Dale Earnhardt

[Long Live #3]

What was your first reaction when you found out that Dale Earnhardt had died?

[jefferson-mo]

Tough man tough, that was the just the last straw for me.:depress:
I'd been a Nascar fan since the mid '80's and saw Riverside close:bigcry:
the closest and by far my favorite track, but after Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison,Tim Richmond and Neil Bonnett died--and then the 'straightening of Sears Point, the closure of North Wilkesboro and the over building of 'generic' tracks(incl California, Texas, Kansas, Chicago etc) it's just no fun anymore.:depress:

I haven't seen a race since that fateful Daytona race(I was in Australia when Kevin won his first-would've liked to see that)
I still have the 2000 awards ceremony on tape but I'm afraid to watch it.

[dok]

I was in disbelief. It just couldn't happen to Dale. Since I live within 2 miles of Lowes Motorspeedway, I visit all the shops frequently and had been to DEI headquarters (the garagemajal) so many times that the girl in the gift shop used to say "you here again".

After hearing the confirmation of his death on TV, I drove to DEI. There were already about 300 people there. There were also tons of flowers. Since this was on a Sunday night, I think every grocery store in the area had to be sold out.

My wife and I went back during the week and there were so many people there that we had to park almost a mile away.

I had always been a huge Dale fan and my first reaction was to stop following NASCAR. I forced myself to go to the race at Rockingham the following Sunday. 90% of the people were wearing Earnhardt hats, shirts or some other item of his.

I still love NASCAR and root for Dale Jr as I think he has many of the abilities of his father. He's not as good yet, but has the potential.

If you were a Dale fan and ever get to the Charlotte area, they are building a memorial to him in Kannapolis (his hometown). They have a 9 foot statue and are building a little park around it.

[SergntMac]

Don't know if this was really the case or not, but in my eyes, Dale was the black sheep of NASCAR. He was the last rebel among the rebels. The "loner" among loners, the "High Plains Drifter" of NASCAR if you will.

While others in the winner's circle often buddy-uped with each other after hours, Earnhart did not. He planned, and cut, his own path forward, often paving it his own way too, only to accomplish remarkable feats for one who often went against the grain. Earnhart was not "normal" on anyone's spec sheet.

I cannot lament, or, wax poetic over his moving on, he begged for it to play out just as it did..."with his boots on."

What was I doing when I heard the news? S**t...I can't remember the "www" that gets me here! But, once I heard the news, I recall thinking "yeah, he was due."

Did he leave us with anything special? A superior change in NASCAR rules, new designs, nifty techy stuff? Naw, probably not. But being the last of the rebels among the rebels, is enough, IMHO...

[Marauderman]

I thought --anybody but him--he couldn't die--felt the sport was lost w/o him racing--wasn't fun to watch anymore--no one to put pressure on the other guys--no one--have since dropped off the tv watch sport--overall---sport has become less interesting---don't care anymore--he put challenges in front of everyone when on the track----no one out there can do it now-----or step up to do..untill then ..it's too tame....

[Long Live #3]

I told myself "He'll be Ok, he's been through crashes like these before, he'll just come out of the car and say 'that's just racing for ya'. But after I herd that he died I told my self, he can't die. He's the Intimidator, he's the best of the best. WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE HIM?!?! :bigcry: :shake: I've watched him since he was driving the Lumina and he has been through every single crash you could think of and lived through it. Even then he was the greatest. I told my parents, in these exact words, "I wanna be just like him when I get out of collage". NASCAR will never be the same without him.

Rest in peace Dale, thanks for the memories. :) :up:

[SergntMac]

maybe something rubbed off on the kid, ya think?

[jefferson-mo]

we can only hope:banana2:

[Long Live #3]

Sorry guys, I just had to get that off my chest.

[WolfeBros]

I followed him since he came up in 1978. And I felt like I lost a family member when he died. He is alive in my memory and yes Nascar is boring without him. He was a throw back to another era. I miss him but life goes on.