Comparison: Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Tony Stewart (Brace Yourself)
August 7, 2006
Jay Staton - SCR
Back in the late ‘80’s, long before stock
car racing was considered chic by the masses, there were four of us that raced at the only venue we could afford: The local
go cart track. This was not your ordinary go cart track, but rather was a tight little oval with flat concrete turns that
they greased. The results were somewhere between racing on asphalt, dirt, and a demo derby.
But the four of us went every week, and one of our “rules”
was that whoever got in front would “block” to keep the field bunched up. We looked like Bristol lap after a lap. In the early days
the “officials” blew their little whistles, occasionally made us stop, and on more than one occasion fisticuffs
were narrowly avoided, either between us, or between us and them, or between a member of the group and the occasional innocent
bystander with a spare $1.50 that got on the track and inevitably would wind up in the wall.
But eventually the go cart track realized that week after week we were good for $50 on a slow Tuesday night, and we
realized how to race hard and tight without putting a go cart or two into the repair shed for a rebuild…
This was during a time when Dale Earnhardt Sr. was dominating Cup racing, and was pretty darn rough himself…
Today, any article written about the modern day “Intimidator” --Tony Stewart-- has basically two sets of
responses. Those are: A) Something needs to be done about him and B) Dale Earnhardt Senior did the same thing (theoretically
justifying it).
So, it is time to
tackle the inevitable comparison head on. Strap in and hang on, for the truth always stands alone as the truth.
First, Earnhardt
fans, it is important to separate the man, any man, from his actions. Who among us has not hugged their kids’ goodnight
and been overly loud in an argument the same day? Who has not let someone cut in front of them on the interstate one time,
and given them the big “number one” salute the next? That being said in advance lets move forward with the comparison.
Earnhardt has become
literally larger than life and more beloved by millions than when he was with us. There are little logos in back windows of
automobiles everywhere displaying the number “3” and a Dale Sr. likeness. Every one of the owners of these vehicles
has lost a loved one, yet it is Earnhardt on their back window.
The thinking
is that he was an old school racer, a tough guy, butwith a heart of gold. Most of this is a “feeling” by people that were not around to actually watch
him race. In his early days, there certainly was no heart of gold.
The Similarities:
Back in the
days of Wrangler sponsorship, Earnhardt re-wrote the on-track rulebook of etiquette between drivers. Until then, David Pearson
and Richard Petty battled furiously, but respected each other’s equipment.
Earnhardt
did not have this little problem. He was generally going under you, or through you. At one time or another he intentionally crashed Richard Petty, Sterling Marlin, Rusty Wallace, Darrell Waltrip and on and on and on.In fact, Earnhardt used to spin out Geoff Bodine regularly simply for the fun of it.
Dale’s
father, Ralph Earnhardt, also drove hard and ruthlessly in the ‘50’s. He was nicknamed “Ironheart”
by the other drivers of the day. Dale himself also had a nickname. It was “Ironhead” and he was referred to as
this by none other than the “King”, on national television, and everyone else in the garage area as well.
At the time,
there was no big following. In fact, he had about the same reception at driver introductions as one of the Busch boys do today.
One of the
friends mentioned above called Wrangler’s corporate office and declared that if they made the only jeans on the planet
that he would wear corduroy pants. The wrangler official said they were dropping Earnhardt at the end of the year and, in
fact, did so. There were also numerous discussions and problems with NASCAR officials.
On one occasion,
asEarnhardt caught a leader, one announcer declared that the leader was loose. The other, whose name you know, replied that
if he did not move over for the 3 car he would get a lot looser…
Within weeks
of his death, a driver—again, a driver whose name you know, a driver that had been on the wrong end of Earnhardt’s
chrome horn more than once in his early days, declared that the whole field could breathe easier without seeing that black
number 3 car in their mirror. The statement was later retracted, but was nevertheless made.
Race fans,
whether you love Dale Earnhardt Sr. or not, he was a rough race car driver that put other people, handfuls of them into the
wall. That is the fact-period. Earnhardt also had supporters that claimed that
others else did it. Racing is racing, accidents happen, and intentional “accidents” happen, but two wrongs never
make a right
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Now, let’s fast forward to the tactics that Tony Stewart uses in the modern era of Cup racing. Actually, he probably
hits them less than Eranhardt did in the early days. But he still “feels” that he is justified. Every week, if
they hit him, he gets even with interest—and lots of it. If they don’t hit him, but are in his way, they are not
showing “respect” and he initiates the hit without provocation.
To say that “Dale did it” is also not justification. It was wrong then, and it is wrong now.
More Similarities:
Earnhardt DID have a big heart, as does Stewart. As he aged he mellowed somewhat as a person, and his generosity began
to show. Probably the biggest kindness that he ever showed was to resurrect the career of Michael Waltrip, and ironically
was blocking the field on that fateful day when Waltrip received his first win.
Stewart not only gave the Victory Junction Camp a large contribution recently, he pretty much does things like that
routinely, from saving a short track from extinction to other acts of charity that he regularly does, and usually insists
that his generosity not be attached to his name.
The Dissimilarities:
Earnhardt mellowed on the track and got
himself under control when he “felt” wronged .In his later
years hed rove smart, kept the fenders on his racecars, but more than that, he drove others as he wanted them to drive him—cleanly—even
under fire.
Mr. Stewart has yet to even begin learn this lesson, on the track, under pressure, whether real or imagined.
All of us have been angry, and all of us have felt justified. But in retrospect, who among us felt in their heart that
they did the “right” thing later? It is this inherent sense of right and wrong that is the very reason for our
existence. The ability to choose the wrong choice, however tempting, that makes the right choice, well, the right choice.
That is far above stock car racing and race fans— it is the bottom line to literally end all bottom lines.
Tony Stewart is a good man, and no doubt one of the best racers ever to have strapped in a car. Like Earnhardt in his
early days, he routinely makes the wrong choice when behind the wheel of a racecar. Unlike Earnhardt, he has not learned to
make the right choice--yet.
But in life, like racing, “what goes around comes around”. This is not a coincidence. This is a lesson,
and it is carried out in many ways. In Stewart’s case it will be delivered, among other sources, through the sanctioning
body.
NASCAR correctly realizes that Stewart helps make the show as a modern day Dale Earnhardt. But ultimately, they run
the show, and they know they have a problem.
Like Dale Earnhardt Sr., like the four of us at the go cart track years ago, like all of us in the game of life, Stewart
will learn to play by the rules—rules which are in his heart just as strongly as they are in ours, or pay the price.
And in the end, whether you are a fan that incorrectly defends him, or a fan that condemns him, you have to pull for
Stewart to get where he needs to be in order to become the complete racer, under control, with peace in his heart.
2006 StockCar Review.
