I really don't know what to say.
It's just now sort of starting to sink in.
I've been rooting against Dale Earnhardt for years. I liked the comment about rooting for "A.B.E.", Anybody But Earnhardt.
I've watched him spin more people out than Doan's has little pills.
One of my favorites was Jeremy Mayfield. Spun him into the inside wall at, oh, I think it was Rockingham.
For some reason, the broadcasters thought it would be a great idea to tune into Jeremy's radio frequency as his car came to a stop on the infield wall.
"That MOTHERF*CKER!" was broadcast live across the nation. My wild guess is that he was referring to you-know-who.
Then there's Labonte at Bristol. No, the first time. At least Terry got to get across the finish line first, albeit sideways...at least he got across the line first.
Then, more recently, it was into the wall with the finish line in sight, only this time Earnhardt crossed it first. Some mumbling in the post-race from the mustache about "racin' hard", and stuff like that. Boy, I was PO'd. Couldn't believe it. I kept waiting for Terry to go over to the No. 3 trailer with a tire iron.
But it gets worse than that. Dale could also make you like him, almost feel sorry for him at times, and actually wind up making you root for him.
I remember him trying to make it all the way through the Brickyard after tumbling at Talledega.
He was racing with what, a broken collarbone and sternum? Had electrical impulse things on his chest, trying to deaden the pain of the relatively flat corners.
Finally he had to get out. The Man in Black just couldn't pull it off. Knowing him, he was probably actually starting to lose consciousness from pain.
At first, he wouldn't talk to Jerry Punch. After about five minutes he must have relented, because they cut to J.P. with Dale, and he said, "Champ, it must have been tough to get out of that car."
Earnhardt kind of paused. And by God, you could tell that he was getting ready to cry. He was getting choked up. All he could say was, "Dad-gum it Jerry...racin's mah life..." and he turned and walked away.
I actually started getting choked up myself. That bastard.
And who didn't secretly, deep-down inside, start rooting for him near the end of the '98 500?
And who didn't get a little choked up as every single member of every single pit crew lined up to give him five as he drove towards victory lane? I can't remember if it was before or after cutting the donuts on the infield...I just remember everyone coming out to congratulate someone they probably cursed on a regular basis, because for some silly reason, this "Intimidator" attracted respect from people like white on rice...even those that didn't particularly cheer him on.
I watched the 500 on Sunday, and spent the last 15 laps on my hands and knees, in front of the TV, screaming "Go Michael! Stay low! No, no, go high! There! Stay there! Now go low!" It was one of the most exciting race conclusions I had ever seen, probably because of the drama of Michael, Jr., and Sr. as the leading triumvrant.
When Dale hit the wall, I really didn't think a whole lot about it. On TV, it looked like a good hit, but it didn't seem as head-on as it was in real life, and I knew he didn't hit on the driver's side, and I knew Kenny hadn't hit him on the driver's side.
I was absolutely drained from such a good race, and dozed off in my chair.
A little later my daughter came downstairs, and said that my father had called, and did I know that Dale Earnhardt was dead.
I think all I could say was, "What? You've got to be kidding."
I started flipping through channels, and kept seeing the picture of Dale with "1951 - 2001" below it.
I was sure there was some mistake, and kept flipping the channels, thinking that somewhere, someone would get it right. But it was not to be. Dale Earnhardt, the soul of NASCAR, was dead. Killed in the last lap of the Daytona 500, two weeks before his 50th birthday.
I think it's been said before in this thread, but just for those that don't know, Dale Earnhardt wasn't supposed to die.
In NASCAR, that's what I think kept a lot of people going. "Well hell, if Dale can do it, I can do it." He just flat-out, wasn't supposed to die.
And I'd like to amend the "loved him or hated him" statement.
I think more accurately, you either loved him, or you loved to hate him...whichever way you felt about him, he induced an extremely passionate response. He was always there, a prescense, a force to be reckoned with, one way or the other.
And yes, he was the greatest NASCAR driver of all time. No disrespect to anyone...there have been a lot, and of course Richard won 7 national championships.
But no one, no one ever, was as competitive as he was, in the time period that his career encompassed.
He could win in the old school, and he could win with the modern set-ups and cars in today's NASCAR, against kids half his age.
It's going to take a while for me to sort all this out. I'm sure it's going to be harder for all the teams that have to show up at Rockingham, start qualifying, and just go about their business of racing, and trying to win.
Or maybe it will be easier, because they can lose themselves in their work, and the times that they do look out at the track, and see a vision of a black car with a white number 3 on the side going high in the corners and swooping down to the inside of the track, they can think, "Yep. This is the way Dale would have wanted it."
Goodbye, Dale. I'm going to miss you.
Mk
