Watchf Associated Press Sports Auto Racing New York United States APHS35638 NASCAR AWARD BANQUET

Dale Earnhardt, right, and his wife Teresa smile during the NASCAR Award Banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Year Trophy in New York Friday, Dec. 2, 1994. The 43- year-old Earnhardt, whose seventh series championship matched a record set by Richard Petty in 1976, the year that Earnhardt was voted NASCAR Rookie of the year, still is awed that he finds himself in this position. (AP Photo/Adam Nadel)