3: The Dale Earnhardt Story (2004)

Barry Pepper portrays legendary race car drive Dale Earnhardt, who died in 2001 during the last lap of the Daytona 500.

Director:

Russell Mulcahy

Writer:

Robert Eisele

Stars:

Barry Pepper, Elizabeth Mitchell, Ernest Whitted

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Barry Pepper	...	Dale Earnhardt
Elizabeth Mitchell	...	Teresa Earnhardt
Ernest Whitted	...	Pit Crowd
Andrea Powell	...	Martha Earnhardt
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sean Bridgers	...	Neil Bonnett
David Lewis Brooks	...	Earnhardt Pit Crew
Russell Brooks	...	Earnhardt Pit Crew (as Russell Dean Brooks Jr.)
Joe Chrest	...	Jake Elder
Russell Cook	...	Press Conference VIP
Teresa Delgado	...	Kelly Earnhardt
Thunderbird Dinwiddie	...	Connie (as Traci Dinwiddie)
Tricia Dyar	...	Daisy (as Tricia Quattlebaum)
Corri English	...	Kelly Earnhardt
Michael Flippo	...	Wayne Robertson
Daniel Freeze	...	Dale Pit Crew

Storyline

Biographical story of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. starts with his young life and growing up with his father, Ralph, who raced for a living, but initially wanted more for his son. When Dale quits high school to start driving full time, his father aids him and shows a reluctant pride when he is initially successful. Armed with many of his father's philosophies, Dale pushed himself to be the best. His aggressive track mannerisms earned himself fans and detractors. Fellow racer Neil Bonnett was one of those long time friends and whose death deeply affected Dale. Darrell Waltrip clearly was a detractor and the two men's rivalry is clearly depicted. Off the track, Dale's determination to make it impacts two marriages. Third wife Theresa was closer to racing and met Dale when he had started his rise into the Winston Cup circuit. The story also looks at his relationship with his children, particularly son Kerry from his first marriage and whom he did not see again after age 5 until Kerry in his late ...

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | dale earnhardt character | four word title | daytona 500 | auto racing | 

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Taglines:

One man, One sport. One nation.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Sport

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Details

Official Sites:

ESPN Original Entertainment

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 December 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

3

Filming Locations:

Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

ESPN (Entertainment & Sports Programming Network), ESPN Original Entertainment, Orly Adelson Productions

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The song Kryptonite is playing on Little Dale's boom box when Dale visits him on the boat dock. Racing is his kryptonite, or weakness.

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Goofs

During an interview, after the Richmond race, Dale says he was "only trying to rattle his cage." This was not said at Richmond, but at Bristol, many years later, after crashing Terry Labonte.

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Quotes

Neil Bonnett: You pissed off a lot of people out there today, Earnhardt. You almost ran me over a couple times.
Dale Earnhardt: So I suppose you're pissed off at me, too, then?
Neil Bonnett: What the hell do you care? We ain't out there to make friends.

User Reviews

well acted but very rushed

I sat and watched "3 The Dale Earnhardt Story" the other day. I thought the acting was very well done. Barry Pepper was very believable as "THE INTIMIDATOR" although slightly slimmer than Dale. I thought the movie could have gone into a lot more detail on the life on and off the track of an American icon. I have been a NASCAR fan for as long as I can remember, and have always hoped for a movie about the life of Dale. unfortunately my wish came true(kind of) this is not the movie I had hoped for. I understand the writers and producers got into as much detail as they could in a two hour movie. so so so much was left out though. Not sure when the law came about that a movie was only allowed to be two hours long. The movie never really touched on the incredible business person that Theressa Earnhardt is and how much she had helped turn Dales name into an empire. Never did it touch on the creation of D.E.I. or dales other many ventures off the track. Probably the thing i missed most of all was Dales reactions to seeing Dale Jr.s first wins. Even to racing w/ Jr. and Kerry for the first time. I must say though I was pretty interested in the movie till the sequence when Niel Bonnett was killed. Niel was Dale's best friend, and they never really touched on how his death had effected him. I was really disappointed when Niel had died in the movie. then they went to a commercial break. When the movie came back on we jump ahead what six years to Dale winning the Daytona 500 in 98.Then from 98 to his death in 2001 all in the matter of what ten minutes. I think this movie would have been a lot better if they would have taken the time to fit the important stuff in it. The movie did showcase the fact that dale was human and wasn't the super hero everyone thought of him. Although it briefly touched on his first two marriages it never said why or how those marriages ended. Whitch left me a lil confused. so hopefully someday some one writer out there will sit down and write a script about Dales life that is truly a movie that will be worthy of the Earnhardt name and legacy. Because for me although "3 The Dale Earnhardt Story" did have a few bright spots, I don't think it was worthy of bearing the name of Dale Earnhardt. I somehow think that if Dale were alive he'd be very disappointed in this movie too. I give this movie a 5/10 but only because of the acting.