Watch: Dale Earnhardt’s First Championship-Winning Crew Chief Unravels the Makings of the Intimidator in Historic Shop Walkaround

Dale Earnhardt Sr is an all-time Richard Childress Racing legend but not all of his seven Cup Series titles came with the team. The Intimidator won six of them with RCR but his first Cup victory came with a team called Osterlund Racing in 1980. At the time, Earnhardt had 20-year-old Doug Richert as his crew chief, who recently gave a tour of where the Osterlund Racing shop used to be.

In his first title-winning season, Dale Earnhardt Sr won five races and finished in the top-5 a whopping 19 times. The Intimidator came into his own that year and was unstoppable. That was the moment he learned what it took to be a champion and never looked back.

Dale Earnhardt’s close confidant reminisces his time at Osterlund Racing

After the 1980 season, Dale Earnhardt Sr found himself in a bit of a pickle. Rod Osterlund suddenly sold his team to Jim Stacy. However, The Intimidator was not able to create a connection with Stacy and decided to leave the team for RCR mid-season. Doug Richert also left with the driver.

It has been a long time since Richert has visited where he and Dale Earnhardt Sr. worked together. The place where the Osterlund shop used to be has changed a lot. Richert, now 63, left the place when he was 21 years old in 1981. He noted a lot of changes that had happened to the shop.

“I was just sitting here thinking…1981, I left this shop. I’ve never been back. This thing doesn’t look anything like when I left. I probably won’t even be able to recognize inside the shop just because of looks like what they’ve done with cubicles and workplaces and stuff like that,” he said.

The 63-year-old was able to recognize a bit of the outside of the shop as he reminisced the times he was just a fresh-faced crew chief who had just won the NASCAR Cup Series with one of the greatest drivers of all time in Dale Earnhardt Sr.

2023 has been a tough year for Richert and it was nice to see him go back to a place from where he can derive a lot of strength. Earlier this year, the 63-year-old lost his wife to cancer.

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Legendary crew chief suffered a terrible loss this year

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He might not have been a driver but Doug Richert is a loved member of the racing community. Things took a turn for the worse early on in 2023 when the 63-year-old lost his dear, beloved wife to cancer.

“Well, today at 3:30 pm I had the opportunity to hold Robin’s hand as she took her last breath here on earth,” Doug had written at the time. “Anyone that knew Robin knew that she was a fighter, whether it was fighting for animals or fighting for her life. She is at peace now. Thank you to everyone for the prayers. Funeral arrangements will be posted in a few days.”

Messages of love and support poured in from the racing community and it felt like everyone wept with Richert. For once, it was nice to see him step out and smile after a tough life ordeal.

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