By Jonathon Klein
Chrysler and Dodge have a long and often odd history in the racing realm. Throughout the years, the company has gone from winning championships to pulling out of motorsports altogether on multiple occasions. The latest give-and-take came last year after Dodge and SRT Racing won the now Weathertech Sportscar Championship with the latest generation of Dodge Viper GT3 cars, then promptly left the race series just three days after the team accepted the trophy.
In a similar occurrence, Dodge’s and Chrysler’s predilection for wafting and wavering in motorsport almost quelled a racing great’s entire career. According to Hemmings, in 1972, a young Dale Earnhardt was ready to give up racing for good. He had had enough of the racing world, and was ready to just get up and leave without looking back. That is, until Chrysler tapped the young driver to test a “kit car.”