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The Ironies of Dale Earnhardt's
Death
September 6, 2007
T. Jay Maddox - SCR
Dale Earnhardt Sr. is
known as one of the most legendary drivers in the history of NASCAR, and his life both on and off the track was featured in
the two-hour CMT feature, DALE, which premiered Tuesday, September 4 and will air again at various times.
I was a fan at the 2001
Daytona 500. It was a four day extravaganza in Daytona that I took my Dad to and we attend everything NASCAR related we could.
We were/are huge Earnhardt fans and this was to be the ultimate. I remember getting up Sunday morning (of the race) and
reading an article about him. He was nearly 50 years old and nearing the end of his career. I wondered if this might
be the beginning of a new era where he would drive select races like the Daytona 500 rather than a full schedule. I was
wondering if this may be the beginning of a new era. Instead, as it turned out, it was the ending of an old one, Irony
No. 1.
Irony No. 2: Earnhardt
appeared to help Michael Waltrip win his first career Cup race, more than racing for the victory himself. I listened to Earnhardt
on his in-car radio the entire race. I watched as he ran the last few laps. Instead of trying to win as I was so accustomed
to see him doing, it appeared to me as if he was trying to help his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Michael Waltrip win. Waltrip
was running first, Jr. second, and Earnhardt third, trying to hold off the ever advancing freight train behind him. I
had remembered a previous race where the old man banged into Jr.'s door to win an IROC race. So it struck me as ironic that
he was running to help someone else win rather than trying to set up the win for himself. But that was what he appeared to
be doing. The last thing I believe I heard him say on his radio was “Tell them boys if they want to win this race
they better keep it on the bottom.” If he had run to win rather than help someone else win would he still be alive?
In his own words, “Second place is just the first loser”.
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Irony No. 3 Running the
bottom: When he told them boys to keep it on the bottom, he gave great advice and they followed it and won. But
the fact that he ran the bottom himself is in itself the reason he could not survive the accident. Getting bumped on
the bottom as he did, allowed his car to travel a great distance up the track at such a high rate of speed as to create an
impact that could kill him. Had he been running the top or even the middle, likely the contact and ultimate turn up the track
and impact into the wall would not have created the same result.
Irony No. 4 Neil Bonnet:
Probably Dale’s best friend on the track was Neil Bonnet. They raced together, hung out together, and hunted together. Neil
and Dale were friends. Some years earlier, Neil was practicing at Daytona, in what I recall as Dale’s equipment.
He lost it while running by himself low in turn 4. He tried to correct by turning right into the spin which is
the correct way, but the car grabbed traction and shot him head first into turn 4. The same turn, the same car reaction, and
the same result, as Dale would experience just a few years later.
Irony No. 5 Michael Waltrip:
At the time, Waltrip was thought of by many to be a likeable, funny has been, who might have actually been a never was. He
ran a great number of races, many times in mediocre equipment, and had accomplished very little. He was probably, at
the time, a racer who had run the most and created the least success of anyone. Earnhardt had an eye for talent; he also
had a soft heart. Earnhardt came to Waltrip with a plan to put him in one of Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) cars to make him
a winner, and even by Waltrip’s own account, he didn’t believe in it. All winter long, Earnhardt told Waltrip
he could win the Daytona 500. Waltrip knew he would be in Dale’s equipment and at the time it was state of the
art for a win at Daytona. But Waltrip hadn’t won anything, so how could he, even with the best equipment in the
world, beat the best at the greatest race of the year. And yet, there he was. With just a few laps to go, he was leading the
Daytona 500. The worst thing in the world at Daytona is leading with cars behind you chomping at the bit to freight train
past. But he had help with Jr., his teammate directly behind. And behind Jr., was their car owner, The Intimidator
and the man who had won more races at the Daytona in the modern era, Dale Earnhardt. You couldn’t ask for more. Earnhardt,
who was the expert at Daytona and at making a car “very wide”, was holding off everyone behind him. This
was a fairy tale come true until the last lap. Waltrip came through 4, toward the checkered flag, and wins the Daytona
500. It’s a dream come true. All is right with the world. He pulls into victory lane, expecting those
big hands of Earnhardt to come up behind him and squeeze the life out of his neck and shoulders. Instead, something had
gone terribly wrong with the man who had been so instrumental in Waltrip’s fairy tale win and he never showed up in
victory lane.
Irony No. 6 Safety equipment: Nobody
was more stubborn or reluctant to succumb to and use head and neck restraint devices than Earnhardt Sr. He didn’t
like them. He couldn’t see or be as mobile as he wanted to be with devices and he resisted them to the end. Earnhardt
Jr. was not using this equipment either when the Daytona 500 was run in 2001. Would the newly designed safety equipment
have saved Earnhardt’s life, maybe, maybe not? Many experts have speculated that the violent nature of this
accident would have been too much for even modern day safety equipment, let alone the equipment available at the time. Eventually,
Earnhardt Jr. succumbed to pressure from fellow drivers and abandoned the open face helmet in favor of a full face one. In
addition, he implemented the usage of such equipment as the HANS device to help ensure we would not have another loss of a
NASCAR icon like we did with his Dad. Furthermore, it should also be noted with irony, that if not for Earnhardt’s
death, other safety initiatives such as safer walls/barriers and the safer Car Of Tomorrow (COT), would likely have been years
from being realized. The man seemingly most resistant was probably most responsible for earlier implementation with his
death.
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Irony No. 7: The one
comment most commonly made by race fans and non-race fans alike, was they could not believe that the apparently easy
impact with the wall could have killed anyone, let alone the arguably toughest guy in NASCAR. For those watching the
race either in person, or on TV, the news was immediate. For those who didn’t watch the race, the news appeared
a bit later but was widely covered. It was uncommon to talk to someone by the next day that had not seen the wreck. Most
of their reactions were the same. The accident did not look that bad. Many accidents have occurred in racing, some
horrific-looking. Barrel rolls, end-over-end flips, and cars or trucks almost nearly disintegrated are etched in many
race fans minds. Yet the common result was to see a driver extracted from the carnage and walking to the ambulance. An
obligatory ride to the infield care center and a subsequent interview with an infield reporter was the net result. On
TV, those accidents looked far more devastating than did Earnhardt’s. Even he had more horrendous looking wrecks
where he walked away without a scratch. One such wreck, he had actually taken his seat in the ambulance only to look
out, see his car which had seconds before been violently rolled but in the end landed on all four wheels. He must have initially
thought, having been in the violent accident, that the car was un-drivable. After further assessment, he jumped from
the ambulance and demanded the wrecker crew attempting to take his car to the garage, return his car to him. To which
he drove to the pits, got four new ties, rearranged some bent sheet metal and returned to the race. How could the man so impervious
to the danger, be taken with an accident so innocent looking by comparison?
Irony No. 8: He was running
with guys he had run with forever and trusted. Running door-to-door and bumper-to-bumper, at nearly 200 miles per hour, takes
trust and confidence in those around you. Drivers with limited experience and with lesser skills are moved aside and
left to drive at the rear by the crafty veterans who know how to do it. On this day, the drivers with limited success
and lesser experience were actually in front, Michael Waltrip and Earnhardt Jr. The drivers behind and around Earnhardt were
mostly guys he raced with for years. Guys like 2-time Daytona winner Sterling Marlin, Cup Champ Rusty Wallace, and veteran
Ken Schrader. These were racers that Earnhardt Sr. had logged hundreds in not thousands of miles with. He had run
with some for more than 20 years in a racing season that is 10 months long and with races nearly every weekend. These
weren’t rookies he was unfamiliar with, nor were they unfamiliar with him. These were race veterans you would want
to have around you to reduce the risk of unknown moves, limited experience, and careless mistakes. A small bump from Marlin,
possibly on a small check-up by Earnhardt, broke his Number 3 loose. As he corrected, the front tires gripped hard to
the asphalt and sent him up the track into the Turn 4 wall where he collected Schrader. Although many upset fans blamed
Marlin for a while, most came to their senses and believed Earnhardt Sr. would probably say to us if he could, “It was
just one of them racin’ deals”. Not even Earnhardt could have picked a better cast of veteran drivers to
be around for that final lap.
Irony No. 9 Crying: Who
would have thought that Earnhardt Sr.'s fans, would cry like babies? Well they did, and I know because I was one of them. Walking
out of the track at Daytona that night in February 2001, there was a quiet fear of what had happened. No one knew for
sure. Many speculated, with the car draped as it was even before it was removed from the turn 4 crash site. Draping was only
done when someone was killed. Rumors persisted that he was injured but OK. Then as many of the race fans made their
way back to hotel rooms, camp-sites and homes, word came across the radio, “We’ve lost Dale Earnhardt”. The
sudden realization of what many had already feared was true; it hit many of his fans hard. Grown men and women wiped
their eyes, wept, and some broke down and cried openly. Who would have believed that the man known for his toughness
and who drew fans of a similar ilk and mindset to him would leave those fans sobbing in the streets of Daytona?
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Irony No. 10 Junior grows
up: Some people thought Junior was immature. They said he was only good as he was, was because his dad put him in great
equipment. Who is more mature than Jr. today? While others blame everyone else, their crew chief, the fans, and
other drivers, Jr. takes responsibility for things he probably shouldn’t. That’s a sign of maturity and a real
man. How much did his Dad’s death have to do with Jr.’s growth and development in maturity? It’s difficult
to say, but so much of the time it happens with young men and women who lose their parents early in life. They are forced
to take on major responsibilities at young ages. Who knows what Earnhardt Jr. would be like today if his father were
still around, but it is unlikely he could be more responsible for his actions than he is.
If you travel down any
highway in NASCAR country you will inevitably see a number 3 window sticker representing Earnhardt’s number more than
six years after his death. Souvenir sales at every Cup race is still brisk for anything Earnhardt and most likely he
still ranks him in the top 5 revenue producers for all drivers. Look at the infield camp sites at any NASCAR race and you
will see the black number 3 flag flown high and proud. If Earnhardt had lived, he most likely would have retired by now. Would
his fans have carried his torch with the same fervor that they carry it today, maybe? But more than likely Earnhardt
fans would have gone the way of most famous and historic drivers, like the Brothers Allison, Bobby and Donny, David Pearson,
Cale Yarborough, and even the King, Richard Petty. These are drivers who are remembered for their accomplishments but who
slowly fade off into the sunset or their rocking chair. Their fans replace them with new drivers, and while they are
interviewed a few times a year for their historic perspective, they are largely just that, a significant part of history.
But Earnhardt lives on,
much like Elvis. The fans that still carry his banner and will likely continue to until they leave this Earth. Yet another
small irony that may not have occurred had Earnhardt made it just one more turn.
Questions,
Comments;
Email T. Jay
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