Start your engines!
Play RPM.ESPN Stock Car Challenge!
Win a Honda S2000!
Play The CART Challenge powered by Honda!
|
|
Saturday, July 7
Gone, but not forgotten
By Jonathan Baum
ESPN.com
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- The focus of the auto racing world is on Daytona this weekend, but almost forgotten in the fray is the date -- July 7.
Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of Kenny Irwin's death at Loudon, N.H. And as his name -- along with those of Adam Petty and Tony Roper -- has almost become an afterthought since Dale Earnhardt's death at Daytona in February, so has the significance of this date.
|  | | Kenny Irwin, left, and Adam Petty, right, both lost their lives at New Hampshire International Speedway. |
But the overwhelming -- and understandable -- focus on Dale Earnhardt isn't a function of the drivers. They've also got Irwin, Petty and Roper on their minds.
"I've always felt kind of bad for Kenny and Tony Roper and Adam," said Kenny Wallace, who is competing in Sunday's GNC Live Well 200 Busch Series race at Watkins Glen, N.Y. "You know Dale Earnhardt was bigger than life, but I kinda wish that maybe they would memorialize those kids like we have Dale. I understand what Dale Earnhardt was all about, but those young guys had a long future ahead of them and had accomplished a lot in a little time."
From both FOX and NBC maintaining the silent third lap to the No. 3s painted on the infields of Winston Cup tracks, the reminders of Earnhardt's passing are prevalent.
"Every once in a while I wonder what their families are thinking with so much attention being paid to Dale and nobody really giving those guys the time they're giving," Wallace said. "I kinda wish that all these Busch tracks we went to would have painted the number of Adam Petty's car on the grass and things like that. The same goes for Kenny Irwin and Tony. I've got mixed emotions. I just kinda feel bad for their families because they aren't being memorialized like Dale is."
While Earnhardt's death -- and fan and media reaction to it -- certainly brought the grave dangers of auto racing into a more prominent place within the collective consciousness of the sporting world, drivers haven't necessarily needed reminders and publicity to turn their thoughts to their lost colleagues.
"I miss them, I really do," said Geoffrey Bodine, who will start 20th in Sunday's Busch race. "I have tremendous faith -- not just since my accident, I've had faith long long before my accident -- and I include those guys in my prayers as often as I can. I'm not going to say it's every night -- there's a lot to pray about.
"But I miss Kenny, and Adam was such a great young man, and Kenny was a young guy, too. And Tony Roper and now Dale and I've lost some family members here just recently. They're all in my prayers and hopefully they're in the right place and one day we'll all be in the right place with the lord and things will be fine, but we wish they were here racing."
Bodine was seriously injured in a horrific crash at Daytona in 2000 while running a race in the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series.
"It's not the same in Daytona without Dale, I'm sure," Bodine said. "I'm sure everyone's having a tough time with that. And we've have a tough time with Adam and Kenny .... just everyone. Some guys get a little more publicity when they do good or do bad or get killed, but believe me -- we care about everybody, no matter how much publicity somebody gets."
Often the names of Roper, Petty and Irwin are tacked on to stories and quotes about Earnhardt. And while some could interpret that as giving equal credence and importance to the lives and deaths of those men, it might also be thought that there names are still mentioned at such a frequency only because their crashes were recent and the manner of their deaths was so similar to that of the most popular -- loved or hated -- drivers in auto racing history.
|
“ |
It doesn't matter who you are. You're still important. But this world keeps spinning no matter who gets hurt and who loses their job or who gets killed. ” |
|
|
— Geoffrey Bodine |
"When I first started following car racing, the first hero I had, Bruce McLaren, got killed in 1970 when I was a kid. You never forget," said Ron Fellows, who competed against Earnhardt in the 24 Hours at Daytona in February this year. "The only difference is with a guy like Earnhardt ... the impact was bigger because he was a legend. None of those guys you're going to forget, especially with the Pettys. When you see them at the races you can't help it. I feel for Kyle -- losing a son."
In racing and life, it's easy to say "the show must go on -- he/she would have wanted that." But it is, of course, easier said than done.
"It's part of the risk as a driver," said Fellows, who starts second at Watkins Glen on Sunday. "Everybody individually has to decide 'is it still worth the risk.' I think that's what it comes down to. ... (I sit down) with my family. My wife and I, because of the corvette deal at Daytona in the long distance race, got to know the Earnhardt's real well over a 3½-month period, and if anything else, I feel privileged to have gotten to know Sr.
"But it hurts. He has a bigger impact, a guy like Earnhardt ... he's like (Formula One champion Aryton) Senna. These guys are invincible and I'm sure everybody thinks 'if it happened to Earnhardt, it could happen to me.' So as a family, we talk about it. Again, because of the Corvette thing my kids got closer to the Earnhardt name and so we certainly talk about it. (my kids will ask) 'Why? Why did he die?' You've got to have those conversations."
Said Bodine, "It doesn't matter who you are. You're still important. But this world keeps spinning no matter who gets hurt and who loses their job or who gets killed. Certainly, I'm an example of that. When I was hurt, everything kept going. Nobody stopped and waited for me and I didn't expect them to and nobody expects them to no matter what happens to us. We expect everything to keep going. So even though those folks aren't here, if they were they'd be saying, 'keep going and do the best you can."
 Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
|
|
|
|
