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Thursday, July 5
Earnhardt as popular as ever
By Jerry Bonkowski
ESPN.com
The sorrow, the memories, the legacy -- they'll all come flooding back to Daytona International Speedway this week as NASCAR returns to the 2.5-mile tri-oval for the first time since Dale Earnhardt was killed in a crash there on the final lap of the Feb. 18 Daytona 500.
Most drivers will do their best to consider Saturday night's Pepsi 400 just another race, but trying to block out the horrifying memory Daytona holds for them will be hard.
|  | | The No. 3 is as marketable as ever in the afterglow of Earnhardt's death. |
In the dozens of times I've replayed TV footage of Earnhardt's crash, I'm still amazed how Earnhardt died in a wreck that has happened so similarly, so many times over the years. Most times, drivers have walked away, or, at the very worst, were transported by ambulance to a hospital for treatment.
But not Dale, not this time.
To this day, I still wonder how Earnhardt, a man above man, seemingly indestructible, could so quickly be erased. More than 4 ½ months after the fact, I still don't have an answer. I don't think anyone ever will. It was just a freakish misfortune that all of us know can happen any time.
In addition to watching a replay of Earnhardt's crash, I also watched most of the race again, starting with the pre-race telecast. One of the most haunting visages back for me, and one that remains just as ghostly, is a short one-minute interview Earnhardt gave less than an hour before engines roared to life.
There is Earnhardt, sitting back on a director's chair next to his trailer. He makes comments about the weather, the competition and then utters what very well may have been the last few words he ever spoke to anyone: "You're gonna see something you probably had never seen on FOX."
My skin still cringes hearing those words fall from Earnhardt's smiling face. It's almost as if he had a premonition that something big was going to happen ... and he was going to be right in the middle of it.
Fast forward from February to July and Earnhardt's death continues to transcend the world of NASCAR. There are numerous theories about Earnhardt's death from so-called experts. All that's missing is a shooter on a grassy knoll ... but the way things have gone, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that accusation made public in the near future.
And, of course, we still have the ongoing battle between Theresa Earnhardt, Dale's widow, and those who wish to make public autopsy photos of Dale.
We've also seen numerous hucksters try to cash in on Earnhardt's death, selling all types of "commemorative" items that "memorialize" his life. But in reality, these items are nothing but quick-buck schemes. Everything from wall clocks to T-shirts to trinkets that cost a few pennies yet sell for big dollars, all for the same reason: they have either Earnhardt's photo or name emblazoned upon them. Collector's items? Yeah, right.
But despite all the grief, the lingering questions and outright fraud, two significant gains have resulted because of Earnhardt's death. First, NASCAR is addressing safety issues more readily, and secondly, in a twisted kind of way, Earnhardt's death has prompted not only a resurgence of old and former NASCAR fans back into the sport, it has also served to attract a whole new audience into tracks and around TV sets across the country.
Hell, if sales of his memorabilia -- both legitimate and not -- are any indication, it's not a stretch to say Earnhardt is as, if not more, popular, in death than while he was alive.
Coming back to Daytona -- or "Daletona," as some have begun to call it -- will be tough for drivers, team members, NASCAR officials and fans. Throughout this weekend, you'll likely see a sea of outstretched arms pointing towards the exact spot where Earnhardt made contact with the wall. "It was there, that's where Dale hit," one person will say to the next.
In a sense, we've all shared in Earnhardt's misfortune. We've all grieved over his death. We all miss him. We all know NASCAR isn't the same without the black No. 3 Chevrolet and the mustachioed Man In Black.
I've seen this same kind of outpouring of sympathy, of lingering grief, only once before, when Elvis Presley died in 1977. I was in Memphis the day after Presley's death, one of tens of thousands who came to pay their respects to the fallen King. I was just another fan who felt Presley was more than an entertainer, he was part of my family.
It's the same way many of us feel now and will forever feel about Earnhardt. It was like a family member was snatched from us. It was like the man we looked up to, the man we thought was invincible, suddenly was found to be human ... with all its resulting frailties.
"Daletona" is where the legend of a man died, but it's also where the legend of more than a man will forever live on in our hearts and minds.
Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.
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