Dale Earnhardt Day

the mecklenburg times | may 4, 2004 | kim gibson

[southern bale]

ping

[glock rocks]

Man in Black ping.

[RichInOC]

"I got in the ambulance and I looked back at the car and said, 'Man, the wheels are still on that thing.' I got out of the ambulance, I asked the guy inside the car as he was hooking it up, I said, 'See if it'll crank.' He cranked it up, I said, 'Get out of there, gimme my car back.'"

[southern bale]

i hear those die cast models of "the crash car" go for a lot of money...

[southern bale]

remember, earnhardt said he was the first man to win the brickyard...

[GaltMeister]

Ironman bump

[Tijeras_Slim]

zoomie zoomie ping

[Fierce Allegiance]

It felt a bit like winter yesterday - a sunday w/ no racin. :(

[glock rocks]

Yah, but dinner at mom's made it seem like Thanksgiving :o)

[The SISU kid]

J.G. TROLL Alert!!!


8^)

[You Dirty Rats]

As a VERY casual fan of NASCAR (OK, I watched it years ago), I don't get the "Di-anification" of Dale Earnhardt.

First of all, wasn't Richard Petty THE KING? Since Dale's death, Petty has been pushed aside.

Secondly, wasn't D.E. called "The Intimidator? He had a rep with other drivers as a dirty driver who took a lot of chances. I don't care how many trucks drive around the country with angel wings on a number 3, the guy was no goody-two-shoes on the track.

Also, weren't there fatalities in racing before Dale? Why does nobody shed any tears for poor J.D. McDuffie? Unlike Dale, ol' J.D. didn't exactly leave a fortune behind for his widow.

Finally, what would Dale himself think of the years-long reaction to his unfortunate early demise? He never struck me as the maudlin type. He'd also wonder why all of those fans of other drivers who hated him and hated how he drove now consider him some kind of angel. He was Dale Earnhardt the Intimidator, not Oprah Winfrey! Why are so many NASCAR Fans acting like Oprah viewers when it comes to #3?

[WinOne4TheGipper]

Earnhardt and other DEI drivers

He never was a DEI driver.

[southern bale]

gosh...you just don't understand...

petty was so good (mainly) because he had more money than all the other drivers (early on, signed a lifetime contract with STP)...also they ran A LOT more races per year than they do now, which allowed him to win a lot of races in a comparitively short amount of time...besides, after earnhardt died, petty came out in an interview bad-mouthing earnhardt...sounded like sour grapes...(and i'm a big petty fan)

earnhardt came up from small beginnings...yes he had a rep for being a hard driver...but was as good as gold off the track...one story told after his death was that his preacher came to him for a donation to build a new parking lot...earnhardt asked how much he needed...(i think) it was around $18k...earnhardt took out his checkbook and wrote a check for the entire amount, gave it to the preacher and said if word got out about where the money came from he'd come over there on his bulldozer and tear the whole thing up himself...

look at sales of nascar memorabilia...before his death sales of earnhardt-related memorabilia accounted for approximately 40 percent of all sales (can't remember the source for that info -- sorry)...and even now his sales still are strong (i attend a few races each year and there still is a lot of earnhardt shirts, hats, banners etc. displayed at races)

earnhardt epitomizes the last real "cowboy" of racing to a lot of nascar fans...these are just a few of the reasons for earnhardt's continued popularity...

[southern bale]

he drove for DEI in the Busch Series, didn't he?

[WinOne4TheGipper]

He may have, I didn't really watch NASCAR before he died. I do know that he drove for Richard Childress on the Winston Cup circuit.

[sarasota]

Dale and his wife built a dynasty, that's why. They knew how to market him and get press. Now his son is doing the same thing. I've seen his bio on CMT. Dale Jr. said he set it up himself.

[TYVets]

"It felt a bit like winter yesterday - a sunday w/ no racin. :("

Been there done that, so the wife and i made the trip to The Gateway Speedway, East St Louis, IL for the Bush Race Saturday night.

1.25 mile track, a Bush Race each year on the Saturday before Mother's Day. Long straightaways and tight turns.

It helps the withdrawal symptoms

Truix (sp) and the #8 car were impressive!

[al_c]

Since Dale's death, Petty has been pushed aside.

Petty's been old news for years. Yeah, he's still King Richard, but having been out of racing (driving, anyway) for a long time and his offspring not being a contender kinda takes him outa the limelight.