Kenny Wallace always has a Dale Earnhardt story up his sleeve.
Obviously, the former NASCAR driver’s most famous Dale Sr. anecdote is the legendary tale of how he helped Earnhardt earn his 76th and final win at Talladega in 2000. Die hard racing fans know exactly the moment I’m alluding to. If you aren’t familiar, it’s considered one of the greatest and most impressive comebacks in the history of racing – only made that much more memorable by it being the last win of Dale Sr.’s career.
Dale climbed 17 spots in a matter of four laps to take the lead at Talladega, and he had Kenny Wallace to thank for being able to do so. Wallace and Earnhardt crossed paths many times in their lives and careers, but that win at Talladega will be the one that pairs them together for all of time.
Thus, Kenny knows quite a lot about the late great NASCAR legend, which is why he’s often asked about “The Intimidator” when he sits down for interviews. Wallace joined The Skinny with Rico & Ken podcast earlier this week, and the show hosts asked Kenny about some of the “haters” that Dale Sr. had earlier on in his career.
Wallace was happy to share the reason why not everyone loved Dale Earnhardt when he first got started in racing, and it had to do a little something with how Dale Sr. aggressively handled his vehicle:
“Dale Earnhardt Sr. went through hell early in his career because he’d as soon wreck you than to pass you. It’s true. He was hardcore. Dale Sr. was trying to make a living… he needed the money. You started looking in the mirror and here he comes.
And you had two choices with Dale Sr. You either moved right away or he’s going to move you. That’s where he got the nickname ‘The Intimidator.’ Mark Martin would work on you for ten laps trying to pass you. Dale Sr. would give you like two seconds.”
You’ve gotta love Dale Earnhardt.
Though I say that, that very racing style – which people look back on fondly now – is what led Dale Sr. to be somewhat of a villain in the NASCAR world there for a bit. And if you sitting there thinking, “Yeah, but Earnhardt stopped racing that way after he earned the respect of his fellow racers,” Kenny Wallace thinks of it another way:
“Dale Sr. wrecked the hell out of everybody all the time. Then it started slowing down because everybody simply started moving out of the way. He didn’t change. Dale Sr. never changed. It was everybody else that changed.
It helped him win a lot of championships because other drivers were like, ‘I’m moving out of his way… he’s gonna wreck me.'”
Dale Sr’s style certainly did help him win a ton of races in his career that spanned from 1975 to 2001. Not only did it earn him nicknames like “The Intimidator” and “The Man In Black,” it also led to 76 victories across the almost three decades he suited up and most famously drover the number 3 car. And believe it or not, we’re now coming up on the 24th anniversary of his tragic death at the Daytona 500 in 2001.
Just four months prior, Kenny Wallace had helped him to what became Dale Sr’s final win, and you can hear Kenny Wallace talk about it all in incredible detail in the interview below:
The post Kenny Wallace Remembers Dale Earnhardt & How He Got His ‘Intimidator’ Nickname: “He Was Hardcore… Wrecked The Hell Out Of Everybody” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.