Dale rockets to stardom on NASCAR's biggest stage with an unprecedented championship in just his second season, but a series of challenges on and off the track threatens his future. His upbringing inside North Carolina's racing culture sheds light on what drives him, while he and upstart team owner Richard Childress aggressively chart their path back to the top.

Dale transforms into 'The Intimidator' as the bad boy of racing chases Richard Petty's record of seven Winston Cup championships. As his legend grows, the intensifying demands of Dale's career fuel tensions within the family—and the life and death stakes of racing soon hit close to home.

Dale's fame and fortune reach new heights as he pursues an eighth championship and an ever-elusive Daytona 500 win. But a younger crop of drivers challenge his reign, and family dynamics become more complicated when the Earnhardt kids set out to follow in their father's footsteps on the track.

Father and son unite on the track at the 2001 Daytona 500, leading the pack in a fateful race that becomes a turning point for the family and the entire sport of NASCAR.