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Martha Earnhardt has died

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Met this fine woman many of times and had some good laughs together. Martha Earnhardt, the matriarch of famed NASCAR family, has died


Alex Andrejev

Sun, December 26, 2021, 11:58 AM

Martha Earnhardt, matriarch to one of the most well-known families in stock car racing, has died. Her grandchildren Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Dale Earnhardt Jr. confirmed in a statement that she passed away on the evening of Dec 25. She was 91.

“As we grieve her loss and begin to imagine life without our beloved ‘Mamaw,’ we find solace in knowing she is at peace in eternal glory and in joyous reunion with her husband Ralph and sons Dale, Randy and Danny,” their statement read.

Martha Earnhardt was married to famed dirt-track racer Ralph Earnhardt from 1947 until his death in 1973. She was the mother of Dale Sr., Danny Sr., Randy, Cathy and Kaye. Her son, the late Dale Earnhardt Sr., was a seven-time NASCAR champion and the father of Xfinity team co-owners Earnhardt Miller and Earnhardt Jr.

“Dad could be intimidating in a fatherly way and that’s very tough as a kid,” Earnhardt Jr. said on an episode of his podcast, The Dale Jr. Download, which featured Martha Earnhardt as a guest. “He’d beat and bang guys out on the racetrack, but then they’d go their way and he’d go his way, and they wouldn’t see each other for a week.”

“I had that every day,” Earnhardt Jr. continued. “But when Mamaw (Martha) was around, or when we were at her house or if she was at our house, she mellowed him. You knew ‘The Intimidator’ wasn’t gonna come out. She was kind of the leader.”

Martha Earnhardt raised her family in Kannapolis, N.C. Her youngest son, Danny Earnhardt Sr., died two weeks ago on Dec. 10.

“Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers,” the Earnhardt family’s statement read. “And thank you so much for loving our Mamaw as if she were your own. She was not just the matriarch to our family, but she was the matriarch to multiple generations of race fans.”

Funeral service arrangements have not been released.

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