My Hero's "Had" Always Been Cowboys...
By Roger C. Haynes
Living in Concord, North Carolina, you can not get away from the people who know Dale Earnhardt. You mention his name an a complete stranger will pipe up that his cousin works for him, or their sister works at the shop. I have long since given up trying to figure out who does and who doesn't know the man from Kannapolis NC, the Intimidator.
On February 18th, Running third in the greatest race of the year, the Daytona 500, seven times champion Dale Earnhardt, lost his life doing what he did best, Driving a race car, in the thick of the hunt.
Men will discuss for years the how and why of the way the wreck happened, but truly I saw it as a racing incident. Hard charging by the best drivers NASCAR has to offer, the last lap of the race with Dale running third and blocking for the two cars ahead of him. Blame can not be attached to any one driver or action, it was the dangerous ballet of racing on the high banked super speedway. I once heard a driver say it was like driving a family sedan 100 MPH on ice.
I watched from home as the ambulance slowly took Dale Earnhardt to the hospital, thinking, he's okay, or they would be going faster,,, no, he's not okay, they are not in a hurry... I couldn't bear the thought and went up town, just minutes from where Dale had grown up, in the small mill town of Kannapolis. Everywhere you went it was buzzing, Earnhardt, Earnhardt, Earnhardt... Is he okay, what do you think, and endless wondering...
By now I had sought refuge at my favorite eatery, pulling into the parking lot just before 7:PM the music stopped on my radio, a brief pause was followed by a DJ stating,,, I'm sorry to interrupt the music, we don't often do this,,, but from our news room,,, This just in: "Dale Earnhardt has died of injuries suffered in a last lap wreck at the Daytona International Speedway."
Now it was official, my heart sunk.
I had picked Earnhardt to follow when Cale Yarbrough retired from racing a few years after Dale had started.
Some people watch the news and root for the driver that wins the most, there is no crow to eat on Monday morning when you pick a winner. But I liked the mans style, Dale Earnhardt brought dirt track style racing to pavement. He was notorious for making an ill handling race car a beast to tame. He did just that on many occasions.
Seven Winston Cup Championships and list of accomplishments too long to write about here. At 49 years of age he had done it all. He admitted it to Darrell Waltrip in an interview aired just before the race week started at Daytona.
Now the racing community is in shock. Here in the home town of the Champion, grown men cry, talk of the sport leads to remembrances of Dale and the rowdy past he carved into the NASCAR Record books with his aggressive driving style that earned him the name "THE INTIMIDATOR".
Humpy Wheeler, President of Charlotte's Lowe's Motor Speedway was interviewed late that Sunday night and he said quite emphatically, "There will never be another Dale Earnhardt!" I tend to agree.
Today at Rockingham NC the races went on, but for the first time in 648 Races, they started without Dale Earnhardt.
Many want to bring closure to the grief his passing has brought on. Some don't understand, but a hero to many was snatched up before our very eyes, in the twinkling of an eye as 500 Winner Michael Waltrip put it, to the presence of God. Also, taped to the dash of his Goodwrench Monte Carlo Chevrolet, a brief bible passage, given to him by Stevie Waltrip, as she did before each race. Proverbs 18:10 - read it.
Here practically in the shadow of the Charlotte Speedway, I wonder why this happened. I wish I knew. His life touched millions of people. Love him or hate him, like him or not, we all wonder why?
PHOTOS BY STEVE NEWELL
Strapped in and ready for action, Dale preferred to sit low in the car, his black Chevrolet sponsored race cars carried the copyrighted aggressive #3
Steve catches Dale on his way to a meeting at Loudon New Hampshire. One of the most photographed hero's in racing, Dale was not always cooperative.
Here is Steve Newell with Dale, Steve managing a smile, but Dale stern in his pose. The Intimidator.
Before the Computer hit TNS, when I would relax, drawing was fun. This 1992 drawing done by your editor won praise from my artist Friend Dan McCrary "You're getting the hang of it.." Shown is the Road Course car.