Top left: Elmer Kappell
SPLASH ’N‘ GOwith
PAST & PRESENT
BACK IN THE MID-1950s, NASCAR pioneer Lee Petty knew he could earn some extra money if he entered a second car in select events. During that span, Tiny Lund, Bill Lutz and
Jim Paschal all drove for Petty Enterprises. But in the 1957 season, two of the sport’s biggest names partnered for a handful of races. T at year, Ralph Earnhardt made nine starts
in Petty-owned cars — eight in Sprint Cup and one in NASCAR’s Convertible Series. T e Pettys paid Earnhardt after each race, and Lee’s wife, Elizabeth, who handled the bookkeeping, wrote this check in the amount of $95.45 (roughly equivalent to $750 today) for Earnhardt. “You can see on the side where Mrs. Petty had deducted the
WHO: Nathalie Dobbelaere, with husband, Philippe, and son, Alexander
OCCUPATION: Banker HOME: Bruges, Belgium
taxes,” says NASCAR Hall of Fame Historian Buz McKim. “Ralph was a local hot dog, and he never really went out for the big time. His deal was: Stay close to home, stay close to the family, sleep in your own bed every night. “He made a decent living doing that. At one time, he won
FAN’S VIEW
How did you discover NASCAR? “In 1995, a new European
broadcaster started to show NASCAR races. After a few races, Philippe was hooked. In 2001, Philippe took me to the fall race in Atlanta. Since then, I was hooked as well. Alexander became a huge fan by watching it on TV.”
How many races have you attended? “We’ve been to races in Daytona,
California, Dover, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Talladega.”
How does NASCAR compare to F1, in your opinion? “In NASCAR, every driver has the
opportunity to win a race. NASCAR gives much more racing; F1 is more a parade of race cars. We’ve also found NASCAR to be more open to fans. The best example is the huge
from Indianapolis Motor Speedway
autograph session at Indy. This is not possible in F1.”
How did the three of you choose your drivers? “When Philippe started
watching, Jeff Gordon caught his eye. He was the new kid, won a lot of races and had a colorful rainbow paint scheme. He has been a Gordon fan ever since. “At fi rst, I did not cheer for a
particular driver, but in 2004, Kasey Kahne came in NASCAR and I started to cheer for him. Philippe and I are excited that our favorite drivers will team up in 2012. “Alexander is a ‘Smoke’ fan.
When he was 2 years old, he started cheering for Tony and even though Tony switched teams, he stuck with him. We had the chance to meet Tony a few times and Alex had the time of his life.”
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several track championships in one season because he was doing it for a living. He didn’t want to work in the mills anymore.” Note the date on the check — April 29, 1957. T at would have
been Dale Earnhardt’s sixth birthday. And in most of his starts with Petty, Ralph drove the No. 188, but in two of them, he drove the No. 88, the same number his grandson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., campaigns now at Hendrick Motorsports.
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