Fer crying out loud. I guess when a youngster comes in here and shows his "ignorance" of the facts, some people seem to believe that it's open season on everything. Though my young DEI fan seems to know all that he wants to know, he does show that he is really interested in learning more, thus showing that he really doesn't know it all. (Hmmm, does that make sense?) Anyway, instead of telling him all the BS that might be waiting around for all to hear, why not lead him in the direction of the real truth? There are many different books, some truth, some not so truthful, but nonetheless, more historical than what I've seen written here that one might want to read. Check you local library on the roots of NASCAR and I'll guarantee you that you will find some fact about the late Dale Earnhardt.
We can all sit here and tell anecdotes or make up things that are highly negative about anyone, but that is only half the story. I am for one, a total ABE fan of the old days, but I knew from where the man came from and what he stood for. Dale was a typical motor-head racer that was raised that way and was for the most part, lucky that what he was a genius at, made him a millionaire. All one needs to do is go to one's local track and you will find hundreds of wannabe Earnhardts and know that this is where he came from. If you look into these wannebe's, you'll find all sorts of guys, from the most wanten drunks who will never move ahead, to the those kids who are really interested in moving up the ladder. Some will move up, some may even move all the way to the top, but what they were/are at the local level may never be the same as they might become at the top. If you are a bad boy and want to stay that way, say adios to the big time, especially in these days of scrutinity. (In the olden days, it was much easier to move up with a bad reputation).
Dale Earnhardt, the father of Jr, is a man, a racer that will likely never be equaled in many ways, the same way that DE was never the same racer that Richard Petty was. Old Ironhead made his reputation and everyone that raced him respected that reputation, if not his ability. They simply knew what to expect from him. While he might have been a wild man in his younger years, those who raced against him never took that into consideration when they were dueling him. All that mattered was that they beat him, beat the Intimadator.
