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Friday, July 6
Earnhardt on driver's minds
By Jerry Bonkowski
ESPN.com
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla -- Say what you want about today's successful drivers, the epitome of success in NASCAR will always be the Man In Black, The Intimidator, No. 3, the late Dale Earnhardt.
As NASCAR prepares to run its 17th race of the season Saturday night with the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway, the mood has been somber, with reflections and recollections about Earnhardt, who was tragically killed in a last-lap crash during the Feb. 18 Daytona 500.
As much as drivers, teams and fans have tried to put the loss out of their minds, returning to Daytona has reopened old wounds.
That tragedy continues to be felt the most in two camps: Dale Earnhardt Inc., with drivers Steve Park, Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip and Dale's own son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Richard Childress Racing, with teammate Mike Skinner and the young driver who has nobly tried to fill the late Earnhardt's shoes, rookie Kevin Harvick.
As can be expected in such a time of grief, several principles did not wish to talk about the late Earnhardt. However, ESPN.com was able to speak to several drivers who knew Earnhardt well, while others released brief statements about the Man in Black.
Here are their thoughts about returning to Daytona, where Earnhardt lost his life, but will never be lost from any of our memories.
Steve Park
| |  | | | Park |
Steve Park, driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet, was the first full-time driver hired by Earnhardt when he formed DEI more than four years ago.
ESPN.com: What's it like for you to go back to Daytona, with all the emotion you and everyone else that knew Dale will have to go through once again?
Park: People don't realize that it's emotional every day for us. We go to that shop every day, and that's the place we had spent the most time with Dale; his house is located right behind the shop. We grieve and we hurt every day. But for us, Daytona has got to be just another day. If Dale knew we were going to make a fuss going back there to race, he'd be mad at us. Neil Bonnett, his best friend, lost his life at Daytona, and Dale didn't think twice about going back there and going on to win the Daytona 500.
The only strength we have is doing what we feel he would want us to do if he was still here, and that's not to make a fuss, and to go back there and try to repeat. Michael (Waltrip) won the 500, and it'd be nice for me or Michael or Dale Jr. to go back and win the Pepsi 400. That's all we can do to honor him.
ESPN.com: If there's one thing that stands out in your mind about Dale in the four-plus years you worked for him, what would that be?
Park: Believe it or not, it's patience. You think of The Intimidator, and you think, well hell, he never showed any patience. But he was a smart man, he never crashed out a race. He always drove smart, he always was patient until it got down to the last laps. He wasn't afraid to put a bumper in the last two or three laps, but I never saw the man crash out of a race. That was one of the things he taught me -- I'd want to win a race in the first 50 miles, but he'd tell me to work with my crew chief, be patient, make the car as best as you can make it so that you can go on and win in those last 50 laps.
If I put one word that best describes Dale, and one that he taught all of us is 'winning.' Winning breeds winning and winning fixes everything. I didn't realize that until we started winning. It fixes everything, from your relationship at home to your relationship at the shop, from your sponsorship relations, morale. It's just amazing that when you're winning, all the problems you have fix themselves.
ESPN.com: How much of a changed feeling is there in NASCAR since Dale's death?
Park: It's dramatically different. I think it's changed the face of NASCAR in a short period of time. I grew up watching Winston Cup racing, and that black No. 3 was the car that everybody gauged themselves against. Now it's not there, so who do you gauge yourself against? It's tough. (Jeff) Gordon's obviously had a great career, but he's not The Intimidator, he's not Dale Earnhardt. I don't think there's anybody that can replace him, there's nobody that can replace Dale Earnhardt.
ESPN.com: Although Dale is gone, DEI will continue. What do you feel the future holds for the team?
Park: This has been a very tough year for all of us emotionally, but it also has helped us build character and shown not only myself, but the rest of the team, that we have confidence in Theresa and Dale Jr. and the whole organization that the vision Dale had three or four years ago is going to live on. We've lost our mentor, but we feel his legacy is going to live on through Dale Earnhardt Incorporated.
Mike Skinner
| |  | | | Skinner |
Mike Skinner, driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet owned by Richard Childress, was a teammate of Earnhardt's for more than five seasons.
ESPN.com: How hard is it for you to go back to Daytona?
Skinner: It's the same thoughts we have every week. And shame on the media and some of these track promoters because they've made such a fiasco out of this thing every week. I feel so sorry for Richard Childress and Dale Jr. and Theresa. They have to go through all this stuff, along with (crew chief) Kevin Hamlin and the whole No. 3 team, which is now the 29 team. I feel so sorry for those guys because they have to have this thing thrown in their face every week. Shame on people. I think we lost the greatest race car driver that ever lived, but I don't think the guy is sitting up there in heaven, thinking they should make this deal what it has become. I think he'd want everybody to let it go, let his son go on with his racing career and let everybody finish their lives out."
ESPN.com: As a Cup driver, Dale's teammate and friend, is there any hesitation for you to return to the place he died?
Skinner: Absolutely not. We had a dominant car in that race (the Daytona 500) last time. We didn't think about it when we went to Talladega, and we're not going to think about it when we're in Daytona, no more than it's crammed down our throats. We're going to go out there and do our best job to win the race. I'd love for either the 31 or the 29 car -- preferably the 31 car -- to come out of there with the win. I'd love to see Richard Childress to walk away from there with a victory.
Bill Elliott
| |  | | | Elliott |
Bill Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Dodge owned by Ray Evernham, was one of Earnhardt's oldest and closest friends.
ESPN.com: What do you think the mood of the drivers will be like?
Elliott: This is going to be reality. When we go back down there this week, this is going to be reality. I think that's when it's going to hit everybody, because when you left there, you kind of leave it behind, you kind of put it out of your memory, put it aside and continue on. But now we're going back to the place that all this took place, and it's going to be hard to do.
ESPN.com: What are some of your favorite memories of Dale?
Elliott: Even as much as we went tooth and nail back in the '80s, he was a good old guy. Dale was smart in what he did, he knew how to play the game, he liked being rough and tough. I think from the standpoint of Dale himself, he'll always be remembered for wanting to do it his way. I remember once, when he was driving for Bud Moore, they were running the Busch Clash, I think. The car was smoking and NASCAR was black-flagging him, but he wouldn't come in. Dale said he only did what the car owner told him to do. He got away with it, but he was a piece of work.
Even as much as we went through the tooth and nail stuff of the '80s, we learned to respect each other, and that's what it's all about. One time I went to his (auto) dealership and signed autographs. He was supposed to return the favor, but we never got an opportunity to do that. But, he'd do whatever he needed for you, and that says a lot about the character and the man.
ESPN.com: Have you dwelled about what it'll be like for you to return to Daytona, and how you will cope?
Elliott: No, not really. You just kind of take it in stride. That's where Bonnett got killed, and there's been a lot of people down there. You just have to go and hope everything goes OK.
Whenever you look back at everything that's happened in this world, some little something was a part of a circumstance, whether it was an airplane flying and a certain bolt breaks, something happens or whatever, and what happened down there was just a weird deal. You've got to look at it like I could fall off my back porch and get killed today. You don't think of it as much, or it's not as present in your mind than if you're driving 200 mph and thinking what can happen, but look how many miles most of us have driven. If I go back to all the miles I've already driven, it's pretty incredible, all the years and years we've been doing this. All you can do is put your faith in the people you've got, put your faith in what's going on, get in it and go.
Tony Stewart
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Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Pontiac owned by Joe Gibbs, released this statement on returning to Daytona:
Unfortunately, I've had to deal with that a lot during my racing career. I had (Indy Racing League driver) Scott Brayton get killed during my rookie year at Indianapolis, and I lost two other good friends in Kenny Irwin and Dale Earnhardt. I've seen Robbie Stanley get killed in a Sprint car, Rich Vogler too. It's something that, unfortunately, is not a new topic to me.
But with every one of those drivers, I know their spirit and I know that they would like us to go on and do what we've been doing. I think that's the one thing that enables you to go on after a tragedy and do your job. We all know it's a part of what we do. Knowing that doesn't make it any easier to accept tragedy when it happens, but I guess it makes it a little easier to continue on knowing that that's what we risk as drivers.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
| |  | | | Earnhardt Jr. |
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 8 Chevrolet owned by DEI, released this statement on returning to Daytona:
This may sound strange or hard to believe, but I'm looking forward to racing at Daytona. It's the greatest track we race at for all of its the history and the fact it was really the first superspeedway of its kind. You just know it's special every time you get on the track.
Restrictor plate racing is my favorite because you are always two and three-wide and the driver can really make a difference. It takes a thinking driver to stay up front and I like the chess game elements of it. You have to think one or two moves ahead to stay near the front. We have top-8 finishes in the two restrictor plate races this year, and we expect to get a third one Saturday night.
As for anything else, I really don't have any comments right now. I don't know how I will feel when I go through that tunnel or how I will feel when I pull onto the track. I will just to wait and see.
Jeff Gordon
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Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet, owned by Rick Hendrick Racing, released this statement on returning to Daytona:
This race is exciting for the drivers and the fans. There's something about racing at night that makes it much more spectacular. But as much as we're looking forward to it, we'll all have Dale (Earnhardt) on our minds. We always have him on our minds, but it will really hit home this weekend. He was the man to beat at Daytona and Talladega. I was always fascinated with how he could pass a car without any help. I learned so much by just watching him. He was the best that I've ever raced against.
Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.
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