The House that Earnhardt Built

The shops of most current NASCAR Cup Series teams are sprawling, ultra-modern facilities more worthy of being referred to as a “complex” or “headquarters” than a “shop.”

Must-haves for any Cup-team compound seem to include some sort of fan-viewing area/gift shop, a façade of large windows, sky-high ceilings, an iron fence around team-access areas and floors so shiny that you can look down to check your reflection.

But it wasn’t always that way.

There was a time, not so terribly long ago, that even the most successful teams in NASCAR did their race preparation in an actual shop. It wasn’t uncommon for the hauler to pull up to a building that more closely resembled a hometown auto repair garage than an ornate palace.

For example, the original Wood Brothers Racing shop in Stuart, Va., was a modest brick building, featuring two windows, four rollup garage doors and a single-entry door. I’ve never been inside it, but I’d venture a guess that Glen and Leonard Wood didn’t wax and buff the floor too often.

That isn’t to say that the buildings were grease-stained shacks devoid of any customization or personality. Leo Jackson, longtime owner of the iconic No. 33 Skoal Bandit ride piloted by Harry Gant, had the floor painted to match the car. Yes, the entire shop floor was Skoal green.

Robert Yates Racing racked up wins with Davey Allison and Ernie Irvan while preparing the Texaco Havoline Fords in a space similar in size to a high school gymnasium. This wasn’t all that unusual, as one could expect to find a similar scene at other top teams. Roush Racing (now RFK Racing), Hendrick Motorsports and Richard Childress Racing all utilized structures and layouts that would be considered meager by today’s standards.

So what started the trend of behemoth home bases that make most airplane hangers seem cramped and have the Ritz-Carlton looking like a dive bar by comparison? It was a simple case of keeping up with the Joneses. Or, to be more precise, the Earnhardts.

Dale Earnhardt Inc., existed in some form since the mid-1980s. Unlike current Cup drivers who mostly dabble in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in cars prepared by their Cup owners, Dale Earnhardt fielded his own cars when moonlighting at the lower level. The cars were mostly prepped in his personal shop. But when the goal became a full-time Cup Series effort, it was clear that an upgrade would be needed.

In 1996, DEI entered its first Cup events with…