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1984 - Dale Joins Childress After two frustrating seasons in a Ford, Dale Earnhardt was optimistic about his second go-around in Richard Childress' Chevrolet. The two were an instant near-succes. In the season-opening Daytona 500, Dale ran second to Cale Yarborough, his best finish in six tries at the Great American Race. For the next 17 races, second-best was the best the No.3 car could manage, as Dale added runner-ups efforts at Atlanta, Charlotte and Michigan. Finally, the team broke through at the Talladega 500, leading 40 of 188 laps en route to victory (Talladega win No.2).
Another win would come in the season's second-to-last race, the Atlanta Journal 500. By the way, at Atlanta he also is first in the all-time list in victories with 9 wins at the track. Together, the Dale Earnhardt-Richard Childress combination generated 67 wins.
Though
not winning regularly, Dale's consistent efforts were good enough to
grab the points lead after the
After two years of early exits from the tracks with Bud Moore, the 1984 season was a refreshing change for Dale. He was running at the end of all but two races. But if he thought his DNF problems were a thing of the past, he was due for another dose in 1985.
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Fourth of July Pepsi Firecracker 400 at Daytona. He held that lead for
five more races, through the second Michigan race in August, before
Terry Labonte overtook him. Engine failures at Darlington and Charlotte
doomed Dale's title hopes; he finished fourth in the standings, 243
points behind Terry Labonte, the 1984 champion.