Division was for compact sedans with four-cylinder engines. The track also brought in Joey Chipwood's thrill show for fans to enjoy. My favorite side show was Jimmy the Flying Greek. He would jump a school bus, nose first into a pile of cars at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the early 1980s. There's a video of him doing that on YouTube. driver Donnie Allison spent his time in the garage walking around letting everybody know that he might be interested in other driving opportunities for next year. His current owner, Haas Ellington's decision to cut back his team's schedule doesn't suit Donnie's driving interests. Diving on the pit road, the pace car hits the pit road and here they come down to the line.

Green flag and the CRC Chemicals 500 is underway. Earnhardt gets up through the gearbox quick as hits the number one corner and pulls out front by about two car leagues. On Sunday, a crowd of 34,000. were present to see Dad lead the field to the green flag. 34 cars, barrel into turn one. Oh, trouble down in turn number one, a couple of cars spinning down to the bottom of the racetrack. One appears to be the Elmo Langley car number 64. Baxter Price goes up.

And on lap, too, there was a spectacular five-car crash involving some of the cars near the back of the field. Dad would lead the first 35 laps of the race before Richard Petty takes the lead. Oh, trouble to turn three, a car into the wall, looks to be Waldrop. just climbed the racetrack and smack the wall midway between the third and fourth turn. Bad luck would find our championship point leader, Darrell Walchuk. On lap 58, he blew a tire and crashed into the wall. Waltrip entered the race with a 187 point lead,

and this issue, coupled with a strong run by Richard Petty would take a giant chunk out of that cushion. And Barney Hall, the caution is about to be displayed to the starting field here as they come across the start At one point early in the race, the caution flag flew with Caly Yarborough leading. A crew member working on the damaged car of Darrell Waltrip back in the garage was stung by a bee. And allergic reaction caused enough concern for medics in the infield care center that a trip to the local hospital was requested. For Dover, that meant slowing the field and opening the tracks gate. There was no tunnel at Dover, no walkover access to the infield. Well, the caution has come out for the fifth time this afternoon.

Starter Chip Warren waving the yellow flag to the entire starting field again. A non-racing-related incident is called for the... This race would actually have a second yellow to allow an ambulance to cross after a fan in the infield had a medical emergency. Oh, the trouble, Ornard is loose, sliding towards the infield retaining wall. The car goes around, smacks the wall with the right side. Dad would bring out a pair of cautions himself with a couple harmless spins. After the first spin, the team went,

looking for a relief driver to try and finish the race, young Bill Elliott, who was not entered in the race, was asked to suit up and help the team, you see. Earlier in the week, Jake Elder asked Bill to come along with the team and be available should Dad need relief. Dale Earnhardt has gotten out of the Australian Enterprise's car, and Bill Elliott, who was his standby driver, has gotten in that car. When Dad spends the second time, he decides to get out and let Bill Elliott have the wheel.

Dale, you came out of the car. Were you hurting of your end? injury bothered you? Well, my neck following a little bit, Ned, but I got the car, I spun the car out over there, got Richard Petty on the second corner over there, and first time and messed the front end up on it, and then I lost it down there that next time. So, uh, I decided to pull me out of the car and give me a rest. I thought I was getting tired, but I felt pretty good.

Reporters would ask Dad how he felt. I'm not tired, I'm fine. I'm just taking a breather. Taking a breather. I mean, that's an interesting way of putting it. I just can't imagine. I mean, he's going to get back in the car or what? Well, Bill would keep the car in the top ten before, yeah, you guessed it.

Dad's going to climb back in the car with the final 100 laps to go. So he really did. Just need a breather. Well, just as we said, time in and time again here at Dover Downs International Speedway, when things get long in the tooth, things begin to unfold on the racetrack. And they have in turn two in front of Mike Joy. The finish for the race was set up with a late caution and a sprint to the end. Yarborough has the lead, but Petty and Donnie Allison, they want it.

Petty's right underneath Cale Yarbril back in two. And traffic will be a factor. Cale gets way loose and almost one. Cale would slip up in turn four and nearly crash. It was an incredible save, but he falls to third place. They'd go into turn three for the final time. Richard Petty slowed up a little bit of the number one quarter. Here's Allison going to make his move on the outside.

There's a lap car directly ahead. Donnie's on the outside. He's up there. Petty and Donnie are going to race each other door-to-door around the final corner with Petty edging out Donnie for the win. Now, Petty's thrilled about this win, but he's even more excited about the effect the race had on the championship points battle. The crash for Darrell Waltrip calls the DiGuard crew to go to work for an hour and a half.

That relegates Darrell to a 29th place finish, and his 187 point advantage is now 83. Hale finished third in the race. Buddy Baker was fourth, and Joe Milliken's going to finish fifth as the day's highest finishing rookie. Dad, with relief, help from Bill Elliott, he brings his car home in ninth, five laps down. Petty's comments on the championship battle. The pressure's got to be on Darrell. He's got to be worried about having to protect his lead.

Me, I ain't got nothing to lose. Nobody expected me to be anywhere near the point lead. I didn't get out of the car at Dover because I was tired or my neck was bottom anything. Jake told me to get out of the car. He said, take a rest, you know, he don't have to wear yourself out and overdo it. So I got out and put Bill Elley in for about 80 laps and then got back in and finished the race. And it felt real good after the race and didn't have any problems or pains or anything like that. So I'm looking forward to having a good race here right at Martinsville.

As the teams headed to the tight paperclip shaped short track in Martinsville, Virginia, Richard Petty was just over 80 points behind Darrell Walterer with only six races to go. Petty had struggled for two years, but now seemed the team to beat as the DiGuard crew was stumbling to get results. But upon arriving at Martinsville, the Dygard team unloaded their caprice named Dolly, and Daryl would put Dolly on the pole for the race. We should do well here. If I finish here, I usually either win or finish in the first couple of spots. We don't anticipate anything any different.

We do have the caprice here. We sat on the pole with it in the spring, and we were finished third with this a brand new car. Then we have made some considerable improvements in the car, and we think it's going to be a good car for this track. We would have preferred to have our money call over here, but it got torn up last week at Dover. So we brought to Caprice. We don't feel like that will henderson anyway. I think with our knowledge and my experience on a track like this,

that if we won the race by two laps, it wouldn't surprise me. Joe Milliken, who entered the race a single point behind Dad in the fight for the battle of the rookie of the year, qualified a blistering third place. As they come out of that fourth corner still, not coming up through the gears, They're about a 50, 100 feet away, and now they drop the green, and here they come. Shuffling down into the number one corner, Waltrip gets a little jump. On Boddott, takes the inside groove, and he pulls out. Adair Walchip's going to dominate the race early, and unfortunately for Dad,

something broke on the front of the Australand Chevrolet, and he hits the wall hard, only 67 laps into the 500-lap event. Earnhardt gets out of control going out of turn number two and slams it into the wall. It looked like the front end just took off, broke loose as he came out of the number two corner, and caution will be on the speedway for the first time this afternoon. afternoon, a jack-a-root. What a tough break for Dale Earnhardt this early in the race. It was a huge disappointment after a decent fifth-place qualifying effort. Rookie Joe Milliken's going to lead for a time before making contact with Cecil Gordon.

Joe Milliken was coming around to Lab Cecil Gordon and looked like the two of them made contact. Milliken's left front of his appliance wheels, Chevroly, slamming into the back of Cecil Gordon's car as Cecil tried to cut down and out of the racing groove. Gordon was red with anger and then swore his revenge. Once his car was fixed, Gordon came back onto the track and he crashed into Milliken, resulting in him being black flagged and scolded by NASCAR's steward Ray Hill. Oh, Trevor. Daryl Walterp spins in turn three and taps the retaining wall up at the north end of the speedway. Racing back to the line go Bobby Allison, Kale Yarborough and Richard Petty,

as Waltrip's car sits in a cloud of smoke up against the wall in turn number three. Unbelievably for Waltrip, he blows another engine on lap 275. causing the DiGuard team to go to work and making a change. This time, it only took the team 11 minutes and 36 seconds. That's a new unofficial record changing engines. And this allows Waltrip to finish 11th, 29 laps down. That's incredible. I mean, that is really fast to be able to change a motor.

The crowd have come to their feet and they applaud Buddy Baker of Charlotte, North Carolina, less than a lap to go for Buddy Baker as he seeks his first victory in Martinsville, Virginia and the grandfather clock that's donated by Clay Earls as the trophy. This time he dives low into turn number three and again as it has for 500 laps the car pushes a bit in the turn and comes out waves to the crowd. Checkered flag for Buddy Baker at Martinsville, Virginia as he wins the Old Dominion 500. It is Baker's first win ever here at the Speedway. Even while losing his brakes in the last 100 laps, it didn't stop Buddy Baker from leading

the final circuits and winning the fall Martinsville Cup event. Oddly enough, it was only Baker's second short-track victory in 22 years on the Cup circuit. Richard Petty came home second, 18 seconds behind to chop another 35 points off of Darrell Walchip's point lead. Joe Milliken, Bobby Allison, and Dave Marcus are going to round out the top five. After the race, the points margin between Waltrip and Petty stands at only 48. ...round, and course, Richard's running super, and the thing that really hurt us is that you won. Two races that have been really critical as far as we were concerned is the Michigan race, where we blew up there on a very early opening laps and got, I've had a poor finish,

and Richard went on and won the race. And then the Dover, we cut a tire down and hit the wall and tore the car all the pieces, and we were way down, and Richard won the race. So those have been two really big swings right there in his favor that have really tightened the thing up. I've got a lot more coming your way, but let's take a moment to, hear from the people who make this possible. The next race on the schedule is a 400 lapper at North Wiltsboro. Rain had flooded its parking lots all weekend.

And even though the sun was out early Sunday morning, NASCAR decided to postpone the event to October the 14th. Race teams are going to have a rare Sunday off and a week to prepare for Charlotte's 500-mile. Good afternoon, everyone, from Charlotte Motor Speedway. Well, if they could have ordered this weather by a prescription like you ride, item for drugs in the drugstore. You couldn't have asked for a better day than we have here at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Not a cloud in the sky. Beautiful visibility. Sunshine out all morning long and the temperatures are forecast to be in the low 70s. Just ideal racing day here at Charlotte.

I sat down and watched this race on YouTube just a few weeks ago and I encourage anyone to watch any of these races from the 79 or 80 season, especially at the 1.5 or 2 mile tracks like Charlotte and Michigan. The new NASCAR classics website has several of these to watch. And it's It's amazing how the cars could pass with ease, how well the draft kept the leaders together, but also how handling on the long run was critical the field could tend to spread out. When everyone had new tires, though, it was going to be an 8 to 10 car lead pack mixing it up like crazy for 20 or 30 laps. And Charlotte in the fall of 1979 was all of this and more.

We see some new pavement in turns 3 and 4 with the announcement that prior to the World 600, the entire 1.5 mile facility will be covered in some 2 inches of brand new. asphalt, which should accelerate speeds despite the fact that we had a record-breaking pole position qualifying day on Wednesday. As Dad mentioned in the bi-monthly article, track officials decided to repave part of the track, just turns three and four. And this threw teams, drivers, and tire manufacturers for a loop. With the new asphalt down in turns three and four, cars were rocketing into the old asphalt of turn one, a full eight to ten miles an hour faster than in the spring race earlier in the year. Harry Gant, who had run the McQuary tires at many races this year,

had to start the race in the rear because he switched back to good years after qualifying. Gant and the team were worried about the durability of the Macquarie tires after seeing some issues in practice. The Grand Marshal for the race is going to be Hal Needham. Now that might be a familiar name. He was a one-time famed stuntman, and for this race, he's going to hang outside of a helicopter holding a large American flag in front of the grandstand crowd during the national anthem. Just incredible. That sounds awesome. If I'm going to be the Grand Marshal, I can't just come down here, walk out on the field. I got Bill and you of people saying the greatest stuntman in the world.

I've got to do something a little different, don't I? Needham called himself a new fan of NASCAR, but had been driving a little bit on the West Coast in some Lake Model Sportsman cars. He would become well known for his collaborations with Bert Reynolds on many movies, like Smokey and the Bandit. And then also co-owned with Reynolds, the number 33 Skull Bandit, Harry Gant driven car, starting in the 1981 season.

The dad was returning to his home track for the second time in his rookie season. Over the years, he'd had spectacular runs in the Sportsman Series races at Charlotte, but now in the big leagues, he has captured the attention of all motorsports fans in the region. Race promoter, Humpy Wheeler, says that more fans from

surrounding areas like Dad's hometown of Canapolis have purchased tickets just to see their adopted son compete at the cup level. Dad enters the race only six points behind Joe Milliken in the rookie of the year battle. As Dad also mentioned in his bi-monthly article, the Wood Brothers streak of 12 straight pole positions at Charlotte was a popular topic of conversation during the weekend, but Neil Bonnet's going to silence all the doubters with an amazing, sizzling, four-lap run in the number 21 Ford, making it now 13 races straight that they would start from the number one position at Charlotte. Yeah, Barney, you know, the Woods come here,

that was number 13 for them, but that was just number two for me. If I'd have had number one, it'd just been, well, he got one of them, you know, the car's going to nothing to do, you know, it's going to carry him along like that. But then to come back and get the second one in a row, where it wasn't just a fluke deal that I managed to get a lucky lap in the first race. So, you know, what people don't realize is every week I get to feel a lot better than that,

race car. Dad's going to hustle the number two Austral and Monte Carlo to an eighth place starting position on Wednesday during first round qualifying. Joey Chipwood's thrill show was back on the NASCAR circuit this weekend entertaining fans after first round qualifying was complete. Green flag

just 50 yards away as they dive down into the number one corner. Bonnett comes up through the gearbox. A total of 69 cars had entered the event. But at the drop of the green flag, the fastest 40 in qualifying drive off into term one for the first first of 500 miles.

Dad, Earnhardt, find to stay right with Neobonit as they work their way down the back straight away. Up the 18-degree banks of turns three. There goes Ernard, stepping on it. Neal Bonnet having to back off just a bit as Buddy Baker goes underneath him. Dad's going to press the button and jumps into the lead early. His car looks super strong, but wildly veterans like Allison and Yarborough might just be riding out this first half of the race, letting the rookie be the one to push his car to its limits. A cycle of stops under Yellow would put control of the race in Bobby Allison's hands for a bit, but soon, Richard Petty would take the lead. Richard looked really impressive in this race. Everyone's running right on the wall and turns one and two all day on that older asphalt, but the king, he's even closer, looking like he might hit the wall any lap.

Dad would lead another chunk of laps, and MRN played a few sound bites they had grabbed from Dad during the weekend. Listening to these sound bites, Dad's entire demeanor sounds and feels different than from the World 600 in the spring. You see, back then, he was carefully maneuvering for the veteran's respect and in all of his quick rise to contender. But now, he sounds like this cocky, rookie, and full of confidence. On today's race, his comment of, we came to win, and his thoughts on the next season, we're going to win the championship. I mean, he sounds like he's convinced. Dale Earnhardt has already stated what his goals for 1980 are. Be the Winston Cup Grand National Champion.

Do you really think you can do it your sophomore year? We're going to run it. We're going to run at it as hard as we can go. We've got the equipment and the manpower, and I feel like I'm capable. And whether I'm ready or not, we're going to run at it. Dave Marcus falls out early after a crash, continuing a grueling year of disappointment.

Rubbers are that he infamed, crew chief Harry Hyde are looking to join forces for next year, and the offseason can't come quick enough for Marcus. Richard Brickhouse was competing at Charlotte for the first time in nine years. Brickhouse famously won the inaugural race at Talladega, where most of the competitors had boycotted. That 1969 win in Talladega would be the only win of his career, and his comeback would be a brief three races.

He would finish 39th of the 40 starters after engine troubles. Making a mid-race appearance in the MRN booth was Jim and Tammy Faye Baker. Jim and Tammy Faye Baker were American evangelist television personalities who were famous for their television program, the PTO Club. Around this time, they also built a Christian-themed amusement park called Heritage USA. And later, they would find themselves in a heap of trouble. Mr. Baker, your impressions of automobile racing, as you see it today at Charlotte. Wow, this is probably one of the most exciting races that I've ever been at,

and especially since the man leading right now, is driving a car that's owned by one of my best friends, and it's kind of getting exciting down there in the booth where we are. But it just goes to show you that back then, you never knew who was going to be at Charlotte. Promoter Humpty Wheeler? He had many, many surprises over the years, and this set Charlotte apart from most of the other racetracks on the NASCAR circuit.

Now, the race had a lot of tire. problems. Darrell Waltrop, Donnie Alice, and Richard Petty, they all had to make unscheduled pit stops for tire issues throughout the event. There is a serious problem on the Earnhardt car. He's made two unscheduled stops that he is not yet back to racing speed. Let's go to Ed Jarrett. Okay, we're standing by here with Jake Elder. Jake, what's going wrong? I'm looking a set of tires equalized. Well, they thought they had a good set of tires, oh it. They came in and changed the left side, then had to come back in and change the other side, so he has lost a lot of valuable time here under the green flag.

Dad would even have to pit early for a blistered tire while in a commanding lead on lap 151. In addition to that, he would lose a cylinder slowing his pace considerably, and by the end of the race, he'd fall in all the way to 10th position. As unfortunate as that was, he still outran his closest competitor for the rookie of the year title, Joe Milliken. We have no problems. We've got Joe Milliken. Joe's been problems up in turn number four.

He hit the wall, discard some debris on the racetrack. Joe had some problems halfway through the race, crashing into the turn three wall, and he retired with suspension trouble. As we said, most competitors had tire issues. In total, 27 tires were damaged during the race, and Goodyear decided not to charge any of the teams for tires that failed. Right around the 250-mile mark,

Buddy Baker takes over to the lead. Baker, Benny Parsons, Bobby Allison, Kale Yarborough have rose toward the front of the field. These four seem to recognize the tire issues early, and they set a pace that was more reasonable for the durability of the tires. But suddenly, Parsons is forced to pit with a blistered tire. Shortly after, Allison, too, is forced to pit road. And now Baker is leading the race late, and Kale's right behind him. They are the only two on the lead lap, and entering turn three. Baker and Kale approach slower cars that are too wide.

The challenge for the late. In turn number three, Buddy Baker is up into the wall. Cale Yarborough comes down. Baker spins. G. T-bones with H.B. Bailey. I should say with... Baker tries to go to the top, making it three-wide, and he slips in the marbles and makes contact with the third-turn wall.

This calls Baker to lose control and spin down into the apron. Kale goes low and avoids all of it, and takes the lead. Kale right now again. pointing the car to the high side. It floats on the outside groove. He brings it back down and looks ahead to the checker flag. The Bush beer livery is on their feet as Kail Yarbrough sticks his hand out. Carol Yarbrough would go on to win his fourth event of the season.

Bobby Allison, who led 61 laps, would finish second one lap down. Darrow Waltrip fought all day just to finish ahead of his chief arrival in points, Richard Petty. Walter would only gain five points on Petty for the day, extending the championship race to 53 points now with four races remaining. I have to say I used to always get asked who my favorite drivers were, you know, besides my dad. And one of them was Shirley Kell Yarbril. His style in and out of the car was one that I always appreciated. You know, Kale ran his first NASCAR race when he was only 17.

You're supposed to be 21 years old. Kale commented once that he figured he had about five incorrect births. certificates on file at NASCAR. He was also a star football player in high school and got an offer to try out for the Washington commanders, but he stayed on the family farm instead and eventually found racing to be his calling. As we come to the close of episode 7, Dad has now returned from his injuries and he's started four events.

The results aren't good. Now, he's qualified well, two poles, a fifth and an eighth, but the driver and the team were underperforming. We can give Dad a break at Richmond and Dover where he probably came back too soon. He needed relief drivers in both of those events, but the following two races were an early crash and a 10th place run at Charlotte. Considering the great run the team had with Pearson at the wheel, Dad has to be feeling the pressure to figure it out. Four races remain in the season. A strong run to the finish will motivate the group over the winter break and set them up for a better year in 1980.

But if they struggle to the end, keeping morale up over the offseason will be difficult. Next time on becoming Earnhardt, the 1979 NASCAR season is racing toward the checkered flag. Both the season points championship and the rookie of the year crown are shaping up to be fights all the way to the finish. Petty v. Waltrip, Milliken versus Earnhardt, with only four races left, which names will be made synonymous with the greatest season in NASCAR history? Becoming Earnhardt is a podcast series by Dirty Mo Media. It is written and produced by myself, Dale Earnhardt Jr., with Bobby Marcos and Mike Davis.

Sound designed by Ben Potts. Production assistance by Tiff Powers, Michael Cawdwell, Dustin Lee, James Brousan, Andrew Curlin, and Alex Tim. This project is in partnership with NASCAR, NASCAR productions, and the Motor Racing Network. For full replays of classic races, visit the Motor Racing Network's website at mrn.com. Special thanks to 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.