I remember this interview. I remember when they said Earnhardt could race anymore, but I never thought it for a second. Then Dale wins the Daytona 500 and those talks still persisted then sweeps Talladega in '99 and wins Bristol and then finishes 2nd in points in 2000.
Earnhardt had the rare combination of ability, determination, charisma, and likable arrogance all in one driver. The void this man left by his passing away is still felt and seen 10+ years later and no one has come close to ever filling it.
I don't think anyone else could take the name of Dale Earnhardt and ask them to define his character and career in one paragraph like you just did so perfectly I might have to say good sir !!!! The very 1st time I watched him race was the 1990 Daytona 500 and when I started to watch that race & named the drivers and what place they were starting @ then I heard of the man they call ''the intimidator ''! I was 12 @ the time and when they showed him getting in his car and you looked at him in that car I was instantly glued to the screen while I watched him & his driving magic on that track leading 90% of that race I became an instant fan! Then to watch him blow that tire on turn 4 and lose on the last turn , a 1/4 mile from the finish line and lose to F&@$ing "Derrick Cope"!! which would be 1 of 3 races he ever won in the CUP series. So @ the age of 12 I was absolutely heart broken to say the least. I was so upset & felt so sorry for him that immediately after I saw his post race interview and how he took that loss which meant so much to him I went to my room and began to write him a letter from me saying how he had gained a new 12 yr old fan and that even though he didn't win I he was still # 1 to me it was 2 pages long, but anyway 2 months later I came home from school and opened the mailbox and saw something for me from Kannapolis N.C so i opened it up and inside was an autographed picture of him in front of his bad ass #3 on the grass at Daytona on turn 4. I was shocked and so excited because I didn't ask him for anything in return. That's what kind of man & racer Dale Earnhardt was and when he died playing blocker for his son & Michael Waltrip so they could go on and win just shows how much of a team player he was and that he was ok with being 3rd! He had his 500 win and was fine with that! Richard Petty may be the king but his 200 wins and 7 500 wins & 7 championships are amazing but Dale got his wins and championships in a much harder era and more talented drivers and the cars were more evenly matched. #3 Dale Earnhardt did for NASCAR what Michael Jordan did for the NBA, By popularizing the sport and made it fun to watch, he was my role model and my hero as a kid ,and at 45 yrs old today there isn't a driver out there who is or even could carry the sport like he did!! Even though JR didn't dominate like his dad he was very likeable and the people loved him and he made his own legacy different from SR's but i believe he was just as good!!! and there are 3 races which stand out to me that JR won after SR passed one was the Pepsi 400 at Daytona the same year his dad died. Then when he won his 4th straight win at Talladega coming back from 8th to 1st in the last 4 laps to win the Winston just like SR did which was his last win #76 and 3rd which was my favorite win was when he drove the #3 WRANGLER CAR COLOR SCHEME at the Daytona speedway in the Subway Jalapeño 250 the weekend after Father's day to victory lane!! So your comment was right on target and us EARNHARDT FANS will just have to live in the past watching old videos and remember how lucky we were to be able to witness the Greatest stock car driver that ever was and his name was Dale Earnhardt " The INTIMIDATOR "!!!!! CHRIS K .............................................................................
Rogers Photo Archive Easily. His raw talent is most definitely the best ever, and that he won 7 championships in the most competitive era of NASCAR is truly incredible.
I always liked Earnhardt but he was a dirty driver nobody likes a dirty driver if it wasn't Earnhardt nobody would put up with it so why did they put up with it because it was him
He's bitch slap some sense into the wussy "Brainfart" Brian France for sure. And most like agree with with the Late Smokey Yunick (quote on Bill Jr.) , but apply it to Brian. "He's not smart enough to pour piss out of a boot, if the instructions were written on the heel"
Don McClean once wrote about the day the music died,it countuined to live on but there was a huge void that could never be replaced,there's a line from that song that states... February made me shiver,....and Nascar is still shivering from February 2001.and no one knows it better than the true fans of the sport, Nascar has gone from it's birth to the Golden age, to the entrance of those pearly Gates,. RIP Dale
Dale would be 65 years old next month April 29th. He would be still a tremendous ambassador in Nascar today as far as going to the Nascar hauler at every race and knock some major sense into the morons like Brian France and Mike Helton that sadly run the sport today.
A legend .... however, I wonder if his style would survive today. Intimidation ( ie. aggression) would not be tolerated by NASCAR today. He'd be fined, put on probation, made to sit out races and all those other things that the 'rules committee' do nowadays. Kind of a shame.
+Bruce KKaye hell they wreck each other every weekend today and don't have him to blame anymore. wouldn't tolerate it??? what the hell about Edwards at Atlanta? what about kennseth at m' ville.......only difference is dale knew what he was doing..these idiots just cant drive
I'd leave the top level after now and go back smaller regroup rethink before it's all over top of your heads then your sitting there saying we'll shit we could have done alot more in smaller areas don't spend your money in one place
unfortunately the money got too big - the people in authority abandoned the demographic who made this sport and ultimately greed has completely ruined this series
Dale Earnhardt Sr was the best of the best! We loved him and his racing-our Dale forever! We miss him but God decided He wanted his best driver to race for everyone in Heaven! My Jerry and Sugar Bear seeing the fruits of Dale's racing thru the gates of Heaven! Gloria and Bear and my Heavenly crew from Tx and Heaven! 👩🦳🐕🐻😇😇😇😇😇🚖3️⃣🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰Dale Sr, you were and always will be the one that brought Jerry and Sugar Bear and me to Nascar. You Sir will always be the best for us
+meowwuff11 A legend in his time. Won rookie of the year in 1979, 7 Cup titles (1980, '86, '87, '90, '91, '93, '94), won 76 races, and won the 1998 Daytona 500 after 20 years of trying. During the All-Star race he made his famous "Pass in the grass". Then in 2001, he was killed on the last lap of the Daytona 500, protecting Dale, Jr. and Michael Waltrip so they could battle for the win.