NASCAR Honors One of Its Own

Even the heavens shed tears for Dale Earnhardt.

Under North Carolina skies nearly as dark as his legendary black No. 3 Chevrolet, a chill rain greeted mourners Thursday as the tight-knit NASCAR community--from owners to drivers to mechanics to truck drivers to accountants--paid its final respects to the Intimidator in a brief memorial service at Calvary Church.

Earnhardt was killed Sunday on the final lap of the Daytona 500, a race he won in 1998 and which this year was won by Michael Waltrip in one of Earnhardt’s team cars.

Cavernous Calvary, the largest church in the state with seating for 6,500, was less than half-filled as rain and temperatures that dipped into the mid-30s discouraged racing fans from trying to gawk at Earnhardt’s fellow drivers who came out of admiration and love for their fiercest competitor.

Nearly all of the Winston Cup drivers were there, including Waltrip, Sterling Marlin, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Terry and Bobby Labonte, Rusty Wallace, Jeff and Ward Burton, Steve Park, Jerry Nadeau, Mike Skinner, Earnhardt’s teammate, and others.

Among the old-timers attending were Richard Petty, whose record of seven Winston Cup championships Earnhardt had tied and was hoping to better this year; and former champions Ned Jarrett, Junior Johnson and Darrell Waltrip.

The Rev. John Cozart of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Mooresville, the Earnhardt family church, read Scripture and led the assemblage in the Lord’s Prayer. Earnhardt was buried at an undisclosed location Wednesday after an earlier private family ceremony at St. Mark’s.

Winston Cup chaplain Dale Beaver told an amusing tale of the day he met Earnhardt while on a camping trip in the Pocono Mountains.

“I was very young then, and Dale was as intimidating off the track as he was on,” the chaplain said. “I was told he had been bear hunting and was having bear meat for dinner. When I was ushered in, I thought maybe I was dessert.”

Randy Owens, lead singer for the country music group Alabama and a longtime friend of the Earnhardt family, sang “Goodbye, Goodbye,” a song he originally wrote for his wife but modified for the Earnhardts. To close the service, Owens sang “Angels Among Us.”

As he concluded, Teresa Earnhardt, Dale’s widow, climbed to the stage escorted by a North Carolina Highway Patrol officer, whispered “thank you” and threw a kiss to the mourners.

It was all over in less than 25 minutes, from the time the Earnhardts entered the church to the moment Teresa departed with her family, Dale Jr., Kerry, Kelly and Taylor.

Dale Jr. has said that he will drive his No. 8 Chevrolet in Sunday’s Dura-Lube 400 at North Carolina Speedway because “that’s what my dad would have wanted me to do.” Little E finished second last Sunday at Daytona.

Bill France, president of NASCAR, and the France family led a contingent of 75 from the sanctioning body headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Employees of Dale Earnhardt Inc. came in buses from Mooresville, wearing their DEI uniforms. Also bused in from Welcome, near Winston-Salem, were members of Richard Childress Racing, Earnhardt’s team for the last 18 years.

Others attending were representatives of NASCAR tracks, with Greg Penske and Les Richter from California Speedway; members of Sports Marketing Enterprises, an arm of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and sponsors of Winston Cup racing; and the national media. City and state officials had braced for a circus-like atmosphere and had widely publicized that the service was invitational only. That, biting cold weather and the fact that the service was televised, kept the crowd surprisingly small. Snow was falling a short distance to the north, discouraging some from making the trip.

Earnhardt’s family had requested a very private ceremony. Only one photographer was permitted inside the church and only one TV outlet, Fox, was allowed to film proceedings. Drivers and special guests were ushered in and out of the church under heavy security.

Impromptu memorial services were being held around the Charlotte area and at NASCAR tracks all over the country. Citizens of Mooresville, Earnhardt’s hometown, mourned at a makeshift shrine in front of his shop. In Kannapolis, where he was born and grew up, a service is planned for Sunday night.

At North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, flowers, balloons and scrawled messages were left around “The Rock,” a large chunk of granite that stands at the entrance to the track.

Because an overflow crowd had been anticipated, the church doors opened at 10 a.m., two hours before the services. John Leon Lewis, the church minister of music, entertained early arrivals on the organ, one of the largest in the world, while pianist Chris Walters played a medley of Earnhardt favorites during the ceremony.

Ordinary fans did have their moment. A large “3” made from carnations was the centerpiece of the flower-bedecked stage. It was sent by Willard and Barbara Horton, Teresa Horton and Charles Day, all of Gray, Tenn., who said they were simply admirers of Earnhardt from afar.

It will be back to business today as team haulers unload at the Rockingham track for Sunday’s race. Qualifying is Saturday.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Safety Issues Concern ACSM

In the aftermath of the death of Dale Earnhardt, the American College of Sports Medicine called on NASCAR to create a task force to examine safety issues in stock car racing.

ACSM, based in Indianapolis, wants the task force made up of drivers, physicians, NASCAR administrators, fans, sponsors and car owners.

Dr. Robert Cantu, a past president of ACSM, calls the head and neck support (HANS) collar the best technology available for the injuries caused by frontal impact.

*

TV COLUMN

Fox had two cameras in Dale Earnhardt’s car, but not one pointed at the driver during fatal crash. D6