My own thoughts on Earnhardt Sr. on this day.

SpeedPagan

SpeedPagan

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Thought I'd make a new post as to not soil the Tribute Thread. Hey, I can be an ass sometimes, but not that big of an ass.

First off, I hate the fact that Earnhardt Sr. died on my birthday, but not for the reason you may think. Yes, it was very tragic that he died and all that. But honestly, at this point, it's embarrassing. I feel like the NASCAR community is trying to turn the man into a deity, or at least a saint. It's especially annoying when you live as close to his hometown as I do.

It's also annoying when you consider that Earnhardt Sr. is the only driver who's death we still talk about. We don't talk about the death of all the other drivers who died during a race weekend. We don't have a moment of silence on lap 25 for Tim Richmond, we don't have special concert for Adam Petty or Kenny Irwin Jr. Where are the threads for Fireball Roberts?

Honestly, it's been 13 years, let the man rest and move on. IMHO, the only people who should still have a special connection to this day are the man's family and close friends, people who actually knew him.
 
I 100% agree with you. I didn't know the man but I respected him as a driver and consider him one of the greatest of all time, but it is borderline sickening how many leople speak on the guy as if they knew him. We knew him inside of a helmet and racecar not as a man. It has grew old for me in year 3 and 4 let alone 13 years later.
 
Some people remember the deaths of other drivers. I still mourn the loss of Davey Allison, Tim Richmond, Neil Bonnett and Dale Sr.

Dale was a huge character and influence on the sport and a lot of fans.
 
SpeedPagan said:
Thought I'd make a new post as to not soil the Tribute Thread. Hey, I can be an ass sometimes, but not that big of an ass.

First off, I hate the fact that Earnhardt Sr. died on my birthday, but not for the reason you may think. Yes, it was very tragic that he died and all that. But honestly, at this point, it's embarrassing. I feel like the NASCAR community is trying to turn the man into a deity, or at least a saint. It's especially annoying when you live as close to his hometown as I do.

It's also annoying when you consider that Earnhardt Sr. is the only driver who's death we still talk about. We don't talk about the death of all the other drivers who died during a race weekend. We don't have a moment of silence on lap 25 for Tim Richmond, we don't have special concert for Adam Petty or Kenny Irwin Jr. Where are the threads for Fireball Roberts?

Honestly, it's been 13 years, let the man rest and move on. IMHO, the only people who should still have a special connection to this day are the man's family and close friends, people who actually knew him.
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First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY:birthday:

Secondly, while Earnhardt's death is over referenced, I feel his death was different. Was it different in the sense that Earnhardt's life was more valuable then Adam Petty, Tony Roper, Eric Martin, Kenny Irwin Jr, Blaise Alexander or the rest who all lost their life in a race car, of course not. But, the majority of "older" race fans today grew up watching Dale Earnhardt. If you tuned in to a race that Dale was racing, like him or not you were paying attention to where he was at. While I agree, the concerts, the programs, the coverage of the #3 gets old, I have no problem with fans remembrance of Dale. I still think it's awesome 13 years later, fans still fly his flag and wear his apparel at the track.
 
Smoke14 said:
Some people remember the deaths of other drivers. I still mourn the loss of Davey Allison, Tim Richmond, Neil Bonnett and Dale Sr.

Dale was a huge character and influence on the sport and a lot of fans.
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I agree he was larger than life and that is why we hear more about him then the others but it is beginning to feel like its the thing to do amongst the community
 
upload_2014-2-18_16-5-31.jpeg






:D
 
I think that Nascar has realized that all the changes they have made have really pissed off the hard core fans. Dale Sr. was a driver that most fans either loved or hated. It seems Nascar thinks as long as he is being talked about, older fans will stay involved in the sport. I also don't think that it is a coincidence that Austin Dillon has decided to run a car that looks like the car Dale Sr. used to drive. Not exactly like it because they don't want to PO the Sr. fans, but enough like it that Dillon might capture some of those fans. I think Nascar is also hoping that Dillon can attract younger fans. IMO that's why they are pushing Dillon as the second coming of Dale Sr., and by linking him to Nascar's history they have a better chance of keeping the newer fans. Be prepared to hear this stuff all season long because it's Danica all over again. I myself didn't care one way or the other about him, just another personality at the track. To some, it is blasphemy not to sing his praises. So I guess that makes me a hater. Like I've said before "If that's what I am, then I will wear that badge with pride."
 
If nascar was making millions in merchandise sales with Davey Allison, and Tim Richmond souvenir haulers at every race they be remembering them every year too.


Am I a hater now?
 
clarkfn2284 said:
I 100% agree with you. I didn't know the man but I respected him as a driver and consider him one of the greatest of all time, but it is borderline sickening how many leople speak on the guy as if they knew him. We knew him inside of a helmet and racecar not as a man. It has grew old for me in year 3 and 4 let alone 13 years later.
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That's where you're wrong. That's one of the beauties of NASCAR. The fan interaction. We get to see who these drivers are as people. We see them more than just inside of a helmet or racecar. We get to see the type of human being they are. That's one of the things that made Earnhardt such a legend. Because he made people feel like they do in fact know him. He didn't keep his personal life personal. He put it out there for everyone to see. So when that happened, you did in fact get to know him. Not personally, but you were able to see the kind of man that he was.
 
breatheoflife said:
That's where you're wrong. That's one of the beauties of NASCAR. The fan interaction. We get to see who these drivers are as people. We see them more than just inside of a helmet or racecar. We get to see the type of human being they are. That's one of the things that made Earnhardt such a legend. Because he made people feel like they do in fact know him. He didn't keep his personal life personal. He put it out there for everyone to see. So when that happened, you did in fact get to know him. Not personally, but you were able to see the kind of man that he was.
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Just because we see interviews and read reports that give access to someones time out of the car doesnt mean we know the man. There are a lot of people who feel like he is a great guy....the same went for Michael Jordan....then it comes out later that Jordan was a womanizer and has a terrible gambling problem.....a lot of people dont want the curtains to be pulled back on their "heros" because of what it can reveal. Im not wrong to look at the hero worship by NASCAR fans and think its sickening because unless you spent time with the man none of us have any place to speak on what kind of a person he was. We could each spend a day with someone and come away with different assertions about the guy. Im not saying he was a bad guy I just see us as a society labeling our icons as heros as if we know them because we all want to know them just a little bit.

The fact is that he was a tremendous driver and he could be prickly with people at times. Pretty typical of anyone who is great at what they do. He is an icon in sports. He changed the sport after he died. The sport capitalized on his death and to this day still do.

As was stated earlier the continued revisiting of the death every year as if it were the day after it happened is as absurd imo as the people who leave RIP comments for someone they dont know after they die.
 
As a kid I too wore my Dale sr. hat, so clearly I WAS a fan, but those days are gone and I support this thread.
 
clarkfn2284 said:
please elaborate? Explain to me how saying RIP in regards to someone you dont know in a comments section isnt absurd? What does it accomplish other then make you feel good?
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Why do you have to know someone to say RIP? Are you on drugs or something? You need help man. You actually seem to be taking offense to people respecting someone? Because why? We didn't personally know him? So what?! He was one of the biggest names in the sport we all love, he had legions of fans, and his death marked a turn in safety innovations that have most likely saved hundreds of lives since then.. but most of all.. I just think people miss him.. what's wrong with that?

I seriously cannot think for the life of me why you are so against this. It just doesn't make sense.. no matter how I look at it you still come out looking like an a**hole.
 
What more does it have to accomplish? Isn't me feeling better about myself reason enough?

The fact that you think it's absurd for someone to take 1.5 seconds out of their day to type RIP, just to acknowledge someones death is incredibly ridiculous and shows just how shallow of a human being you are.
 
clarkfn2284 said:
please elaborate? Explain to me how saying RIP in regards to someone you dont know in a comments section isnt absurd? What does it accomplish other then make you feel good?
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Your avatar says" here to make you miserable".

Your doing well !!!:rolleyes:
 
SlicedBread22 said:
Why do you have to know someone to say RIP? Are you on drugs or something? You need help man. You actually seem to be taking offense to people respecting someone? Because why? We didn't personally know him? So what?! He was one of the biggest names in the sport we all love, he had legions of fans, and his death marked a turn in safety innovations that have most likely saved hundreds of lives since then.. but most of all.. I just think people miss him.. what's wrong with that?

I seriously cannot think for the life of me why you are so against this. It just doesn't make sense.. no matter how I look at it you still come out looking like an a**hole.
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The RIP comment has nothing to do with the Dale SR topic. You missed the boat on this one
 
breatheoflife said:
What more does it have to accomplish? Isn't me feeling better about myself reason enough?

The fact that you think it's absurd for someone to take 1.5 seconds out of their day to type RIP, just to acknowledge someones death is incredibly ridiculous and shows just how shallow of a human being you are.
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If you are taking the time to send out an RIP in a comment box for someone you dont know you need to find other things to do. Does anyone think that when someone dies that family members or friends are trolling through comment boxes to see if people are saying RIP?

In regards to the bolded: Yeah Im the shallow human being. What you said isnt totally self serving at all...........but I give you kudos for acknowledging the fact that its done so you can feel better
 
clarkfn2284 said:
Not my goal. Its just a simple statement in regards to how people blow things out of proportion. God forbid you disagree with the masses......
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There's deciding to not be a conformist, and then there is just being a douchebag. If you ever want to make friends or have a successful life, I suggest not partaking in the latter.
 
I can see both sides of this. I can see how honoring him every single year can take some of the luster out of it but thats a small portion of me. His life was NOT in any way, more valuable than other drivers that passed during their careers.... but his legacy to nascar was more valuable than many others and thats why he is annually respected. The immediate reaction to his death proved that....

As far as RIP'ing someone you don't know - come on now, its a way of paying respects and that is all. Not as bad as people tossing on an NFL jersey with some other guys name on their back.
 
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