Dale jr concerned about dads legacy

I think anyone who has lost a parent at a young age has a huge fear of that person being “forgotten” because they left far too soon. While the children and the people closest to the deceased are hit the hardest emotionally and life seems to have stopped in it’s tracks, life continues to go on without interruption for everyone else. It’s an incredibly tough thing to deal with. I wish him the best.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
I think anyone who has lost a parent at a young age has a huge fear of that person being “forgotten” because they left far too soon. While the children and the people closest to the deceased are hit the hardest emotionally and life seems to have stopped in it’s tracks, life continues to go on without interruption for everyone else. It’s an incredibly tough thing to deal with. I wish him the best.
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Unfortunately for Junior there's going to come a day where Dale Sr isn't remembered to the degree that he has been for the past 20 years. As fans age out and get replaced by new, younger fans, those younger fans won't have any memories of Dale Earnhardt. They'll only have the history to watch and read about, not any first-hand witness to what Dale was.

I think about David Pearson. A legend of the sport, whom I respect the legacy of, and who was still alive until a few years ago. But his era as a driver took place before I was born, so I never saw the Silver Fox compete in real time, I only know of his success from word of mouth. It's not the same impact just hearing about it as it would be having experienced it.

Dale Earnhardt I experienced, and as a Jeff Gordon fan I rooted against him hard, and I remember how polarizing he was, I remember his merch for sale while he was alive, and his significance to me personally is greater than that of David Pearson because I was actually there. To fans that are joining us today, Dale Earnhardt is going to be like their David Pearson in that sense where you know he was a big deal but it's hard to feel the gravity of the whole thing when you're so far removed from it.
 
cheesepuffs said:
Unfortunately for Junior there's going to come a day where Dale Sr isn't remembered to the degree that he has been for the past 20 years. As fans age out and get replaced by new, younger fans, those younger fans won't have any memories of Dale Earnhardt. They'll only have the history to watch and read about, not any first-hand witness to what Dale was.

I think about David Pearson. A legend of the sport, whom I respect the legacy of, and who was still alive until a few years ago. But his era as a driver took place before I was born, so I never saw the Silver Fox compete in real time, I only know of his success from word of mouth. It's not the same impact just hearing about it as it would be having experienced it.

Dale Earnhardt I experienced, and as a Jeff Gordon fan I rooted against him hard, and I remember how polarizing he was, I remember his merch for sale while he was alive, and his significance to me personally is greater than that of David Pearson because I was actually there. To fans that are joining us today, Dale Earnhardt is going to be like their David Pearson in that sense where you know he was a big deal but it's hard to feel the gravity of the whole thing when you're so far removed from it.
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I agree with you. Unfortunately it is the reality that the farther away we get from someone's accomplishments the less the degree of dominance is remembered. Sure people will remember they were good, but not get how good they were. I was a youngster in the infield at Riverside in the 60s and 70s and I remember how great both Petty and Pearson were. Head and shoulders above everyone else! Now they're remembered as good drivers, but man they were so much more than that! Just the way it is I guess...
 
cheesepuffs said:
Unfortunately for Junior there's going to come a day where Dale Sr isn't remembered to the degree that he has been for the past 20 years. As fans age out and get replaced by new, younger fans, those younger fans won't have any memories of Dale Earnhardt. They'll only have the history to watch and read about, not any first-hand witness to what Dale was.

I think about David Pearson. A legend of the sport, whom I respect the legacy of, and who was still alive until a few years ago. But his era as a driver took place before I was born, so I never saw the Silver Fox compete in real time, I only know of his success from word of mouth. It's not the same impact just hearing about it as it would be having experienced it.

Dale Earnhardt I experienced, and as a Jeff Gordon fan I rooted against him hard, and I remember how polarizing he was, I remember his merch for sale while he was alive, and his significance to me personally is greater than that of David Pearson because I was actually there. To fans that are joining us today, Dale Earnhardt is going to be like their David Pearson in that sense where you know he was a big deal but it's hard to feel the gravity of the whole thing when you're so far removed from it.
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In a similar vein, I wonder if people years from now will remember Chase the way I remember Jr, both being the most popular of their times. Even though I got to watch them both, I was a life long fan of Jr since his ASA days and even a fan of Sr as a kid. Chase, not so much. And while I am a fan of Byron today (and Larson somewhat), it is definitely not the same.
 
hmmm298 said:
In a similar vein, I wonder if people years from now will remember Chase the way I remember Jr, both being the most popular of their times. Even though I got to watch them both, I was a life long fan of Jr since his ASA days and even a fan of Sr as a kid. Chase, not so much. And while I am a fan of Byron today (and Larson somewhat), it is definitely not the same.
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Hmmm - could be because of your current age? Maybe youngsters look at chase the way you looked at Jr/SR
 
DanicaFreak said:
Hmmm - could be because of your current age? Maybe youngsters look at chase the way you looked at Jr/SR
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Yes. That's pretty much my point and wondering if they will remember Chase in the future the way I remember them now.

Also on a side note, I did meet both Chase and Dale Jr at Bristol a couple of years ago at the Mountain Dew hospitality tent. While I'm not necessarily a fan of Chase I do like him and both are great guys. Chase actually did a long q&a session there afterwards (there were maybe like 100-200 or so of us there) and was awesome with the kids etc, so I would definitely say that supports your statement about the youngsters.
We actually watched that race later from the Budweiser suite/booth. I can't remember for sure because I went and actually met him a couple of times, but I believe this was actually during Jr's retirement tour.
 
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DanicaFreak said:
Hmmm - could be because of your current age? Maybe youngsters look at chase the way you looked at Jr/SR
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Also while I agree again about the age, the thing about it not being the same is more because no one could ever really replace Jr to me as my driver.
 
hmmm298 said:
Also while I agree again about the age, the thing about it not being the same is more because no one could ever really replace Jr to me as my driver.
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Agreed - JR and SR are irreplaceable.

Alot like Joe Montana and Dan Marino to the NFL.

There are fans of those two teams right now that can only see them play on youtube.
 
To say that Dale Earnhardt has been sufficiently remembered and memorialized is an understatement.

His son and namesake having those feelings is understandable.
 
gnomesayin said:
To say that Dale Earnhardt has been sufficiently remembered and memorialized is an understatement.

His son and namesake having those feelings is understandable.
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Not sure I am reading you right - you cant underestimate what SR means/meant to the sport.
 
aunty dive said:
I didn’t know he ran any ASA races.
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It's possible I could be confusing it with his local late model days, as I was only around 5 or 6 years old, but I'm sure he did, though not full time.
 
JJ_14 said:
Dale Sr. will never be forgotten amongst NASCAR fans. He's the most iconic driver this sport has produced.
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I agree here - I rooted like all heck against him as a Rusty fan (lesser extend kyle petty fan) but miss him more than anything now.

One wonders what NASCAR would look like if he was still alive.
Wouldnt he be a hoot in the booth?
 
DanicaFreak said:
I agree here - I rooted like all heck against him as a Rusty fan (lesser extend kyle petty fan) but miss him more than anything now.

One wonders what NASCAR would look like if he was still alive.
Wouldnt he be a hoot in the booth?
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I wonder how much longer he would've raced in the sport. I think he had a few good years left in him. He aged very well in the Bobby Allison / Mark Martin mold.
 
They’re gonna forget him. It’s inevitable, well they won’t forget him as much as forget his greatness. It’ll just be an urban legend as the E fans age out. Luckily I still have a ways to go but it’ll happen in my lifetime. Hell I’ve been guilty of it on here as I’ve compared drivers to Earnhardt. Look at how people have forgotten Michael Jordan already. It’s the circle of life, in Dale’s time at the top I’m sure the last guy on top Petty was compared frequently.
 
Snappy D said:
Dale would have stuck around for the first edition of The Chase
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I took another look, his contract at the time was set to expire in 2003. Maybe he retires then, maybe he stays for a season or more. No way to really know.

Maybe if Dale was around, the major competition changes to the sport don’t happen. On the flip side, the safety improvements more than likely wouldn’t exist either. Wrecks like Dale Jr’s at California in 2002 and Jeff Gordon’s at Pocono in 2006 might have been fatal.

Unknowns.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
I took another look, his contract at the time was set to expire in 2003. Maybe he retires then, maybe he stays for a season or more. No way to really know.

Maybe if Dale was around, the major competition changes to the sport don’t happen. On the flip side, the safety improvements more than likely wouldn’t exist either. Wrecks like Dale Jr’s at California in 2002 and Jeff Gordon’s at Pocono in 2006 might have been fatal.

Unknowns.
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I’ve read so much hearsay on that stuff. (This came from my dad’s Autoweek I’m pretty sure) I’ve read 03 was supposed to be the last season full time then he’d run part time for DEI in 04 while focusing on what was the Grand Am Sports Car series, he wanted to run those cars full time as he was hooked after doing the 01 Rolex. I don’t think anyone really knows for sure at this point. I did score what would have been an 01 Goodwrench second half pit cap on eBay last summer, cool hat. I wish he had survived that wreck.
 
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