Dale Earnhardt

In 1994, Earnhardt achieved a feat that he himself had believed to be impossible—he scored his seventh Winston Cup championship, tying [[Richard Petty]]. He was very consistent, scoring four wins, and after [[Ernie Irvan]] was sidelined due to a near-deadly crash at Michigan (the two were neck-and-neck at the top of the points up until the crash), won the title by over 400 points over Mark Martin. Earnhardt sealed the deal at Rockingham by winning the race over [[Rick Mast]]. It was his final NASCAR championship and his final season for the [[GM Certified Service|GM Goodwrench]] [[Chevrolet Lumina]]. Earnhardt started off the 1995 season by finishing second in the Daytona 500 to [[Sterling Marlin]]. He won five races in 1995, including his first [[road course]] victory at [[Infineon Raceway|Sears Point]]. He also won the [[Allstate 400 at The Brickyard|Brickyard 400]] at [[Indianapolis Motor Speedway]], a win he called the biggest of his career. But in the end, Earnhardt lost the championship to [[Jeff Gordon]] by 34 points. The [[GM Certified Service|GM Goodwrench]] racing team changed to [[Chevrolet Monte Carlo]]s.

In 1994, Earnhardt achieved a feat that he himself had believed to be impossible—he scored his seventh Winston Cup championship, tying [[Richard Petty]]. He was very consistent, scoring four wins, and after [[Ernie Irvan]] was sidelined due to a near-deadly crash at Michigan (the two were neck-and-neck at the top of the points up until the crash), won the title by over 400 points over Mark Martin. Earnhardt sealed the deal at Rockingham by winning the race over [[Rick Mast]]. It was his final NASCAR championship and his final season for the [[GM Certified Service|GM Goodwrench]] [[Chevrolet Lumina]]. Earnhardt started off the 1995 season by finishing second in the Daytona 500 to [[Sterling Marlin]]. He won five races in 1995, including his first [[road course]] victory at [[Infineon Raceway|Sears Point]]. He also won the [[Allstate 400 at The Brickyard|Brickyard 400]] at [[Indianapolis Motor Speedway]], a win he called the biggest of his career. But in the end, Earnhardt lost the championship to [[Jeff Gordon]] by 34 points. The [[GM Certified Service|GM Goodwrench]] racing team changed to [[Chevrolet Monte Carlo]]s.

Earnhardt almost was ready to leave the #3 at the end of the 1995 season, according to his former crew chief [[Larry McReynolds]]. At the time, McReynolds was the crew chief for the No. 28 [[Havoline]] [[Ford Thunderbird]] at [[Yates Racing|Robert Yates Racing]].''The Scene Vault Podcast'' episode 140, July 2020 Earnhardt had actually been approached by Yates to drive the No. 28 for the 1995 season in place of [[Ernie Irvan]], who was injured in a crash during the 1994 season. Instead, Robert Yates signed [[Dale Jarrett]] to a one-year deal to drive the No. 28. During the 1995 season, Yates was being pressed by his manufacturer to start a second team and sent a contract to Earnhardt to drive it.{{cite web | url=https://www.nascarhall.com/blog/different-dale-and-dale-show | title=A Different Dale & Dale Show | NASCAR Hall of Fame | Curators' Corner | access-date=March 13, 2023 | archive-date=March 13, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313235112/https://www.nascarhall.com/blog/different-dale-and-dale-show | url-status=live }} Earnhardt never returned the contract, and according to McReynolds the reason he did not sign was because he only wanted to drive the #28 for Yates; the team fully intended to put Irvan back behind the wheel of his old car once he was able to resume driving. Instead, Earnhardt stayed with RCR and the No. 3, while Jarrett was signed to drive Yates' new car, numbered 88.

Earnhardt almost was ready to leave the #3 at the end of the 1995 season, according to his former crew chief [[Larry McReynolds]]. At the time, McReynolds was the crew chief for the No. 28 [[Havoline]] [[Ford Thunderbird]] at [[Yates Racing|Robert Yates Racing]].''The Scene Vault Podcast'' episode 140, July 2020 Earnhardt had actually been approached by Yates to drive the No. 28 for the 1995 season in place of [[Ernie Irvan]], who was injured in a crash during the 1994 season. Instead, Robert Yates signed [[Dale Jarrett]] to a one-year deal to drive the No. 28. During the 1995 season, Yates was being pressed by his manufacturer to start a second team and sent a contract to Earnhardt to drive it.{{cite web | url=https://www.nascarhall.com/blog/different-dale-and-dale-show | title=A Different Dale & Dale Show | NASCAR Hall of Fame | Curators' Corner | access-date=March 13, 2023 | archive-date=March 13, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313235112/https://www.nascarhall.com/blog/different-dale-and-dale-show | url-status=live }} Earnhardt never returned the contract, and according to McReynolds the reason he did not sign was because he only wanted to drive the No. 28 for Yates; the team fully intended to put Irvan back behind the wheel of his old car once he was able to resume driving. Instead, Earnhardt stayed with RCR and the No. 3, while Jarrett was signed to drive Yates' new car, numbered 88.

====1996–1999====

====1996–1999====