In Memory of Dale Earnhardt
By M.L. Morgan
Many of Earnhardt's on-track rivals claimed Earnhardt could "see the air" at restrictor plate tracks, such as Daytona. Maybe he could - he had a remarkable record at these tracks. But he was very vocal about his dislike for the racing which is dictated by restrictor plates. He knew it was dangerous. We knew it was dangerous. And certainly Nascar knew it was dangerous.
Earnhardt won on every type of track - not just the restrictor plate tracks. 76 times.
Earnhardt may have been a little bit of a throw-back to the "chrome horn" era. He never apologized for being aggressive. Racing wasn't a business or a job to him, it was his life. He was very passionate on the track.
But he was equally compassionate off the track. When Ernie Irvan was struggling to start a career in Cup racing, Earnhardt helped. When Neil Bonnet had recuperated from his horrible accident and was struggling to find the courage to race again, Earnhardt put him to work doing testing for the #3 car. And you'll be hard-pressed to find a driver who has come up in the past 15 years who will say Earnhardt turned them down when they asked for advice. His generosiy was legendary.
His fans are legion. When young Jeff Gordon came along so quickly, and beat Earnhardt quite regularly, Gordon was booed - for the sole reason that Earnhardt's fans were so loyal. They didn't hate Gordon - they loved Earnhardt.
It's the ultimate irony that a restrictor plate track which Earnhardt so dominated, yet so openly reviled, cost him his life. If you loved him or hated him, we all knew Earnhardt. We all lost a piece of ourselves.
We don't know if Earnhardt could see the air. We know for certain, as he spun helplessly out of control, the last thing he saw was a very sturdy retaining wall coming at him at 180 mph.
We doubt Nascar can see the air, but we think it is time for them to see the light.
We started writing this piece during the red flag period caused by an 18-car wreck. Almost inevitable at these restrictor plate races. Mercifully, there were no serious injuries, except that $3 million of cars were reduced to junk. None of the drivers interviewed after the wreck expressed any surprise. Rather the opposite. They expected it to happen.
And most race fans expected it to happen.
Nascar makes millions from each race. And spends millions on shameless self-promotion. We think it is well past time for Nascar to devise a safer method of slowing the cars on these super speedways. Take some of the advertising budget directed at attracting fans and direct it at protecting the drivers. Doesn't require a rocket scientist. The cars can be slowed down.
It could be called the "Earnhardt Rule". Too late to help him, but not soon enough to help all the other drivers.
Mike Morgan
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