Ernie Irvan's Biography

Ernie Irvan's Biography

Ernie was considered to be a hard charger on the race track, setting out to win the race from the start to the finish. Born on the 13th January 1959 in Salinas, California Virgil Earnest Irvan began racing karts at the age of nine. His father, Vic, acted as his crew and instilled in him the will to win.

At the age of fifteen Ernie won the California Championship and came second in his class at the National Kart Championship Race. His first race, at Stockton 99 Speedway, in stock car racing on asphalt saw him gain his first victory at the age of sixteen in a semi-main event. His love of racing was such that he raced every weekend at Madera and Stockton, winning many feature events, until, in 1982, he left Salinas, together with all of his belongings loaded in his pick-up truck and trailer and a small amount of cash and headed off to Charlotte in North Carolina.

Ernie supported himself by doing various jobs while still racing in the Late Model Series at Concord Speedway - he won two races in his first year and eleven the following year driving a Firebird. In 1987 Ernie made his debut in the Winston Cup Series at Richmond Fairgrounds Racing driving a Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Unfortunately the car overheated and he finished 29th and won $860. 1988 saw Ernie make a bid for "Rookie of the Year" and driving Ulrich's #2 Kroger Chevrolets and Pontiacs he competed in twenty five of the twenty nine races in the Winston Cup Series only to lose out by a mere three points to Ken Bouchard, reputed to be the closest battle in NASCAR's history.

Success followed success - Ernie competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and had fifteen wins, 124 Top Tens and 22 pole positions, in the NASCAR Nationwide Series he had three wins, fifteen top tens and five pole positions and in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series he had no wins but eight top ten positions. August 1994 saw Ernie as the main contender for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Championship, trailing behind Dale Earnhardt by 27 points, when his hopes were dashed when he crashed at a practice session at Michigan. He was diagnosed with critical brain and lung injuries at St. Joseph's Hospital and given only a 10% chance of survival. Ernie fought for his life and early in September his condition was described as "fair" and he was taken off the ventilator. Shortly after he was transferred to the Charlotte Institute of Rehabilitation where he went through rehabilitation and strength building whilst keeping him focused on returning to Winston Cup racing. Just over one year after the crash he was deemed fit enough to compete again.

Ernie returned to NASCAR racing and again was set on winning, he gained two Top Ten positions in 1995 and gained twelve Top Five, sixteen Top Ten positions and led in fifteen of the thirty one events in 1996 with five Top Five finishes, thirteen Top Ten's and two Pole positions in 1997. On August the 20th, exactly five years after the accident that nearly claimed his life, Ernie again crashed at Michigan during a practise session.

On September the 3rd 1999 Ernie announced his retirement from driving at a press conference at Darlington South Carolina. During his relatively short career Ernie has been awarded numerous awards such as:- Daytona 500 Winner in 1991, Super Ford Magazine Driver of the Year in 1993, True Value Hard Charger in 1994, Mike Rich Memorial Award in 1994, Maxwell House Spirit Award in 1994 and 1995, "Winston Cup Scene" Top Story of the Year in 1995,Arete Award for Courage in Sports (Professional Division) in 1995, Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Courage Award in 1996, AP Parts Meet the Challenge Award in 1996, Named as one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, Selected as a torchbearer for the 2002 Olympics in 2001, Inductee into the Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2002, Voted by MSNBC Top Ten Greatest Sport Comeback of All Time in 2002 and Inductee in the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2005.

Now it seems that life has gone full circle, Ernie is crew chief for his son, Jared, on his quarter midget just as his father had done for him. Ernie now promotes a foundation that he formed called Race2safety to promote head injury awareness and to promote prevention of head injuries, especially among children.