Words cannot express how I am feeling right
now. Richard Petty may be the King, but to me, Dale Earnhardt
WAS NASCAR. I've been a fan for as long as I can remember,
and he touched my life in ways I am only beginning to comprehend.
I'll never forget how hard I laughed every
time I saw him give his infamous "You're Number One"
salute, or give a winning driver that little bump of "congratulations"
as he passed him on the cool-down lap. And then there was the
daring "pass in the grass", the "slingshot",
and the "bump and run". And just how many times did
he "bump" the pace car to say "hello"? Dale
Earnhardt brought the "race" to racing. Mark and I loved
to watch Dale and Rusty (Mark's favorite driver) duke it out in
the final laps of an intense race. And it was always impressive
to watch him work his way up from the back of the pack to take
charge of the race.
I still can't believe he's gone. Mark broke
the news to me. After the race, I was on the internet for two
hours looking for any kind of news about his condition. I knew
it was bad. All the signs were there. As Darrell Waltrip said,
"Those are the bad ones. The ones where you run head first
into the wall. Those are the ones that hurt you." And then
there was the expression on Ken Schrader's face when he was asked
about Earnhardt and the wreck -- he looked like he had seen something
no one should ever have to see. Even still, I thought that perhaps
he was just injured, a few broken bones. A little time, some healing,
and he would be back on the track, putting the bumper to everything
between him and the checkered flag. The worst thing that I could
imagine was the possibility that he'd be out of contention for
that 8th Championship. It never occurred to me that he could be
gone.
And then Mark told me. I cried. I'm still
crying. I pick up my Coca-cola black-and-white checkered coffee
mug, and I think about Dale. I always drink out of that mug on
Sundays. I can't walk through my den without seeing reminders
of him everywhere -- pictures, magazines, die casts, even my favorite
slot car. How can I make blueberry muffins without thinking of
our Sunday morning tradition? Dozens of friends and family have
called or emailed to offer their condolences. Most of them don't
even watch NASCAR or any kind of auto racing, but even they
feel the loss.
I'm hurt. I'm angry. I feel cheated. I
feel like Dale was cheated. Would he have gotten that 8th Championship?
Would he win at Texas while I was there in the grandstands, watching?
And part of me insists that it must be a mistake. How could NASCAR's
brightest star be gone? Surely that can't be right! Dale Earnhardt
can't die, he's invincible! But no, my hero has died, and with
him a dream. It is a devastating loss for all of us.
So now we say good-bye. We will cherish
fond memories of "The Man in Black", "The Intimidator",
old "Ironhead", and there will be a hole in our hearts
where Dale's supposed to be. In time it will heal, but it will
never be the same. A part of us is gone, and nothing we can say
or do will ever change that. But we can share our memories with
others, and we can take comfort in knowing that we are not alone.
And so to that end, I present these web pages. In memory of Dale
Earnhardt, and in hopes that it will help express the pain that
we all feel.
Dale, you are, and ever shall be my hero.
Video Slide Show
Tribute
Check out the upgraded
version of my Dale Earnhardt Tribute! Most of the photos come
from the r.a.s.n
Racing Image Archives
and the Associated Press. You will need QuickTime or a comparable
streaming video player to view these. A free version of QuickTime
can be downloaded here:
Currently there are three versions of this
movie available:
Earnhardt Movie (14.9 MB, 640
x 480) Not for the faint of computer. You will need a cable or better internet
connection and a fairly fast computer in order to view this without interuption
or pauses in the data stream.
Earnhardt Movie (10.6 MB, 320
x 240) Best available quality without a fast connection. You may experience
slight interuptions or pauses in the data stream.
Earnhardt Movie (8.9 MB, 320 x 240) Suggested
version for dial-up connections or older computers.
At this time, the files are being hosted on a temporary
server which shuts down for periodic maintenance. If you have trouble accessing
the files, try back again later.
Dale
Earnhardt Tributes
Jaski has put together
a Tribute
to Dale Earnhardt
website that has news articles, quotes and comments from the NASCAR
community, and Dale Earnhardt fan pages of all kinds. It's the
best compilation of Earnhardt resources I've seen.
Sue's
Dale Earnhardt Page Sue has always
had an excellent website and she maintains an awesome newsletter
that any NASCAR fan can appreciate.
Dale
Earnhardt Images A truly awesome
pictoral tribute with over 200 images. A must see.
Rappy has literally TONS of stuff you just can't miss.
Wallpaper, screensavers, links to even more tributes, you name
it!
Reflections
of a Winner Speed Magazine put together this GREAT page full of Dale Earnhardt
articles, tributes, and updates.
Originally published by "The
Charlotte Observer":
Posted
in r.a.s.n.m. Usenet Newsgroup
"During the race I heard Dale
talking to Childress on the radio, complaining
that the aero-dynamics package which was modified
for this race by NASCAR
"....it's making things real scary out
here..... I'd rather they go
back to the small restrictor plates than do
this....somebody's gonna' get
killed out here."
A
Speech Given by the Character G'kar from the TV show "Baylon
5" as posted by
Tom Bond in the r.a.s.n.m. newsgroup
"It was the end of the earth
year 2260, and the war had paused, suddenly and
unexpectantly. All around us it was as if
the universe was holding its
breath, waiting. All of life can be broken
down into moments of transition,
or moments of revelation. This had the feeling
of both.
"G'Quan wrote, 'There is a
greater darkness than the one we fight, it is the
darkness of the soul that has lost its way.'
The war we fight is not
against powers and principalities, it is against
chaos and despair. Greater
than the death of flesh is the death of hope,
the death of dreams. Against
this peril we can never surrender.
"The future is all around
us, waiting, in moments of transition, to be born
in moments of revelation. No one knows the
shape of that future or where it
will take us. We know only that it is always
born in pain."
(As spoken by G'Kar
in the Babylon 5 episode "Z'Ha'Dum". Performed by
Andreas Katsulas. Written
by J. Michael Straczynski)
Is
it a "3"?
WBTV Channel 3 in Charlotte reported
that a cloud in the shape of a number 3 was seen in the sky over
the DEI complex. It is such a small image that it was difficult
to tell what you were looking at, so I enlarged it a bit.
You be the judge:
Is it a 3?
Many people thought they saw something a little unusual over the
Earnhardt race headquarters in Mooresville. Take a close look
at the area that's highlighted in this picture. Does that whisp
of cloud look like a number three to you? That's what a lot of
folks thought when they saw this Tuesday morning, including our
photographer, Bobby Hager. Of course, Dale Earnhardt drove the
#3 Chevy.
Statements
and Quotes from the NASCAR family
" This is
understandably the hardest announcement I've ever had to make.
We've lost Dale Earnhardt."
-- Mike Helton, President
of NASCAR
"NASCAR has
lost its greatest driver ever, and I personally have lost a great
friend."
-- Bill France, Jr., Chairman
of NASCAR
"My heart
is hurting right now. I would rather be any place right this moment
than here. It's so painful."
-- Michael Waltrip, Winner
of the 2001 Daytona 500
"Dale Earnhardt
was much more than a race car driver. He was a very loving husband
and a proud father and grandfather. He was a successful businessman.
He was also a hero to millions of racing fans throughout the world."
-- Richard Childress, Owner
of the #3 GM Goodwrench Team
"He was what
NASCAR is."
-- Shawna Robinson
"For a lot
of fans, Dale Earnhardt was what they thought about when they
thought about NASCAR racing. He could do so much and was so talented.
He knew it, and he knew you knew it. That grin of his, a lot of
times you wouldn't know what he was thinking but you thought you
did. And it might not mean a thing in the world, but he knew you
were trying to figure it out."
-- Kyle Petty
"He was what
we were all trying to be on the race track, and he was what we
would like to be off the track, too"
-- Mike Wallace
"In Memory
of My Only Hero"
-- seen on a sign painted
by an Earnhardt fan
"We were going
to grow old together."
-- Darrell Waltrip
"We will never
fill the void left by the loss of Dale Earnhardt"
-- H.A. "Humpy"
Wheeler, President of Lowe's Motor Speedway
"He was 'The
Man.' That sounds kind of silly to say, and a lot of people use
it superficially, but it just fits him. He was THE MAN."
-- Mike Wallace
"In Victory Lane, I just couldn't
wait till I got that big grab on the neck and a big hug. I just
knew any minute that Dale was gonna run in Victory Lane and say,
'That's what I'm talkin' about right there.' But that wasn't to
be. My belief is that in the twinkle of an eye, you're in the
presence of the Lord, and that's where I think Dale is. And so,
instead of pattin' ME on the back, and having a party with ME,
he's up there hangin' out with my dad. So that ain't a bad thing,
either."
-- Michael Waltrip
"I'm sure
he'd want us to keep going, so that's what we're going to do."
-- Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Daytona, FL - "The Intimidator"
may still be racing at Daytona. Several
anonymous sources at Daytona International
Speedway have experienced
unexplained phenomenon since the death of
auto racing legend, Dale
Earnhardt, at this year's Daytona 500.
Known as "The Intimidator"
for his aggressive style of racing, Dale
Earnhardt had the most wins, of all NASCAR
drivers, both past and present,
at the Daytona Speedway. In 1998, after 19
unsuccessful attempts, he won the
famed Daytona 500 for the first time.
A number of people have heard engine
sounds coming from the third stall of
the garage area where the cars are worked
on during the race. Upon further
investigation during a balmy Florida evening,
it has been reported that the
stall was quiet and unoccupied, however noticeably
colder then the adjacent
surrounding area.
Others that were in the stands
have heard the clear sound of a single car
racing around the banked track. The sound
starts to fade out and disappears
around the fourth turn where the tragic accident
occurred that killed the
seven-time Winston Cup champion.
There has been no official comment
from Daytona International Speedway
management or NASCAR officials. An employee
that wished to remain anonymous
said, " It's kind of eerie to think that,
Dale may still be racing to win in
a race he'll never finish."
From
the Associated Press News Service (2/19/01)
WACO, Texas -- President Bush called the
widow of Dale Earnhardt on Sunday night to express his condolences
after the race car driver was killed in a crash at the Daytona
500.
Bush spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the
President's "prayers are with the Earnhardt family and the
NASCAR community."
Bush has attended NASCAR events and considered
Earnhardt and his wife, Teresa, to be friends.
In July, Bush visited Daytona Beach to
serve as Grand Marshal of the Pepsi 400 and shook hands with NASCAR
fans, racing crews and drivers.
After greeting fans during the July visit,
Bush sat in on the pre-race driver's meeting, taking a seat in
the front row next to Earnhardt.
Bush then watched the race in the private
box of NASCAR Chairman Bill France, Jr.
Songs
to Remember Him By
This is a list of songs that make
me think of Dale.
Listen to them and see if you don't think
of him, too.
I'm Gonna Be Somebody
Travis Tritt
(one of Dale's favorite songs)
I Hope You Dance
Leanne Womack
(played at Dale's memorial service)
The Dance
Garth Brooks
One More Day
Diamond Rio
Tell Me I Was Dreamin'
Travis Tritt
An
open letter to fans from Teresa Earnhardt USA Today (2/23/01)
I can never fully express my immense gratitude
for the overwhelming support we have received.
It would be easy at this time to get lost
in the sadness of losing a loving husband, father and grandfather.
However, I and our family, as well as everyone at Dale Earnhardt
Inc., have chosen to take this time to reflect not on the sadness
we feel today, but on the joy Dale Earnhardt the man brought to
us and Dale Earnhardt the driver brought to so many fans for so
many years.
It is a joy that will carry us through
the sadness and grief of this day and many days to come.
For our children, Kerry, Kelley, Dale Jr.
and Taylor, he was a father whose pride in his children was greater
than even his strongest desire as a competitor.
For his mother, Martha, he was a son who
always wanted to make sure she had what she needed.
For his brothers and sisters, he was always
an influential part of their lives.
For his employees, he could be both demanding
and praising and had the ability to create the same desire to
win in the crews and drivers that he had in himself. He was very
proud of what the teams at Dale Earnhardt Inc. had been able to
do in a very short period of time and the people who helped it
happen and supported its acceleration.
For his fans, there simply was no one more
sensational and with that I agree.
There were two sides to Dale Earnhardt,
and I am so blessed to have known both for the qualities they
carried.
The public Dale Earnhardt wanted to be
the best. The competitive drive that burned inside of him gave
him the passion to win. If he was racing, he wanted to win the
most races and championships. If he was fishing, he wanted to
catch the most fish.
The private Dale Earnhardt, the husband
and father and son and brother, wanted to be the best as well.
He struggled with that at times. Emotions didn't come as easy
to this man who stirred so much emotion in other people. But as
his children grew and began making decisions of their own, he
saw that most of the time, they made the decision by asking themselves,
''What would dad do?''
I will ask myself that in the coming days
and weeks and for a long time after that, I'm sure. ''What would
Dale do?''
I think what Dale would do, and what Dale
would want us to do, is remember the joy that his life brought.
Remember the things about him that made you happy that you were
his fan. Remember the man who loved life.
He was the happiest person I know, and
that can comfort us all.
Gratefully, Teresa Earnhardt
*There is a beautiful
keepsake collage of Dale in the center of the sports section,
with instructions on how to properly preserve it. All Earnhardt
fans should check it out.
From
an unknown source...
From
ABC World News Tonight 2/20/01
The manufacturer of the HANS head
and neck restraint device has received 50 new orders for the device
since the death of Dale Earnhardt.
Monuments,
Memorials, and Recognitions
Donations
In lieu of flowers, the Earnhardt family asks
that you consider donations to:
Carolina Foundation
Attn: Honor of Dale Earnhardt
PO Box 34769
Charlotte, N.C. 28234-4769
Wear
A Black Ribbon As Tribute Jaski's
reported a "Wear a Black Ribbon" campaign as a tribute
to our hero Dale Earnhardt. Fans are encouraged to pass the word
to others.
Retire
#3
A petition has been started
requesting that NASCAR retire the #3 in honor of Dale Earnhardt's
contributions to the sport. Recent statements by Richard Childress,
owner of the #3 GM Goodwrench car, indicate that NASCAR has granted
the team a moratorium on the number for this year only, and insinuate
that if Childress fails to run the number next year, it will be
available for licensing to other teams. Childress stated that
the Goodwrench team will NOT run the #3 for this year, nor
will they EVER again run a #3 car with a black
and white GM Goodwrench paint scheme. Childress went further to
state that NASCAR informed him that it DOES NOT retire
car numbers. If you believe that the #3 should be retired, please
join us in this petition. NASCAR must
listen to it's fans.
Naming
an Award after our Hero
Many fans have been trying to come up with
suitable tributes to our hero. One of the suggestions was to create
a new award for the end of the season and name it after him. One
of my favorite suggestions honors Dale's amazing Winston Cup Championship
in the year following his Rookie season. The award would be given
to the Sophomore driver who was highest in points at the end of
the season. An alternative to this was a suggestion that it be
giving to the outstanding sophomore driver by vote, which would make Dale Jr. the handsdown sure
winner for ths year.
Crochet
Partners Create Comfort-ghan for Earnhardt Family
In a very sweet gesture, members
of the Crochet
Partners group
have gotten together to create a comfort afghan for the Earnhardt
family. Memebers will be crocheting squares which the coordinator
of the group will sew together. I will add a photo of the afghan
as soon as it is completed. I will also have a list of participants
as soon as the list is complete.
Fans
remember Earnhardt at memorial service Associated Press
(2/25/2001)
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. -- Dale Earnhardt's fans
streamed into his hometown baseball stadium Sunday for a memorial
service.
About 5,000 people, most wearing the black-dominated
gear of Earnhardt's racing team, braved a cool evening to attend
the service at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium.
"He was, and still is, our hometown
hero," said Doug Stafford, vice president of Lowe's Motor
Speedway about 10 miles away.
Earnhardt was killed Feb. 18 when his car
hit the wall on the final turn of the Daytona 500. A nationally
televised service Thursday in a Charlotte church was an invitation-only
gathering for NASCAR drivers, teams and sponsors.
Earnhardt was buried Wednesday in a private
service.
Earnhardt's oldest son, Kerry, and the
driver's sisters, Cathy Watkins and Kay Snipes, spoke at the ballpark
service.
Snipes, Earnhardt's oldest sister, read
a Bible passage.
"The time of my departure is at hand.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have
kept the faith," she read, quoting the Book of Timothy.
"Tonight we celebrate Dale Earnhardt's
life without him," Watkins said. "We're all here together.
Family, friends, with tears in our eyes.
But we need to wipe those tears away and put smiles on our faces
and know that Dale would want us that way. We wanted to say thank
you from everyone in our family."
Kerry Earnhardt thanked the crowd for an
outpouring of support and prayers for the family and its business.
"Keep up the support and concern and
the loyalty to Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and NASCAR.
We still need you," he said.
Hours earlier, Dale Earnhardt Jr. survived
a wreck that looked similar to the one that killed his father
when he crashed into the wall on the first lap of the Dura Lube
400 in Rockingham, about 60 miles east of Kannapolis. The race
was postponed until Monday due to rain.
The Class A baseball team that plays on
the field was renamed the Intimidators, Earnhardt's nickname,
after he became a part owner last year.
Apparently Tom Leykis made several
distasteful and disrespectful comments on his nationally syndicated
radio talk-show on Monday following the Daytona 500. I don't like
the guy, so I didn't hear it. Hubby usually does listen, but as
fate would have it, he was off, and so didn't hear it either.
But as we understand it, Tom did several of his "Take me
out like ....." but this time instead of a Princess Di car
crash or a J. F. K Junior plane crash, it was "Take me out
like Dale Earnhardt" complete with sounds of a wrecking car.
In light of the fact that it was barely 24 hours since his passing,
we find this COMPLETELY distasteful and obscene. In addition, Tom also
made many disparaging comments about NASCAR, NASCAR fans, and
NASCAR drivers, most of which described us as illiterate, inbred,
trailer-trash boobs. Again, I stress that I did not hear this
broadcast, nor did my husband, Mark, but he did listen to the
Tuesday broadcast during which Tom aired calls and letters from
NASCAR fans who were complaining about the Monday broadcast. In
screening the calls and letters he would air, Tom Leykis selected
only the complaints which were either full of grammatical, punctuation,
and/or spelling errors, or else were written with such intensity
and anger that the message was lost within all the name-calling
and mud-slinging (ie: hate mail). Tom used this tactic to further
his point that NASCAR fans are illiterate scum of the earth.
Numerology A few observations:
Kevin Harvick wins Atlanta (3/11/01)
It's the 3rd race since Dale died,
and Harvick's 3rd race since replacing Dale.
Dale Jr. had something ruin his
day for the 3rd week in a row since Dale's death and it happened
with 3 laps to go (or that's when he went to the pits).
There has been a caution on the
3rd lap of the last 3 races.
This makes the 3rd win for a team
related to Dale.
Harvick tried 3 times to pass Dale
Jarrett and Jerry Nadeau and did so on the 3rd try.
Harvick won by 3 inches.
Harvick won 3 races in Busch Series
before moving to Winston Cup, and he finished 3rd in the Busch
Point Standings in 2000.
Richard Childress Racing is now
3rd in owner's standings.
Martha Earnhardt
thought Ralph had lost his mind. All those nights in the garage
out back. Three, four nights a week, he'd go racing. Doing good,
but he could kill himself. And he takes the boy with him all over
Carolina. I'm waiting tables at the Dinette, my husband's racing.
We're living in a neighborhood called Car Town. On Sedan Street.
Some one of these danged nights, Ralph will just die with that
car. And he did.
Darrell
Waltrip on Good Morning America 2/20/01
Darrell related a story about his wife
Stevie and how she made a habit of searching for meaningful Bible
verses to pass along to him on race days. One day a few years
ago, Dale saw her putting a verse in Darrell's car, and Dale asked
what it was. Darrell explained that before every race Stevie would
find a passage that related to the race or to their lives in some
way, and Darrell carried this with him while he raced. Dale was
so touched by this that he asked Stevie if she would prepare verses
for him as well, and so she did from then on. Darrell went on
to tell how excited Dale was when Stevie brought him a new verse
on the morning of the Daytona race, even though Darrell has retired.
According to Darrell, this is the verse she gave him:
Proverbs
18
"A strong man will run
to the Lord, and he will find safety, and he will cling to it."
Darrell finished his story
by reminding us that Dale ran to the Lord that day, and he's safe
there now.
I thought this was such
a poignant story and the verse so appropriate that I had to share
it here. Unfortunately, Darrell did not give the exact chapter
and verse. When I went looking for it, I found two that were similar,
but none that were exactly the same. I attributed this to variations
between different versions of the Bible, and have received confirmation
that it was indeed the following verse:
Proverbs
18:10 "The Lord is a strong
fortress. The godly run to him and are safe." (The Living Bible)
"The name
of the Lord is a strong fortress. The righteous will run to it
and be safe." (NIV)
