NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s mother, Martha Earnhardt, has died, according to a family statement. Kelley Earnhardt Miller shared a message on her grandmother’s passing on Twitter, sharing her thoughts with brother Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Sunday.
“It is with great sadness that we share the news that Martha Earnhardt passed away Christmas evening,” the statement reads. “As we grieve her loss and begin to imagine life without our beloved ‘Mamaw,’ we find solace in knowing she is at peace in eternal glory and in joyous reunion with her husband Ralph and sons Dale, Randy, and Danny.”
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Martha Earnhardt married her husband Ralph and stayed with him until his death in 1973. She was also preceded in death by her sons. Randy died after a battle with cancer in 2013, her youngest son Danny died suddenly at the start of December, and Dale Earnhardt famously died in 2001 at the close of the Daytona 500.
“Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers, and thank you so much for loving our Mamaw if she were your own. She was not just the matriarch to our family, but she was the matriarch to multiple generations of race fans,” the statement continued.
Martha Earnhardt was always connected to NASCAR through her family, with Ralph going from the dirt tracks to NASCAR and winning the Sportsman Championship in 1956. He was followed by Dale Earnhardt Sr., who maintained a legendary career with seven championships and 76 race victories, including a Daytona 500 win in 1998.
Grandson Dale Earnhardt Jr. would also go on to become a NASCAR star before retiring. He walked away from the track with 26 victories and two Daytona wins in 2004 and 2014. After some injuries and questions about his career, he retired in 2017.
Martha Earnhardt stepped behind the wheel herself just once in her career. According to NASCAR, she took part in a “powder puff derby” for women at Hickory Speedway, ending in a crash and complaints about practice. “That was my one and only,” she said. “It didn’t work. I just wasn’t meant to be a race-car driver.” Still, she would have a great legacy in the sport and passes as one of its icons as Earnhardt matriarch.
