Remembering Dale, ten years later

“You may not have liked the guy, but you sure didn’t want to see him die,” a man sitting by us at the 2004 Brickyard 400 said.

Until that moment, it hadn’t clicked in my brain. Sure, I didn’t like Dale Earnhardt Sr., but I sure respected his driving skills and ability—even more so after his untimely death on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

A recent article on the USA Today website and last night’s show on SPEED called “The Day: Remembering Dale Earnhardt,” made me reflect on the day NASCAR lost one of its biggest stars.

(The article can be found here: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/nascar/2011-01-31-dale-earnhardt-senior_N.htm)

Seth Livingstone’s article puts it into terms we all understand. When tragedy strikes, you remember where you were.

The assassination of JFK, the Challenger and 9-11 all have made an impact on those who were around to witness them. Dale Earnhardt’s death was that moment to NASCAR fans.

Where were you? What were you doing? I’m sure you remember it all. I do.

I was in the sixth grade. Watching the Daytona 500 was one of the biggest moments of the year for me. In 2001, I had to sit in the undercroft of the church and fashion my own antenna to pick up the signal on FOX for the race.

In the hall behind me, my father and 100 other Cub Scouts and their parents celebrated their annual “Blue and Gold” banquet. Cub Scouts from first through fifth grade received awards, put on skits and enjoyed a potluck dinner.

Although I had been to a few “Blue and Gold” banquets in my years as a Cub Scout (in fact, missing two or three Daytona 500s live) I wasn’t skipping this one. FOX and NASCAR had a new, big TV contract and I was excited to see Mark Martin in his first race for his new sponsor Pfizer/Viagra.

Other than the occasional adjustment of the wire hanger we had for an antenna, I don’t remember too much. As the laps wound down, my interest lowered, partially because the No. 6 car was wiped out in a multi-car accident that saw Tony Stewart fly through the air and land on Bobby Labonte’s hood.

I sat in the room with a few of my friends (also skipping out on the banquet, because, let’s be honest, even if they hated NASCAR, it was probably more exciting than whatever was going on in the hall behind us) watching the laps wind down.

Darrell Waltrip was rooting his brother, Michael, on, with Dale Jr. and Dale Sr. running second and third as the field took the white flag. Then, the wreck. Michael Waltrip and Dale Jr. sailed off to the checkers and the cameras snapped to Dale Sr. and Kenny Schrader.

My friend Nick, who was a Dale Sr. fan, I would assume just to tick me off, was angered. I turned the TV off, and we all stormed out of the room to grab some food.

We never knew.

When I got home I flipped on the TV. ESPNNews just happened to be on. Across the bottom of the screen rolled the ticker message: “Dale Earnhardt dies from injuries in last-lap crash in Daytona.”

“WHAT?” I thought. “There’s no way. No way. I’ve seen wrecks way worse than that before and ‘The Intimidator’ always walked away unscathed.”

In the days following the Daytona 500 people I never thought cared about NASCAR were talking about NASCAR. At our indoor soccer game the next day one of my friend’s moms said, “I couldn’t help but cry when I heard about [Earnhardt’s death] last night. It was so sad.”

Ten years later it’s still a big deal.

It’s so big NASCAR.com has an entire section of their website about one of the sports’ biggest stars. http://www.nascar.com/dale-earnhardt/

I spent nearly an hour last night reading all the articles and checking out the pictures in that section. It’s all worth your time.

I may not have liked Dale Earnhardt Sr., but I certainly didn’t want to see him die. NASCAR fans celebrate the man known as “The Intimidator” on the tenth anniversary of his death this year, and although many racers now didn’t ever race against Earnhardt, they feel his impact today.

This evening the Budweiser Shootout will pit 24 NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers against one another in the first NASCAR event of the season. Tomorrow is qualifying for the Daytona 500. Full coverage here.