Dale Earnhardt

If Richard Petty was the king of NASCAR, then surely Dale Earnhardt was the nefarious black knight. It has been nine years since his unfortunate death, and yet his legend is still found in every race track and his reputation is found on every Dale Earnhardt t-shirt. The Intimidator. His influence is felt throughout NASCAR as Dale Earnhardt merchandise is still one of the hottest selling groups of items in sports memorabilia stores.

In 1979 Dale Earnhardt won the NASCAR Winston Cup rookie of the year award. That award would prove appropriate as he went on to win 7 Winston Cup championships over his 20 year career. His popularity sky rocketed during the 1980’s and one would be hard pressed to find a race fan, mechanic or motor head without a Dale Earnhardt hat. However, even having won 3 Winston Cup championships in the 1980’s, one victory continued to elude him. The Daytona 500.

Finally in 1998, Dale won the biggest race of the year, the Daytona 500. Dale Earnhardt is arguably one of the greatest and most marketable figures in sport. To this day, the black number 3 can be found on nearly every piece of Dale Earnhardt memorabilia.