Earnhardt was born in Kannapolis, North Carolina, the third child of racing driver Ralph Earnhardt and Martha Earnhardt. His father was one of the top short-track drivers in the Carolinas and won the NASCAR Sportsman Championship in 1956. At age twelve Earnhardt secretly drove his father's car in competition. Despite Ralph Earnhardt's opposition to his son pursuing a racing career, Dale dropped out of school to do exactly that. Ralph died of a heart attack in 1973, and Earnhardt later spoke of spending years trying to prove himself in his late father's eyes.
Earnhardt made his Cup debut in 1975 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After several part-time seasons, he joined Rod Osterlund Racing full-time in 1979, winning Rookie of the Year, capturing his first race at Bristol, and finishing seventh in the championship despite missing four races with a broken collarbone. In 1980 he won his first Winston Cup championship — the only driver in NASCAR history to follow a Rookie of the Year title with a championship the very next season.
A tumultuous 1981 saw him pass through two teams mid-season before spending two seasons at Bud Moore Engineering driving a Ford. He returned to Richard Childress Racing for the 1984 season, forming the partnership that would define both his legacy and the decade.
With Childress, Earnhardt won five further championships: 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, and 1994. The 1986 and 1987 seasons were dominant stretches; in 1987 he set a modern-era record of four consecutive wins and won five of the first seven races. His 1994 title — his seventh — tied Petty's record and was his last. He is the only driver in NASCAR history to have scored at least one win in four different consecutive decades.
Among his 76 career victories were four Winston 500s at Talladega, three Coca-Cola 600s, three Southern 500s, the 1995 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis (which he called the greatest win of his career), and the 1998 Daytona 500. The Daytona 500 win came in his 20th attempt and produced one of the most celebrated moments in NASCAR history — crew members from every team lined pit road to shake his hand as he drove to victory lane.
Alongside his driving career, Earnhardt founded Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI), which fielded entries for drivers including Steve Park, Michael Waltrip, and his son Dale Earnhardt Jr. The team won five races during the 2001 season alone, beginning with Park's victory at Rockingham just one week after Earnhardt's death.
On February 18, 2001, during the final lap of the Daytona 500, Earnhardt made light contact with Sterling Marlin and was then struck by Ken Schrader's car, sending the No. 3 into the outside wall head-on. He was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center that afternoon from a basilar skull fracture; he was 49 years old. His driver Michael Waltrip won the race, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. finishing second.
The crash triggered significant safety reforms across motorsport. NASCAR mandated the use of the HANS (Head and Neck Support) device for all drivers in its three national series from October 2001. Earnhardt had refused to wear one prior to his death, finding it too restrictive. NASCAR's investigation also led to the resignation of seatbelt manufacturer Bill Simpson and to the development of what became known as the "Earnhardt Bar", a windshield brace to reinforce the roof structure.
Richard Childress pledged that the No. 3 would never appear again on a black GM Goodwrench car. Kevin Harvick, promoted from the Busch Series, won in his third Cup start and dedicated the victory to Earnhardt.
The No. 3 remains one of the most recognisable numbers in North American motorsport. Earnhardt is remembered not only for his championships but for the 2001 safety overhaul his death forced upon the sport. His 1998 Daytona 500 helmet is preserved at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The Dale Earnhardt Plaza in Kannapolis, featuring a bronze statue of Earnhardt, was erected in 2002. His foundation, established the same year, supports children's education and wildlife preservation charities.
Earnhardt was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, and was posthumously inducted into the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in May 2010. He was also inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2002, the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 2020.