Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. (April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001)
Race car driver Dale Earnhardt, known as “The Intimidator”, died of injuries
received a crash during the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 at Daytona
International Speedway. He has been inducted into numerous halls of fame,
including the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
The original Chevrolet “bowtie emblem” introduced by company co-founder
William C. Durant in 1913.
William Durant
Louis Chevrolet at the wheel of his prototype for the 1912 Chevrolet
The Chevrolet Motor Car Company was founded on November 3, 1911
by Louis Chevrolet, a race car driver and automotive engineer and
William C. Durant, the founder of General Motors who, after five
years, lost control of the company in 1910. The first Series C
Classic Six prototype Chevy was ready months before The
company was actually incorporated.
The first Chevrolet automobile produced in Detroit, 1912. The son of William
Durant, Cliff Durant, is behind the wheel.
Shortly after completing work on his third starring feature film, producer-director
George Steven’s Giant (1956), actor James Dean and his passenger, mechanic
Rolf Wutherich, started out on a trip to Salinas, California in Dean’s silver Porsche
(above) to compete in a sports car rally. As Dean was traveling down the highway,
he crashed almost head-on into a Ford sedan (shown below) that had crossed into
Dean’s lane in an attempt to turn at an intersection in the highway. Dean was killed instantly. Wutherich and the driver of the other vehicle, 23-year-old college student
Donald Turnupseed survived. Dean was only 24.
Junction of US Highways 46 and 41 near Cholame, CA. (2007)
The remains of Dean’s Porsche
The 1950 Ford Custom sedan, driven by Turnupseed
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race car driver for
Hendrick Motorsports. He d rives the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet. Johnson began
racing motorcycles at the age of five. He started stock car racing in 1998. He
then moved to the national American Speed Association (ASA) series for late
model touring cars, and won a rookie of the year title.
In 2000, Johnson switched to the NASCAR Busch Series, now Nationwide
Series. He joined Hendrick Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series in 2002. He
won his first Cup series championship in 2006 and with further wins from 2007
through 2010 became the only driver in NASCAR history to win five consecutive championships.
Johnson has recorded 54 wins, 214 top-tens, and 25 pole positions between
2002 and 2011. He was the first race car driver to become Associated Press
Male Athlete of the Year in 2009, and has won Driver of the Year four times,
most recently in 2010.
Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordon is a professional NASCAR driver. He is the driver of
the #24 DuPont Chevrolet Impala. Jeff is a four-time Sprint Cup Series champion
and a three-time Daytona 500 winner. He is tied for third with Bobby Allison and
Darrel Waltrip on the all-time wins list, and is also tied with Waltrip for the most
wins in NASCAR from 1972 to present. Gordon has won a total of 84 career
races. In 2009, Jeff became the first driver to reach $100 million in career
winnings in the Cup series. Jeff Gordon won his first Winston Cup win at
the age of 24.
