As a GM Goodwrench Service Plus dealer, I understand how good service makes a difference to our customers.
But I'm good to go through my contract with Childress, and my determination is to win races and try to win that other championship.
But to win races and to race up front and to still want to do it like I do... I think their scorecards are wrong.
Finishing races is important, but racing is more important.
Growing up, I've enjoyed hunting with my father.
I don't want to argue with my wife about her car - or my driving.
I enjoy Saturday night racing.
I see it on pit road when we make better pit stops and that comes from harder work back at the shop, practicing, testing, trying to get better.
I started 20 years without missing a race and ESPN started broadcasting on the air waves.
I turn 50 in three years, and I don't know whether I want to race past that or not.
I want to be up front racing.
I woke up this morning, and I still don't believe I won the Daytona 500.
I'm racing for the wins and racing up front and finishing in the top 10. It's puzzling to me how you can judge a driver on that.
I've got to prove myself as a car owner with the (No. 1) car for Steve Park and the (No. 8) car for Dale, Jr.
I've got to win every race.
I've had confidence in myself all along. It was just a matter of getting the pieces back in place.
I've never won the Daytona 500 before.
If I can win races and win championships, I feel like my future is going to be OK.
If I was 30th in points and not making races and not being competitive in races, I could understand them saying I'm over-the-hill or I'm ready to quit or whatever.
If we're going to run for points we need to run in the top-five every week.
It's a never ending battle of making your cars better and also trying to be better yourself.
It's bottomed out from 15 cars to 25 to 30 cars and you got to be right on and keep the team in tact to be competitive.
It's just really hard to work and get better, building and planning for the future with the new Monte Carlo and keeping the race team intact and keeping them healthy.
Kevin Hamlin and I got real comfortable working together, and our team just kept looking better and better and better.
Maybe now that we have the same sponsor in Remington we can spend some time together outdoors.
My job is to drive that black No. 3.
People are going to get older and young guys are going to come in and race and get more competitive.
Richard Childress and myself have made some important innovations on our cars.
Second place is just the first place loser.
That strategy of racing for the top five and racing for the win is where everybody wants to be.
That's what we're striving for, making us a contender in every race.
The atmosphere seems to change once the sun goes down and the race fans get to watch a good show.
The thing about it is, all those races we lost, we won this race together. We won it as a team.
To come in and win three races already this year and maybe set a record by winning four is pretty unique. But guys like Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace and these guys are not wanting that to happen.
To win more championships and stay alive in this sport, it's very, very, hard and it's hard to understand how it works.
Two of my favorite things are my steering wheel and my Remington rifle.
We have set our goals for the rest of the season and a big part of that is having good runs in the remaining races.
We've been disappointed with our performance at Richmond the last couple of years.
When he was young, I told Dale Jr. that hunting and racing are a lot alike. Holding that steering wheel and holding that rifle both mean you better be responsible.
With 20 top-10 finishes, I feel we're on the right path.
You can't let one bad moment spoil a bunch of good ones.
You win some, lose some, and wreck some.
You've got to be closer to the edge than ever to win. That means sometimes you go over the edge, and I don't mean driving, either.
Dale married Latane Key in 1968, when he was only 17 years old. They had one son, Kerry, in 1969. They divorced in 1970. Dale married for the second time in 1971. He married Brenda Gee, who gave birth to a daughter, Kelley, in 1972, and a son, Dale Jr., in 1974. After the birth of their children they divorced. Dale married Teresa Houston in 1982. They were still married at the time of his death. They had no children together.
Currently, no other Nextel Cup racecar has used the Dale's famous number 3, but NASCAR will not officially retire it. There is hope that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will use his it towards the end of his career, and possibly even using the familiar black paint scheme.
Dale drove the #3 car for most of his career, he started driving it in the early eighties.
In 1993 Dale once again came close to a win at the Daytona 500, dominating throughout, before finishing 2nd to Dale Jarrett on a last-lap pass.
Dale was inducted into the “Motorsports Hall of Fame” in 2006.
Dale's last win was the 2000 Winston 500 in Talladega.
In 1992 Dale had won After back-to-back titles for the 2nd time in his career, Dale was determined to take advantage of the opportunity to make it 3 in a row, but again, it wasn't to be. Dale did not win his 3rd championship in a row.
J.D. Stacy took over the team in 1981. Stacy had made millions in the oil business and was determined to put a ton of money into the racing business, he just didn't have the experience to make it work and Dale recognized it immediately. Dale and his new owner never hit it off well and the relationship was ended as soon as possible. Dale joined his future championship owner, Richard Childress to finish off the season after competing in only 4 races for Stacy.
Dale was always an aggressive no holds bar driver. He earned his nickname "The Intimidator" during the Winston All Star race at Charlotte, bullying Bill Elliot in the final segment before scoring his first of three career wins in the event.
The unusual act of notifying NASCAR and Teresa Earnhardt was made prior to releasing the records regarding Dale sought by members of the public and media.
Dale quit school at the age of 16 to pursue racing to support his wife and their first son, Kerry.
As a young man Dale spent his days mounting tires and welding. By night he worked on his cars.
Dale started racing stock cars before entering the big league of NASCAR.
Dale has a foundation named after him. It is the “Dale Earnhardt Foundation.” Their mission is 'To Continue The Legend' through charitable grants that sustain Dale's lifelong Commitment to Education, Children and Environment/Wildlife Preservation.
He is sixth on the all-time list of wins for NASCAR point races.
Dale was the first driver to win a NASCAR title in their second year.
Dale was the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, in 1979. That year he won four poles, one race (Bristol), had eleven Top 5 finishes, and seventeen Top 10 finishes. He finished his Rookie season seventh in points.
NC Route 136, which links Kannapolis and Mooresville, became NC Route 3 in 2005 to honor Dale.
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