Although he never won a Grand National Race, Ralph Earnhardt entered 51 of them, racking up 5 top fives. He was more known for his efforts in the Modifieds, which at one time, in the late forties - early fifties, were expected to be the premier series in NASCAR's bag of tricks.
In these series, Ralph won over 350 races. This was not the genteel environment of 20-man crews and air-conditioned motorhomes of today. This was rough-and-tumble, fifty-bucks-to-win stuff, where on-track differences were often settled after the race, and then you had to load up yer car yerself, to be in the next town tomorrow night for the next race, bruised knuckles and all...
Helping Dad out in this environment was a young Dale Earnhardt. Tragically, Ralph died of a heart attack in 1973 - only 45 years old, leaving a 22-year-old Dale just starting his own career. It is a shame that the founder of the Earnhardt dynasty can't be here to partake of his son's glorious accomplishments, and those we all expect from his grandson(s). Lee Petty, Ned Jarrett, you are very fortunate people - as are your families.
The model shown here represents a typical early fifties modified, as Ralph would have raced on the sands of Daytona or the dust of North Wilkesboro. Don't let the primitive appearance decieve, these were rough-looking but finely-tuned machines, with hopped up multicarbbed flatheads, capable of 120+ mph on the beach - Jeez...
I used a '37 Ford Coupe body from Early Racing Classics (see their ads in Scale Auto), plus their excellent flathead hop up kit, which includes finned heads, and a pewter tricarb setup to die for! Early Racing Classics' owner, Carl Stark, provided valuable guidance, suggesting I use the recently-issued Monogram 1937 Ford pick-up for the mechanicals. This was apparently common practice at the time - mounting a coupe body on the stronger pickup frame for endurance. I used the frame, engine, running gear and steering wheel from the Ford pickup,and the dashboard from an AMT '40 Ford. Wheels and tires again were period-correct resin pieces from Early Racing Classics - gorgeous detail - I just added valvestems. Seat, rollcage and exhaust dumps, mudscreen, bumpers and bungee tie-downs were scratchbuilt.
Paint was the usual automotive touch-up lacquer, right from the heated rattle cans, applied over the resin body. It had been primed, after strenuous cleaning to remove mold release agent with soap and hot water. Decals were from the "Legends of NASCAR" series. They are of excellent quality with no bleedthru - even white straight over black!
I'm afraid I got a little carried away with the final finish. This car has a smoothness and gloss ol' Ralph woulda NEVER seen on his ride! The plan was to weather it up to a post-race state, but it looked so darn pretty I just didn't have the heart... Maybe next time...
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