1983 - First Talladega Win

In his second season in Bud Moore's Ford, Dale Earnhardt must have had difficulty understanding where 1982 ended and 1983 began. 

After failing to finish his final eight races in 1982, Dale suffered a similar fate in eight of his nine events of the ensuing season. 

Engine difficulty was a culprit five times, while two accidents and brake problems forced him quit the other races early. 

The only time he went the distance was in Week 2 at Richmond, when he started eight and finished second.

While the season improved, it would have been nearly impossible for Dale's fortune to get worse. Dale went the distance in eight straight races, culminating with his second victory for Bud Moore in the Busch Nashville 420. 

Another victory followed two events later, as Dale posted the first of his 10 career triumphs at Talladega superspeedway. The victory in  July's Talladega 500 was the begining of a long time dominance at the Alabama race track, and season by season he hammered his name into the 2.6 mile tri-oval. 

That mid-season three-week span (in 1982) proved to be the zenith of Dale's two-year tenure with Bud Moore. The same problems from 1982 and early 1983 resurfaced down the stretch. 

DNFs were logged in four of the last eight races, surrounding a runner-up finish at North Wilkesboro and a pair of Top 5s at Martinsville and Riverside. 

Dale Earnhardt closed the season in eight place in the points, 935 points behind 1983 champion Bobby Allison. When the season ended, Dale was looking for a way out of his deal with Moore. An old friend- Richard Childress- supplied the answer.