where were you when you heard dale earnhardt died

This made me realize that we are down to only a handful of drivers who remember what it was like to compete in a race where a competitor died. It's remarkable we've gone 15 years without a fatality, and I don't think we are likely to see one again (though I guess that's what F1 fans thought after Senna). The only potential dangers are I see anymore are the guardrails at Watkins Glen, fires, and something coming through the driver's window.
 
I went to my parents' house to watch the race with my dad. I was in the car sitting in the driveway ready to head home when the news broke. I went back into the house and we watched for hours that night.
 
at work, but with access to tv. was recording the race at home to watch when I got there. co-worker was an anti-Earnhardt fan. will remember til the day I die how he cheered and gloated when the crash happened. i'd been to too many races to ever cheer about a racer crashing until he crawled out of the car.

what I think I recall: Darrel Waltrip expressing immediate concern. I think what he said was "I guess Dale is alright. I hope he is alright". one of my favorite all time racers, Schrader walking up to the car,then turning away.

got home from work and was eating with my wife and girls, was going to watch the race after they went to bed. got a call from a co-worker while eating. all they said was "can you believe it?" since I didn't know, they told me. and I didn't believe it. heroes don't die.

I've never watched the race I recorded. never will. still a huge nascar fan, but the sport changed for me that day.

the tributes from the fans, the competitors, the media, and even the general public who only had limited exposure to the sport at least made me feel better about my opinion of a person I never met.

one of the most significant events that I was not personally connected to that has left an emotional scar.
 
I was 11 or 12.. I was in Big Bear, CA just kicking it with family hanging out in the snow.


We came home later that night... Now I'll be honest I wasn't much of a Earnhardt fan. So we are watching the news and highlights came on. They showed Earnhardt hit the wall, and I belted out a "HA Sucks!". And then the news anchor announced that he died, literally about a half-second after I said it. My dad and I looked at eachother shocked, jaw-on-the-floor, and that's about all I can remember about the day.

That weird 5 second moment shook me up pretty bad and I still feel terrible about it to this day.

I used to record races on the VCR at my moms back then so I watched the race the next day and cried a lot.
 
Watching the race at my In Laws. We had just moved down to Florida, and my parents were still living in Mass. My Dad was lucky enough to see Dale win in 98, however, a family disagreement caused him not to attend the 500 that year. I talked to him after the race, considering how we were actually rooting for Earnhardt at this point, and completely resented Gordon. Dale was so far above being just a racer at that point. My dad was a die hard Northeastener, Bodine, Spencer, Evens, Reggerio, Craven, Stefanick, you name it, that's how he rooted. I grew up with Truex Sr., McGlaughlin, Santerre, Fedewa, Craven etc,. It was the Bodine= Earnhardt feud that got my dad hating Dale. I can remember seeing Dad coming home with Bodine gear from the local races he went to, then some of the bigger tracks as well. He still has T-Shirts with the Levi Garret #5, and the hats from the Joe Bessey years. The races in the late 80's and early 90's were the best for him. We did Dover, Daytona, Charlotte, and the Mothers Day Busch race at New Hampshire every year. We saw Spencer beat Ervin in '94, and we saw Andretti win the last day race at Daytona. We saw Jeff kill the field at Darlington in '97, and we saw Dale get screwed by the rain for Bobby's win in 2000 (best race we saw; race was cancelled, then restarted, Dale was ahead, then a restart for the final lap. Bobby got ahead of Dale somehow, and won the Championship on that race alone. We left our spot and walked back to the backstretch. I fell in love with Jr. that day, seeing that big red car with the Ralph #8, chasing the old #3, we knew we we're watching some great driving that day. Boy did the rain hit soon after.)

The day he died, there was a sense that something was wrong right away. Darrell was not himself. He was happy, but I wonder if he didn't see the reaction from Schrader and see the commotion at the crash site to make him wonder (before the cameras picked it up). I can remember thinking something's wrong. That ambulance was going too slow, and I was wondering, "Is he fighting for his next breath"? That's the only reason for them to go too slow. I hadn't even called my Dad at this point to discuss the race. When I talked to him he was thrilled with Waltrip winning, he just wished he could have seen it live.

I was sitting in my Inlaws TV room, waiting for supper, when my Father In Law ( Another diehard fan, said that he had just gotten off the phone with one his "collector" friends, and he had been told that Dale had passed).

I didn't believe it at first, but I did call my Dad, and told him. He said

"Are you sure?"

"Yes"

"My God" " I have never loved to hate someone as much, and had so much respect for him at the same time. I actually wanted him to beat my guy, to make my guy better"

That was everyone's thought.

We got to go to the Pepsi 400 that Dae Jr. won, and I can't tell you how cathartic it was to see him win, and the celebration he had with Mickey, it was what Nascar needed.

To this day, I can remember the somber mood the day after. There were so many tributes and radio dedications. What got me the most was the fact that Nascar was considering taking a week off, out of respect for the family. Dale Earnhardt Jr. said no, we have to race.

That's why Dale Jr. is who he is, everyone was rooting for him at Rockingham, and he could't do it, but he tried, that's all we cared about.

When the 29 won at Atlanta everyone had a sense that Nascar could move on, and needed to move on.

However, that day hurt many people. Ken Schrader is the first person that saw Dale, in his worst condition. I would not want to be in Kenny's shoes for one minute, having seen that.

I remember Sterling Marlin's big old Silver Coors Light car, nudging him up the hill, trying to get a spot. The guilt this driver was with, and the accusations he had to deal with, put him out of racing.

What I remember most is the fact that Bodine was recovering from a truck race crash, at Daytona. Nobody said anything about safer barriers. There was no such thing as a Hans Device.

It was Dale against the track, and the track finally one.

Since then, Jeff Gordon has become appreciated in our house, not as a winner, but as a driver. We hate JJ, there's no way he could equal the greats. Dad likes Logano, since he's from Connecticut, and he likes Truex Jr. We still root for Dale Jr. though not as much since he went to Hendricks. I love Truex Jr. He's my last link to the past.

At this point in our families Nascar history, we all miss rooting against Dale. Nascar was great before he won the Daytona 500. And it was great for a few years after. However, the fact that he never won the Daytona 500 was what made Nascar great ,
 
Great post Monadonock....... I feel the same as you..... I never liked Sr. for 4 hours on Sunday........ but... really appreciated him the rest of the week........





I never ever thought I would miss him so much as I do now.....


I can't foresee another Sr. ever coming into Nascar and be as captivating as he was....... I think he played a very significant role in the upsurge that Nascar enjoyed in the late 80's and all thru the 90's.......
 
I remember watching the race with my dad and we were both saying how much we were loving the racing...both of us had also mentioned to one another that the race had a "strange" vibe to it. Little did we know what would unfold at the end of the race. I'm still creeped out by that because I just had this feeling that something was not going to go well. At the end of the race I was pulling for Waltrip and my dad was pulling for Jr (we both HATED Sr but my dad has always been a fan of Jr)...it was a fun screaming match between the two of us during the final few laps. When the wreck happened, we both cheered and were mainly just glad that Sr didn't win. Neither of us thought anything of the wreck even through all the post-race stuff. We both assumed Sr was fine because the wreck looked so innocent, at least in comparison to the Stewart wreck earlier in the race.

I'm not sure on the timeframe, but I think it was an hour or 2 after the race when we tuned into SPEED channel because there was a show I would watch on there every Sunday night (can't remember what it was called). As soon as we tuned in, the only thing we saw was a small image in the upper-right corner of the screen with Sr's picture that had "1951-2001" underneath it. My dad and I both shouted "WHAT!!!????" and our jaws were on the floor even though we were both standing. We just stood there motionless and in silence for a good minute because such news was impossible to register. I then went to let his dog outside and remember looking up at the stars in complete shock and seeing a shooting star after a few seconds. I just know that was The Intimidator racing in the heavens.

As much as I despised Sr, his death really changed my outlook on racing. A few minutes after I heard the news and was outside just trying to comprehend everything, I became sick to my stomach because I remember cheering when I saw him wreck. I felt as little as a speck of dust and still can't forgive myself for doing that. To this day I never cheer when anyone wrecks and always hold my breath until I see a driver walk out of their cars under their own power, no matter how innocent the wreck looked. Over the years, especially recently, I have also realized how important he was to our sport we love. I miss him dearly and would do anything to bring him back.

With that said, I also want to mention that the death of Adam Petty hit me much harder. I had been paying close attention to his entire racing career since he first got behind the wheel of a car. I was soooooo looking forward to seeing him become the next King and had my man cave decked out in 45 gear. When I heard the news of his death I was having dinner with some family at their house and we had the CBS news with Dan Rather on in the background. A picture of Adam was shown on the screen with his birth and death date. All 5 of us were big NASCAR fans and we all just STOPPED eating and were in complete shock. It was a lot like how my dad and I reacted when we heard about Sr, but this was even more intense. I was utterly devastated and couldn't eat or sleep for days. He had the talent to be better than Johnson, better than Kyle Busch, and even better than his grandfather. I wasn't even sure if I would be able to watch NASCAR anymore, but I did. Seeing Kyle start the Victory Junction Gang Camp really helped the healing process and even inspired me to go into a career where I worked with kids & adults who suffer from disabilities and terminal diseases, which I did up until a few years ago.

Both losses were huge (and impossible). However, Adam's loss helped to create one of the most amazing charities in the world. Sr's loss helped to improve safety in the sport which has undoubtedly saved the lives of many other drivers. I now believe their deaths were a blessing in a disguise. "Don't place a question mark where God has placed a period".
 
Monadonock said:
Watching the race at my In Laws. We had just moved down to Florida, and my parents were still living in Mass. My Dad was lucky enough to see Dale win in 98, however, a family disagreement caused him not to attend the 500 that year. I talked to him after the race, considering how we were actually rooting for Earnhardt at this point, and completely resented Gordon. Dale was so far above being just a racer at that point. My dad was a die hard Northeastener, Bodine, Spencer, Evens, Reggerio, Craven, Stefanick, you name it, that's how he rooted. I grew up with Truex Sr., McGlaughlin, Santerre, Fedewa, Craven etc,. It was the Bodine= Earnhardt feud that got my dad hating Dale. I can remember seeing Dad coming home with Bodine gear from the local races he went to, then some of the bigger tracks as well. He still has T-Shirts with the Levi Garret #5, and the hats from the Joe Bessey years. The races in the late 80's and early 90's were the best for him. We did Dover, Daytona, Charlotte, and the Mothers Day Busch race at New Hampshire every year. We saw Spencer beat Ervin in '94, and we saw Andretti win the last day race at Daytona. We saw Jeff kill the field at Darlington in '97, and we saw Dale get screwed by the rain for Bobby's win in 2000 (best race we saw; race was cancelled, then restarted, Dale was ahead, then a restart for the final lap. Bobby got ahead of Dale somehow, and won the Championship on that race alone. We left our spot and walked back to the backstretch. I fell in love with Jr. that day, seeing that big red car with the Ralph #8, chasing the old #3, we knew we we're watching some great driving that day. Boy did the rain hit soon after.)

The day he died, there was a sense that something was wrong right away. Darrell was not himself. He was happy, but I wonder if he didn't see the reaction from Schrader and see the commotion at the crash site to make him wonder (before the cameras picked it up). I can remember thinking something's wrong. That ambulance was going too slow, and I was wondering, "Is he fighting for his next breath"? That's the only reason for them to go too slow. I hadn't even called my Dad at this point to discuss the race. When I talked to him he was thrilled with Waltrip winning, he just wished he could have seen it live.

I was sitting in my Inlaws TV room, waiting for supper, when my Father In Law ( Another diehard fan, said that he had just gotten off the phone with one his "collector" friends, and he had been told that Dale had passed).

I didn't believe it at first, but I did call my Dad, and told him. He said

"Are you sure?"

"Yes"

"My God" " I have never loved to hate someone as much, and had so much respect for him at the same time. I actually wanted him to beat my guy, to make my guy better"

That was everyone's thought.

We got to go to the Pepsi 400 that Dae Jr. won, and I can't tell you how cathartic it was to see him win, and the celebration he had with Mickey, it was what Nascar needed.

To this day, I can remember the somber mood the day after. There were so many tributes and radio dedications. What got me the most was the fact that Nascar was considering taking a week off, out of respect for the family. Dale Earnhardt Jr. said no, we have to race.

That's why Dale Jr. is who he is, everyone was rooting for him at Rockingham, and he could't do it, but he tried, that's all we cared about.

When the 29 won at Atlanta everyone had a sense that Nascar could move on, and needed to move on.

However, that day hurt many people. Ken Schrader is the first person that saw Dale, in his worst condition. I would not want to be in Kenny's shoes for one minute, having seen that.

I remember Sterling Marlin's big old Silver Coors Light car, nudging him up the hill, trying to get a spot. The guilt this driver was with, and the accusations he had to deal with, put him out of racing.

What I remember most is the fact that Bodine was recovering from a truck race crash, at Daytona. Nobody said anything about safer barriers. There was no such thing as a Hans Device.

It was Dale against the track, and the track finally one.

Since then, Jeff Gordon has become appreciated in our house, not as a winner, but as a driver. We hate JJ, there's no way he could equal the greats. Dad likes Logano, since he's from Connecticut, and he likes Truex Jr. We still root for Dale Jr. though not as much since he went to Hendricks. I love Truex Jr. He's my last link to the past.

At this point in our families Nascar history, we all miss rooting against Dale. Nascar was great before he won the Daytona 500. And it was great for a few years after. However, the fact that he never won the Daytona 500 was what made Nascar great ,
Click to expand...


Thank you for insight into your personal fan hood. I appreciate that.


Just thinking about the 2001 Pepsi 400 makes me well up........... God I'm such a ***** lmao.
 
I also remember where I was when I heard Adam died...... I couldn't believe it...... so many .... ...... But...... I guess the the ones that affected most other than Sr. was Davey and Alan...... and Clifford...... I will never ever forget Davey saying...... ''I am glad Alan won the Championship.... I have many more years ahead of me''......... or....... something like that......... I was always a fan of the Allison family and they went thru so much...... from losing 2 boys...... the bankruptcy...... the divorce...... the getting back together when Adam died...... they went thru a whole lot ....
 
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