Dale Inman (born August 19, 1936 in Level Cross, North Carolina) is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series crew chief from Level Cross, Randolph County, North Carolina. He is best known for being the crew chief for his 2nd Cousin Richard Petty at Petty Enterprises during three decades. They won 188 races and seven championships together (1964, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, and 1979). Inman spent most of his career working for Petty Enterprises. He also was the crew chief for Terry Labonte‘s 1984 championship with Hagan Racing. NASCAR.com contributor Rick Houston said that if the best crew chief was “settled on statistics and statistics alone, Dale Inman is the greatest crew chief of all time.”[1] He is credited for starting the main duties of the position including preparation, and driver-pit communication. Inman has the most victories as a NASCAR crew chief at 193, 188 of which were with Richard Petty. Inman won five additional races from 1982 to 1984 with Tim Richmond and Terry Labonte.
| Accomplishments | |
|---|---|
| Awards | NASCAR Hall of Fame (2012) Smokey Yunick Award (2008) North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame’s first Golden Wrench (2000) Daytona 500 Winning Crew Chief x7 (1964, ’66, ’71, ’73, ’74, ’79, & ’81) NASCAR Cup Series Champion Crew Chief x8 (1964, ’67, ’71, ’72, ’74, ’75, ’79, & ’84) |
NASCAR Cup Crew Chief Statistics
| Year | Driver | Races | Win | T5 | T10 | Pole | Laps | Led | Earnings | Rank | Miles |
| 1964 | Richard Petty | 61 | 9 | 37 | 43 | 8 | 14041 | 3405 | 98810 | 1 | 9479.5 |
| 1965 | Richard Petty | 14 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 3697 | 967 | 16400 | 38 | 1692.7 |
| 1966 | Richard Petty | 39 | 8 | 20 | 22 | 15 | 8737 | 2924 | 88130 | 3 | 6458.3 |
| 1967 | Richard Petty | 48 | 27 | 38 | 40 | 18 | 12739 | 5543 | 129375 | 1 | 9387.4 |
| 1968 | Richard Petty | 49 | 16 | 31 | 35 | 12 | 12254 | 4242 | 89063 | 3 | 8906.5 |
| 1969 | Richard Petty | 50 | 10 | 31 | 38 | 6 | 12589 | 2777 | 110155 | 2 | 10534.8 |
| 1970 | Pete Hamilton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 150 | 3 | 1000 | 21 | 206.3 |
| 1970 | Richard Petty | 40 | 18 | 27 | 31 | 9 | 10536 | 5007 | 139219 | 4 | 9812.9 |
| 1971 | Richard Petty | 46 | 21 | 38 | 41 | 9 | 13739 | 4932 | 269150 | 1 | 12877.5 |
| 1972 | Richard Petty | 31 | 8 | 25 | 28 | 3 | 10282 | 2093 | 248275 | 1 | 11995.2 |
| 1973 | Richard Petty | 28 | 6 | 15 | 17 | 3 | 8644 | 1815 | 206955 | 5 | 9291.1 |
| 1974 | Richard Petty | 30 | 10 | 22 | 23 | 7 | 9097 | 3100 | 335725 | 1 | 10829.6 |
| 1975 | Richard Petty | 30 | 13 | 21 | 24 | 3 | 9082 | 3158 | 366580 | 1 | 10846.4 |
| 1976 | Richard Petty | 30 | 3 | 19 | 22 | 1 | 8941 | 1269 | 319774 | 2 | 10345.2 |
| 1977 | Richard Petty | 30 | 5 | 20 | 23 | 5 | 8840 | 1403 | 351574 | 2 | 10417.7 |
| 1978 | Richard Petty | 30 | 0 | 11 | 17 | 0 | 8904 | 417 | 215410 | 6 | 10162.4 |
| 1979 | Richard Petty | 31 | 5 | 23 | 27 | 1 | 9367 | 1149 | 416470 | 1 | 10932.7 |
| 1980 | Richard Petty | 31 | 2 | 15 | 19 | 0 | 9314 | 714 | 338365 | 4 | 10146.7 |
| 1981 | Richard Petty | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 319 | 31 | 94825 | 8 | 811.8 |
| 1981 | Joe Ruttman | 10 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2803 | 99 | 81280 | 28 | 2989.3 |
| 1982 | Tim Richmond | 25 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 6722 | 321 | 175160 | 26 | 8131.6 |
| 1982 | Joe Ruttman | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1311 | 148 | 69155 | 16 | 1395.8 |
| 1983 | Terry Labonte | 30 | 1 | 11 | 20 | 3 | 8498 | 435 | 258650 | 5 | 9774.3 |
| 1984 | Terry Labonte | 30 | 2 | 17 | 24 | 2 | 9886 | 880 | 417353 | 1 | 11236.2 |
| 1986 | Richard Petty | 29 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 7639 | 153 | 235405 | 14 | 8948.6 |
| 1987 | Richard Petty | 29 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 8306 | 38 | 363850 | 8 | 9984.8 |
| 1988 | Richard Petty | 29 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6207 | 11 | 187055 | 22 | 7626.3 |
| 24 Years | 808 | 171 | 457 | 552 | 113 | 222644 | 47034 | 5623163 | 225221.6 |
K&N Pro Series West Crew Chief Statistics
| Year | Driver | Races | Win | T5 | T10 | Pole | Laps | Led | Earnings | Miles |
| 1964 | Richard Petty | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 101 | 27 | 940 | 272.7 |
| 1966 | Richard Petty | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105 | 0 | 550 | 283.5 |
| 1967 | Richard Petty | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 103 | 5 | 680 | 278.1 |
| 1979 | Richard Petty | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 156 | 137 | 2100 | 156 |
| 1981 | Richard Petty | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 156 | 63 | 7333 | 156 |
| 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 621 | 232 | 11603 | 1146.3 |
