Growing up with a father who loved NASCAR was exciting. I never had to guess what would be on our television set on any Saturday or Sunday during the race season. Although each family member likes a different driver, we all had one in common, Dale Earnhardt. I still recall seeing that number three car racing around the track on our television set that was definitely not a flat screen. My dad would be “a hoopin’ and a hollerin’” as I called it. He would get excited as Earnhardt took the lead, and get angry if Gordon was even close to him. I never realized the depth of my love for the sport of NASCAR until I had to argue with my Dad that Dale Earnhardt had really passed away after that sad day in Daytona.
I always found it amusing that NASCAR began by the men racing cars with huge trunks to see who would get to haul the moonshine that night. These men probably never knew that racing would become such a competitive and popular sport. Now that I am older, I have went to several races, and in person, it is a lot different that the television makes it seem. The cars go extremely fast, the turns are very steep, and the drunken rednecks are way more loud and crazy than they seem. I truly find NASCAR to be amusing, entertaining, and fun.
Seeing that my dad was driving a truck most of the time when I was young, he was not home the day of Earnhardt’s wreck. I remember sitting in the chair that Dad sat in to watch the race. As the final lap of the race was taking place, Earnhardt was in third place, protecting the lead of Michael Waltrip and his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. As the black number three car slammed into the concrete wall, I sat there staring at the television screen. The race had ended and Michael Waltrip won, and immediately, Dale Jr ran to his father’s car as the ambulances arrived at the scene. Later on that night, my dad arrived and began to ask about the race. I could not come to the point of telling him that one of the best NASCAR drivers in history was no longer going to be racing. My mama on the other hand, had no problem blurting out that he was dead. My dad was in utter shock. He did not believe us; he was angry and said that he was not dead. Mama walked into her room and pulled up the website with the video of the crash, and the news article stating that Dale Earnhardt had passed away.
I know that Earnhardt would have won that race in Daytona. Even to this day he is appreciated and missed by many. He was a genuine man, he did not live a high class lifestyle nor did he change his ways because of his fame. He was a driven man, who was determined to win. He was and still is to this day known as the intimidator. No one will ever drive a car in NASCAR with his number on it. His son, Dale Earnhardt Jr continues to race to this day and has been very successful in carrying out his father’s legacy. Dale Earnhardt is a legend, and I would love to be able to meet him, even though he has passed on, he will never be forgotten.
