When there’s a serious accident in auto racing, there are sometimes signs – signals – that it’s really bad.
When A.J. Michaels of Syracuse died at Oswego Speedway in 1990, Bill Foley was the infield announcer working the race. Describing the scene as the safety crew did its work, I can still hear Foley’s words, "A.J.’s looking straight ahead." I knew right then that Michaels was gone.
Same thing on Feb. 18, 2001, when Dale Earnhardt hit the wall on the last lap of the Daytona 500 and slid down into the infield off the fourth turn. If Darrel Waltrip, who was one of the TV announcers, said it once, he said it three or four times:
"Dale’s okay, isn’t he?" and you just knew.
Yes, it’s been 10 years since that sunny Sunday afternoon in Florida when what looked like a routine, somewhat slow, loss of control and resulting crash turned out to be one of the worst days in the history of NASCAR.
Dale Earnhardt, the absolute biggest and baddest star in U.S. stock car racing, died as the result of that accident. I’m going to write a newspaper column closer to the date of his death to discuss Earnhardt’s impact on the sport and the effect he had on people generally but the reason for this blog post today is to let you know that Speed Channel is planning a documentary tribute and from the sounds of it you shouldn’t miss it.
Entitled The Day: Remembering Dale Earnhardt, it will be shown for the first time on Feb. 11 at 7:30 EDT.
Michael Waltrip won that Daytona 500 – his first NASCAR Winston Cup victory in 463 starts – and was driving for Earnhardt’s team that day. This program marks the first time on TV that Waltrip has talked about that day.
In addition to tracing Earnhardt’s movements up to the race, the special – among other things – will also explore his history at Daytona, his relationship with car owner Richard Childress and his friendship with driver Neil Bonnett, who was killed at Daytona in 1994.
As well as the premiere on Feb. 11, the special will air on numerous occasions during Daytona Speedweeks, including the actual anniversary, Feb. 18, at 10 p.m. following the Camping World Series truck race.
Yep, ten years later Earnhardt is still dead and still being treated as if he were a god. What he was, was one of the dirtiest drivers ever to sit behind the wheel of a racecar. He was hardly the best to ever drive one.
Posted by: Ed In Georgia | 01/18/2011 at 03:30 PM
I agree with the above comment. Earnhardt may have been a kind and generous man away form the track, but the fact is he was a dirty S.O.B. behind the wheel with not one ounce of class or respect for the sport or any of his competitors. We have Bill France Jr. to blame for that. Not only did he penalize other drivers for the same things he let Earnhardt get away with, but it's also recently come out that they were good friends and fishing buddies. Sounds like a conflict of Interest to me. Of course though Bill France could see he needed a new ticket seller since the sports greatest Icon & AMBASSADOR Richard Petty would be retiring someday soon. I think if Petty, Pearson, Allison, Yarborough and Waltrip were all 10 years younger than they were when Earnhardt came along that the "INTIMIDATOR" would never have been born because those 5 would have put a stop to it really quick !! See ya in Hell Dale !!
Posted by: Dan | 01/19/2011 at 01:38 PM
Congratulations Norris on being selected to the Oswego Speedway Hall of Fame class of 2011! Well deserved and you are a great ambassador for our sport.
Posted by: Jeff in Indiana | 01/20/2011 at 07:45 AM
The Chilli Bowl lacking luster? I think not. Great racing by great drivers, 256 of them. That race, nor any other short track race, needs overpaid NASCAR guys to legitimize it.
Kyle Bush got a nice payday out of Delaware Speedway last year at the expense of local racers. Let's see the shrub try to beat the real racers at the Chilli Bowl. Bet no one will pay him to show up there. Not sure, but, I don't think Stewart or Pedregon got show-up money.
Posted by: Lary Goudge | 01/20/2011 at 08:51 AM
OMG... HOW COULD ED EVEN SAY THAT... EARNHARDT SR WAS NO DIRTIER THAN KYLE BUSH IS TODAY!!! Dale Sr was INTENSE and a MASTER at what he did...
Posted by: Robear | 01/20/2011 at 01:16 PM
Dale SR. was a racer, running for more than just a paycheck. If we were to make a list of such competitors it would include A.J. Foyt, Buzz Barton, Jan Opperman...
You get the idea.
They were racers. They weren't at the track to play chess as Jud Larson once pointed out at a driver's meeting.
Posted by: Fritz Davis | 01/22/2011 at 05:27 PM