Golden Globe® and Emmy® nominee Barry Pepper stars as the greatest 

NASCAR driver of all time in the ESPN original Movie 3: 

THE DALE EARNHARDT STORY.

The Story

The story of Dale Earnhardt is a genuine American myth. It is a tale that begins amidst the humble, working-class backdrop of rural mill town, Kannapolis, North Carolina. 

Dale's father, Ralph Earnhardt, worked at the mill in stoic desperation, providing for his wife Martha and five children on his meager wages. But Ralph was meant for more and he knew it. 

Something burned inside of him, daring him to pursue his life's true passion ... Racing.Ralph Earnhardt was a legendary driver, racing the dirt-track circuit in cars he built with his own hands. 

This was an era when big-time sponsorships, huge paydays, and superstar celebrity were reserved for ballplayers, not drivers. 

But that wouldn't have mattered to Ralph, anyway - he raced because he loved to race, because he couldn't help but race. As he once told Dale: "They can't put it in you, and they can't take it out." 

From as early as he could remember, Dale would sit in his father's garage, watching the master craftsman at work. From time to time, Ralph Earnhardt would impart simple truths on life and racing that, as Dale grew older, he would come to value more and more. 

Like Ralph, Dale yearned for more. 

At 16, he quit school to pursue racing. But instead of the victory lane, Dale soon found himself at the same mill his father once worked at - and despising it just as much. Like his father, Dale was a restless soul, both on the track and off. And the racing style that would earn him his nickname - "The Intimidator" - took shape on the same dirt tracks his father raced. Dale was consumed by racing. 

By the age of 25, Dale's first two marriages had ended, having taken a backseat to the call of the track. In 1976, he was still an unknown driver struggling week-to-week to make his mark when he met up with fellow driver, Neil Bonnet. 

The two kindred spirits became fast friends and would remain so until Bonnet's tragic death in 1994 during a practice run at Daytona. Dale got a big break in 1978, racing in the Charlotte 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. 

It was a fateful day: a big-time Winston Cup race, a run-in on the track with life-long rival Darrell Waltrip, and he met Teresa Houston, whom he would later marry in 1981. 

From that day in Charlotte, Dale's meteoric rise to racing royalty seemed predestined. In 1979, he took the NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors and never looked back. Overall, Dale took 76 checkered flags, tied with Richard Petty for 7 Winston Cup titles, and earned more money than any driver in Winston Cup history to that point. 

But even as Dale masters his abilities on the track, he must shoulder the responsibilities of fatherhood and struggle to find the right way to raise his children. As his youngest son, Dale Jr., grows to manhood, Dale senses the acute intensity and drive that his own father saw in him. 

The relationship between Dale and Dale Jr. is eerily reminiscent of that between Dale and Ralph. As Dale's life story unfolds from restless kid to obsessed driver to sports figure to superstar icon, we can reflect with him on his life, its meanings, and ultimately, his own mortality. It is in these moments off the track, away from the lights and the roar of the crowds, that we see the humanity of Dale Earnhardt, the man that became the legend.