He wrecked both cars. Dale swallowed his pride by going back to lower forms of racing. He got a job in Robert Gee's garage, and Gee let Dale race his dirt car and Dale continued his winning style. .
Earnhardt finally made it to Winston Cup in 1975. Dale Earnhardt's first Winston Cup race was on May 25, 1975. Using his father's old number 8, Dale entered the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Ed Nerge's Dodge. He started from the 33rd position and finished 22nd, one position ahead of driver Richard Childress, who Dale would later drive the famous number 3 for, and win six NASCAR Winston Cup Championships with. .
Earnhardt only ran eight more Winston Cup races over the next three years, but he finally landed a ride with Rod Osterlund after Osterlund saw him finish seventh at Daytona in a racecar owned by Bill Cronkite. Dale raced Osterlund's car in Atlanta racing Osterlund's primary car, driven by Dave Marcis. Going into a turn Dale beat and banged his way past Marcis to go on to a fourth place finish. .
Marcis decided not to drive for Osterlund in 1979, and Dale landed a ride in Marcis's old ride. This was Dale's big opportunity. He won in only his sixteenth career NASCAR Winston Cup start at the half mile track in Bristol, Tennessee, a very difficult track. After racing for Osterlund, winning a Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award and a Winston Cup championship the very next year seemed like something only Dale Earnhardt could do.
Earnhardt then went on to race for Bud Moore in the number 15 Wrangler Ford, but mechanical problems hindered this partnership and Dale only won two races. Then came the relationship of the most famous team in NASCAR Winston Cup history. .
Dale Earnhardt started racing for Richard Childress full time in 1984. Dale had raced for Childress before but that operation fell apart. In 1984 Dale won two races, had 22 top tens, and finished fourth in the points. More wins came in 1985, and in 1986 Dale won his second championship and his first for Childress, and again won the championship in 1987.
