Dale Earnhard has died

[Dingy]

 

Originally posted by Dowding:
Aaaah, so this is why RAM quit (again).

Dowding...you need to go back and reread the thread bro.  They weren't bashing RAM but rather some very offensive comments made by Frosty.

-Ding

[Dowding]

Aye Dingy. But in the 'RAM quits' thread people were critising the guy for being offensive here.

Guess that wasn't everyone.   I think my 'skimming' skills need an overhaul.

[hblair]

Well, he's got guts anyway. WTG Frosty, would have been easier to snub your nose but you didn't...

[indian]

Though not an Earnhart fan I will miss him.
    I watch the part of the race where hecrashes a hundred times atleast I realy think that the air was removed from  his rear spoiler  by the other cars and he got realy light in the rear, I thin he was loose before the contact with Marlin. I am not a Marlin fan either but cont feel blame on him is right. It was good hard Racing.

May all our prayers go out to his Family and his Team, those he owned and Richard Childress Racing also, He will be Sadly missed.

<S> 3

[Kieren]

Dowding-

Ram was out of line wrt the timing of his comments. If he had waited a day or so to say such a thing I doubt anyone would have noticed. A mere 1 1/2 hours after the thread started we are into "we should be ashamed we aren't looking at these (earthquake victims') deaths". I would have been very upset to have been in a hospital room or funeral parlor and heard such talk, wouldn't you?

[Dowding]

Sure Kieren, I understand.

But you weren't in a funeral parlour, you're not related to the deceased and you didn't even know him. So I think the slamming was a little OTT.

If he had said "I'm glad that banana is dead", then I'd expect the reaction. But I guess RAM isn't exactly popular around here to begin with.

[Kieren]

And as I said to Ram, this is as close to a funeral visitation as we are likely to have.

The irony of the situation is that, by calling humanitarian attention to the earthquake victims Ram managed to reduce an individual's humanity.

My guilt in this is that I thought I could communicate why he was offensive. That was an obvious failure. I should have just ignored him like so many others do.

[funked]

I don't follow NASCAR but I can imagine how you guys feel, because it's probably a lot like when Senna died.  Senna came on the scene when I was first getting into racing in the early 80's and he was the closest thing I had to a "teen idol" when I was in junior high and high school.  For him to die in front of my eyes on live TV was a lot more saddening than I would have expected, and I can imagine NASCAR fans felt the same way yesterday.  My prayers go out to Dale's family.  

[StSanta]

I saw the accident on tv a few hours back. I certainly hope there'll be an inquiry; that crash didn't look very bad.

Something has to have malfunctioned  

Didn't know his name, but when I saw his pic I instantly recognized him from Eurosport. A great loss.

------------------
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9./JG 54 "Grünherz"
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Keep up the momentum!

[AKDejaVu]

 

I saw the accident on tv a few hours back. I certainly hope there'll be an inquiry; that crash didn't look very bad.

The accident didn't look that bad because parts did not fly all over the place.  Watch it again and you'll see why it would have been fatal to virtually anyone in any car... he went from 180mph to 0 in 1 foot.  The car beside him hit him in the side and made it look more like he glanced off of the wall.  He didn't.. he hit it almost head on.  There did not appear to be a malfunction.

That said, there will be an investigation on how to prevent fatalities from happening in similar situations.. but it is by far and away the toughest to protect against.  We just might head restraint systems similar to Indy and F1 added to the NASCAR vehicles.

I think Senna's accident and the ensuing investigations/alligations may be popping into the minds of many F1 fans right now.  It really is a different situation.  Though, I nearly got ill when I heard of the details of Senna's injuries and subsequent death.

AKDejaVu

[Ice]

He was my favorite...I watched him throughout his career. The only consolation is that like some of you posted...he died doing what he loved to do. If he had rotted in a hospital bed of cancer, he would have died long before his pulse stopped.

Ram...

I understand what your saying and agree...people suffer everyday while we gripe and complain about such things as fight models and gunnery. Just try and understand that to Americans, we have lost sort of a hero in many respects...a person who was part of many of our childhoods and someone who we had grown to know thru the media for some 20yrs.

We're just trying to express how we feel about this issue...not other issues of which there are too many to mention here...doesn't mean we only care about NASCAR...intiendes?

Ice

[Sandman_SBM]

Yeah... you can't blame Marlin at all. Earnhardt spent the last 5 laps trying to hold Marlin back in an obviously faster car. By the look of it, Marlin had nowhere to go when Earnhardt came down on his line and clipped bumpers.

I was stunned to hear Earnhardt died. I saw both crashes and the eighteen car pile up was a spectacle to behold. Tony Stewart (I think) rolling in the air in the middle of the track while cars went underneath him. Was amazing that no one was seriously injured.

I guess television just can't convey the sense of speed these cars are traveling. Earnhardt may have slowed considerably, but still hitting the wall at 150MPH+ isn't good for your health.

It's a lousy way to start off the season... Earnhardt will be sorely missed, this year and the years to come.

[Wlfgng]

Earnhardt died doing what he loved..
tradin' paint at 180+ mph.

No one is to blame.. it was an accident.

I'll toast one to the 'Intimidator' !

[Sorrow[S=A]]

From what I saw and heard no neck brace or his open faceplate would have made a difference to the crash- Dale was given life ending injuries almost from the second his car hit that wall. Horrible but Dale always made it clear that when the chips drop excessive safety equipment made it harder to avoid accidents at the cost of protecting you from them  

That being said this was the second most horrific loss I have ever had happen in my lifetime (sorry F1 fans- the first was Greg Moore who was born and raised in BC where I live and when was 16 was competing against me in a sprint car sponored by his father here on Vancouver Island).
The true sadness is that this is due to the single minded insanity of NASCAR to bring races closer and closer..  restrictor plates et al. have contributed to making the machines too similar- and races TOO DAMN CLOSE. If Petty had been driving a restrictor in the sixties and seventies who the hell would have cared about the Hemi he won with? Bring the races back to the cars and quit making drivers cut each others throats to win....

[AKDejaVu]

I truly enjoyed watching Greg Moore drive.  He was the only one squirrely enough to go into the "marbles" on a pass.  I was watching that race too.  That was almost more of a shock to me simply because I knew the moment it happened that Indy had lost a young talent.

The announcers did too.  They replayed it once to see what happened and didn't replay it again.  They then asked people not to jump to conclusions.

Man

AKDejaVu