Mr_Blizzard Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 (edited) "Hours after his father died, in the darkness of Daytona, fans in the massive infield lingered by their tailgates in disbelief, small bonfires slowly burning out, cans and bottles strewn here and there. Even then, they knew their sport would be forever changed." Christine Brennan Earhardt Crash plus 10 years Linky 2 Edited February 18, 2011 by Mr_Blizzard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 One of NASCAR’s first modern legends was killed in a crash on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, an event still frozen in time for racing fans; a “you remember where you were and what you were doing” moment for gearheads. I was watching that Daytona on TV and late in the race my Mom called. I am watching the race as I was chatting with her. Me-"wow ma there was just a bad crash at Daytona-Ahh it will be alright, they have so much safety equipment" Sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 (edited) I was sitting on my bed, playing on my laptop, had the radio on listening to K100 in Toledo. They broke in, "Ladies and gentleman, we break in for a live announcement from Mike Helton...I can still remember it, the emotion in it. Undoubtedly this is one of the toughest announcements I've ever personally had to make. After the accident in Turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500, we've lost Dale Earnhardt I still get goose bumps thinking about this. I currently live 5 minutes from Welcome, NC where RCR is located. I have met Chocolate Myers, Richard Childress, and many of the other guys. We, as a family, were traveling down from Ohio one year to visit my grandparents and stopped at the museum that had just opened up. The receptionist noticed we were from out of town and offered to take us to the shop. We got a private tour of the entire RCR complex, met Childress, and were told we were only 5 minutes late from meeting Dale. He had stopped by with his son to drop off his dogs, whom we also met. That was maybe 1993? 1994? I still have many local papers and their front pages were dedicated to the Intimidator. Entire special sections were released. A few papers even had special eddition papers come out. The entire complex of RCR was a memorial to Dale. His home in Kannapolis was the same. Currently, along Dale Earnhardt Blvd in Kannapolis, at several places people have placed flowers in rememberence. I have to go up toward Welcome tomorrow and will check out the RCR complex to see if they have anything special up. Many of you are not racing fans, many of you will not understand. In the racing community this guy was beyond legend, he was and still is immortal. I was watching that Daytona on TV and late in the race my Mom called. I am watching the race as I was chatting with her. Me-"wow ma there was just a bad crash at Daytona-Ahh it will be alright, they have so much safety equipment" Sure. I know, and I remember seeing Dale Jr running full sprint as they panned the camera at the end. I didn't think much of it, but looking back, a car just doesn't do what it did! We had seen him make it through so many, Taledega '96, Daytona '98...The car was a brick, and he was an egg. Edited February 18, 2011 by jboyst62 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 [quote name='jboyst62' timestamp='1298006088' post='2110210' I know, and I remember seeing Dale Jr running full sprint as they panned the camera at the end. I didn't think much of it, but looking back, a car just doesn't do what it did! We had seen him make it through so many, Taledega '96, Daytona '98...The car was a brick, and he was an egg. Sr died blocking for Jr. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 It is 25 minutes away. I highly recommend visiting the track if you enjoy racing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBud Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Worked for Square D at the time. After the news of his death came out my first thought was "Huh?" then "Uh oh". Our car (#55) was right up there in the mix at the time and I thought that we would be found to bump the car in front of us (#88 I think) which in turn took the air out from Sr's car. My "Uh oh" was more from a business perspective. Wasn't the case thank goodness, but our logo was all over the newspapers the next day. Was pretty quiet in the shop (Raleigh NC) that week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helpmenow Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 It was nuts down here, the church where they had the service for Dale was right in Pineville where I was living. What a sad loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 heard this on the radio coming to work. played it for my nurse who has always been a huge nascar and dale fan and she got teary eyed. i'm not a big nascar fan (despite having season tickets to bristol for a few years and driving the petty experience there, which was very cool) but you have to respect his abilities and what he meant to the sport. the interview with waltrip confirms that even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 yea -- i would be hard pressed to think of someone that meant more to their sport. then to have them die young. while active and excelling in the sport. and not to mention it happening on the "playing field." its just an unreal situation when you stop to think about it. on some level this is like a michael jordan dying during his 5-6th championship season. i know MJ was a bigger international figure, but for many, Dale was one of very few faces of NASCAR an average american knew and its not like nascar was some 4th rate sport - it was exploding at the time and dale was a huge part of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helpmenow Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 I went to his shop in Mooresville and it was sad indeed, Folks were crying, kinda like Elvis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 "Even then, they knew their sport would be forever changed." Christine Brennan Oh, please. It's not like they had to start racing clockwise or anything. That's one of the few races I ever watched...I remember seeing his car nail the wall and just stick, and thought "Ooooh, that's not good." Something about the way the car didn't crumple and absorb the force just looked really bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booster4324 Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Oh, please. It's not like they had to start racing clockwise or anything. That's one of the few races I ever watched...I remember seeing his car nail the wall and just stick, and thought "Ooooh, that's not good." Something about the way the car didn't crumple and absorb the force just looked really bad. IIRC they are designed to crumple and in the worst cases roll. The interior of the car has like a honeycomb brace? They are also doing "soft" walls in some places. Maybe an actual Nascar fan could chime in. Little of that works when you go straight into a concrete wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Blizzard Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 ... I still get goose bumps thinking about this. I currently live 5 minutes from Welcome, NC where RCR is located. ... I still have many local papers and their front pages were dedicated to the Intimidator. Entire special sections were released. A few papers even had special eddition papers come out. . . . Many of you are not racing fans, many of you will not understand. In the racing community this guy was beyond legend, he was and still is immortal. It's sad that NASCAR lost its most recognized star. I wonder what the future would have held for Dale if he was still with us. I first got hooked on NASCAR in the early 70's when I was still a teenager . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 IIRC they are designed to crumple and in the worst cases roll. The interior of the car has like a honeycomb brace? They are also doing "soft" walls in some places. Maybe an actual Nascar fan could chime in. Little of that works when you go straight into a concrete wall. There are "zones" that crumple. The cars are designed to take wear and tear. Top 10 crashes per Popular Mechanics There are roof flaps that keep the car from spinning and flipping as much as they used to, especially when turned backward. A few drivers have also put trap doors on the top of the car, Michael Waltrip was one of the first. He is about 6'5", which is huge for a driver. Most are around 5'10. Jeff Gordon is a midget, maybe 5'7" or 5'8" on a good day. The tires are ties on to the frames, and the windshields are all but indestructable. The fuel tanks are fixed up to withstand a lot, nearly puncture proof. Many cars, regardless of the series, have on board fire containment systems, as well. Many tracks have been resurfaced to manipulate the speeds. Daytona will be interesting to watch after last years F-up. Many say that it was done to slow the cars down, and now they are resizing the restrictor plates, after Bill Elliot took the pole in Talladega with a 212 mph lap speed things changed. He was driving well over 220mph on the backstretch some say. That, along with many of the crashes have increased safety on the track - the paving and now soft wall technology. The HANS device was also manditory after Earnhardts wreck, although they say it would have helped Sr. The true cause is debated still but many believe it was faulty seat belts. Drivers will loosen seatbelts some times when driving and many were and are afraid to say that Dale might have caused his own death by improperly wearing his safety harness. One of the worst I have ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 The psychology of it is crazy too. Can you imagine.... Michael waltrip winning that race? Pride? Guilt? Dale jr? Kenny Schroeder - being the guy to be in the wall with him - whatever he saw when he looked in the car before ems arrived? Sterling being the guy to set it off? So many pieces to it. And unlike most sports this is a family one. Your with the same guys week in and week out, sometimes for generations. It's not like the NFL where you see an opponent 1-2 times a year, and have a teammate for 3-4..... It's 40 weeks a year and for a guy like Dale jr it will be his entire life.... Adds such a strange dynamic to it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Poojer Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 i remember watching it in my middle years of being in richmond...still hadn't embraced nascar...but watched this race...saw the crash and went about my business and paid it no mind....when they announced he had died in the crash i was floored...such an innocuous crash, for nascar. after that i began paying more attention to nascar.....pretty interesting 'sport'...never had much of an affinity for any driver, but learned to appreciate the 'sport'. Dale Earnhart paved the way for the popularity of the 'sport' today.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 (edited) i remember watching it in my middle years of being in richmond...still hadn't embraced nascar...but watched this race...saw the crash and went about my business and paid it no mind....when they announced he had died in the crash i was floored...such an innocuous crash, for nascar. after that i began paying more attention to nascar.....pretty interesting 'sport'...never had much of an affinity for any driver, but learned to appreciate the 'sport'. Dale Earnhart paved the way for the popularity of the 'sport' today.... I watched on and off with family in younger years. Not a huge fan, but a respect and passing interest. Could hold a conversation about it at the time but not a buff on it- but this was huge. Though he wasn't Michael Jordan big, that's easily what he was to the sport. Dying on the "playing field" well within his prime... Have we ever seen a major athlete either killed or seriously hurt like that? I can't think of even a close example of a household name. There have been a couple racing deaths but the timing with the sport exploding in popularity- crazy. Probably had 10 high level championship years in him. Changed the face of the sport immensely. Guys got real young real quick and a lot of those 30 year storylines died out quick. I don't think I've seen more then 10 laps in the last 5 years though. Edited February 19, 2011 by NoSaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Poojer Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Lenny Bias or Hank Gathers r the only ones that come to mind...but Bias didn't die on the court( but I do credit his death from keeping me away from drugs)...Reggie Lewis is another one that died at the top of his game...did he collapse on the court? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 The psychology of it is crazy too. Can you imagine.... Michael waltrip winning that race? Pride? Guilt? Dale jr? Kenny Schroeder - being the guy to be in the wall with him - whatever he saw when he looked in the car before ems arrived? Sterling being the guy to set it off? So many pieces to it. And unlike most sports this is a family one. Your with the same guys week in and week out, sometimes for generations. It's not like the NFL where you see an opponent 1-2 times a year, and have a teammate for 3-4..... It's 40 weeks a year and for a guy like Dale jr it will be his entire life.... Adds such a strange dynamic to it all. Again, Sr died blocking for Jr. That was his game and he died for it. To bad, but he knew exactly what he was doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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