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The crash that took Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s life happened in the closing laps of the Daytona 500 in 2001. I saw it happen, and from the angles the cameras caught it really didn't look like a big deal. Network coverage ended without any news. We saw the ambulance leaving the speedway, and that was it.
Later:
About two hours later, at a press conference, NASCAR President Mike Helton announced, "This is undoubtedly one of the toughest announcements I've ever personally had to make. But after the accident in Turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500, we've lost Dale Earnhardt. link
NASCAR's premier driver was dead. Love or hate him, he was a polarizing figure whose popularity brought NASCAR into the "modern era" separate from drivers like Richard Petty or old moonshiners such as Junior Johnson. He was an "everyman," escaping a life of mill work and tedium for racing.
I, of course, was a fan. Heck yeah, I knew he used the "chrome horn," but if one returned the favor to him, he had no complaints. Live by the sword.....
At any rate, there has been no one to replace Dale in the hearts of fans everywhere. There is no spokesman for the sport that even comes close to his influence. His son, the current most popular driver for nine years in a row, is a lightning rod for many, being called overrated mostly, because he's never won like his father. He is not his father and never will be. What he is - a good NASCAR race driver with a proven record.
After Sr.'s death, NASCAR went on a major overhaul of the cars and the tracks to improve safety. "Safer barriers" on the walls of speedways now help absorb and slow down impacts. The cars are completely redesigned, with larger greenhouses for larger crush zones. Drivers are surviving crashes that would have killed them fifteen years ago.
I have changed my status as a fan - still gotta watch, and I do root for Junior, but mostly I want an entertaining race where no one gets hurt. Death is now and always has been part of racing, but that does not mean I want to watch a blood sport. So, I enjoy the show, and cringe when someone takes a header into a wall, or tumbles down a straight at 180+ mph. I've seen enough death in the sport.
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6 comments:
Did you watch the Shootout tonight?
Jeff Gordon's crash was scary. You could hear the fear in DW's voice. I don't mind telling you that I said a prayer for him to be ok.
Yes I saw it! And you bet it was scary!
Plate races always make me nervous, just because of the certainty something like that will happen. I wish there was some other way to regulate the speed on superspeedways.
Jeffro: THERE IS! For the superspeedways all they have to do is cut the engine size in half in terms of displacement and then say simply "GO FOR IT!", but the taxicab people are stuck on this cast iron big engine formula and won't relent, so you have this restrictor plate stupidity.
I would say more but the people running Indy cars are even dumber...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
Yeah, Frank, but I'm not in favor of running two sizes of engines, and I'm also kinda stuck on the idea of using unaspirated V-8s for power.
Heh. I kinda thought this post might get a response from you! Since you'd like to see a return of Indycars to the days of no wings and skinny tires - I can imagine what you'd like to see return in the "taxicabs!"
I remember watching it, and thinking how "minor" a crash it appeared to be, and then hearing that "#34" was dead.
He was truly a great racer.
I would get interested in the taxicabs once again IF they went back to 'show-room' 'stock' cars.
You know, cars THAT WE ACTUALLY SEE ON THE STREET (with things like the exact same bodies, engines, transmissions and drive-trains on the racetrack as in daily traffic) as opposed to these mythical creatures they run now...???...
All The Best,
Frank W. James
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