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Former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Sr. is among the biggest names in the stock car racing world. He is also known as 'The Intimidator' on the track for his hard-nosed racing style. He won seven Cup Series titles in his 27-year career.
While gathering his titles, Earnhardt Sr. had moments when he lost his temper on the track. Let's examine his rivalries with the Cup Series drivers, including Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace, and Geoff Bodine.
#3. Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Geoff Bodine
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Geoff Bodine had a great bond before becoming on and off-track rivals. They often attended parties together, but everything changed after they joined the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The duo had an incident in the 1987 NASCAR All-Star race held at Charlotte Motor Speedway when Earnhardt Sr. spun out Bodine and Bill Elliott to win the $200k purse.
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This incident sparked an intense rivalry between the two drivers. At the Busch Grand National Series, Bodine tagged Earnhardt Sr. and got penalized. Big E lost his cool after the incident, and his feud with Bodnie was not limited to the track.
This year, Earnhardt Sr.'s son revealed how the duo tried to "screw each other" every chance they got.
"There absolutely was a period of time where they both did not like each other, and that bled into like even the families. Like me, uncles, aunts, grandma, everyone, right, was all team Earnhardt on this fully, and every time, especially when we went to Charlotte, they were even close to each other on the racetrack. It wasn't like, 'What might happen?.' It's like you knew there was going to be something. You knew it, the way they hated each other," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. [00:46]
#2. Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Rusty Wallace
During the 1995 Bristol Night race, Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Rusty Wallace teamed up to take down four-time NASCAR Cup Series driver Jeff Gordon. They planned to give Gordon a chance to settle the score between them, but things changed as the race started and Big E spun out Wallace.
This led to one of the iconic post-race incidents. During the post-race interview, Wallace threw a water bottle at Earnhardt Sr.'s chest, who lost his cool. They had a heated argument criticizing each other. Big E finished the race as the runner-up while Wallace ended in P21.
#1. Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon debuted in the Cup Series in the 1992 season, and just three seasons later he won his first championship title, dethroning the NASCAR legend. He began gaining popularity and was seen as a threat to Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s popularity.
Earnhardt Sr. started losing his cool when Gordon edged him out in the 1995 season by 34 points and won his first Cup Series title. Gordon dethroned the NASCAR legend and ended his two-year streak by winning the title. In the 1994 season, Gordon won the Brickyard 400 race, and Big E retaliated in the next season, winning the race while Gordon finished in sixth place.
