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1981 - Post-Championship Hangover
Faced with the new ownership, Dale quickly decided against driving for the financially unstable Stacy. The 30-year-old Dale drove just four races with his new owner before jumping to the No.3 Pontiac owned by Richard Childress. Though the Childress-Earnhardt team would later prove to be nearly invincible, in 1981 they were togehter only for 11 races. In those 11 races, Dale and Richard Childress combined for two Top 5s, six Top 10s and $69,905 in winnings. Inconsistency resulting from mechanical problems, however, marred the team's effort. Dale Earnhardt suffered through engine problems in three of the final six races of the season and finished just two of his Childress-backed races on the lead lap.
The
off-track chaos was reflected in Dale's on-track performance. Where in
1980 he displayed the consistency necessary to hold the points lead for
nine months, in 1981 Dale never collected four straight Top 10 His DNFs increased to a ten-career-high 10 and his Top 5 finishes dropped by more than half to nine from the previous season. Similary, while in his first two seasons Dale showed enough muscle to lead often and win regularly, in 1981 he led fewer laps than as a rookie and, more startling, did not win a race- one of just two seasons in which he failed to win (the other season was 1997). In the end, Dale dropped back to seventh in the point standings, more than 900 points behind 1981 champion Darrell Waltrip. Unfortunately for Dale Earnhardt, he was entering the "Dark Years" of his NASCAR career, a stretch from 1981 through 1983 during which he never seriously contended for the championship and rarely contended for a win.
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After
stringing together the most succesful first two seasons in NASCAR
history, Dale Earnhardt got a
taste of "racin' luck" in 1981- on and off the track. Off the
track, Dale played musival owners, finding himself in the employ of
three different car owners. Sixteen races into the 1981 season, Dale's
first owner, Rod Osterlund, vacated the sport and sold his team and
equipment to J.D. Stacy. Togehter, Osterlund and Dale Earnhardt won a
championship, a Rookie of the Year award, six races and four poles.
finishes.