USA Today - "Dale Remembered" Cover Story
Great article today in USA today and two special covers.
http://usaweekend.com/07_issues/070902/070902earnhardt.html#collectors
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"The Dale Earnhardt I knew"
With Larry McReynolds, Dale Jarrett, Brian Williams, Terry Bradshaw, Humpy Wheeler, Kix Brooks.
He died racing, as he eerily suspected he would. By then, Dale Earnhardt Sr. was his generation's grea-*test*-('") driver. But who was this man? USA WEEKEND Magazine recently spoke with those who knew Earnhardt best -- and some of those whose lives he touched -- to find out more about the still-beloved and much-missed racer.
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Country Music Television will broadcast "Dale," the only authorized documentary on his life, narrated by actor (and racer) Paul Newman, on Tues., Sept. 4 at 8 p.m. ET.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dale Earnhardt Sr. did not compromise a second of his life. Maybe it's because he figured he didn't have much time here on Earth: His dad, also a racer, died of a heart attack at age 45. That family history, coupled with his chosen profession, lent an immediate sense of mortality. Once, he confided to a reporter, a woman asked him to drive her husband's hearse. It was the man's dying wish. Earnhardt declined. "I'll be in one of them things soon enough," he said.
Little more than six years after his death at age 49 on Feb. 18, 2001, while crashing into the Turn 4 wall at Daytona, Earnhardt has a mystique that has only increased with time. He was the Intimidator, capable of inspiring fear in competitors when his black Goodwrench Chevy appeared in their rearview mirrors. He could be notoriously gruff, but in other circumstances, warm-hearted and kind. Twenty years ago, he won the first of his two American Driver of the Year awards. The Daytona 500 next February will mark the 10th anniversary of his first and only victory in NASCAR's most celebrated race.
Larry McReynolds, a Fox NASCAR analyst who served as crew chief for Earnhardt's winat the Daytona 500 in 1998
He could go back and forth with his moods. I gave him lap times on the headset during a race in 1997, and he screamed at me, "Stop giving me those damn lap times! Leave me alone! I'm doing the best I can." Then, a few minutes later, he complained, "Am I all alone here? Are you gonna talk to me?"
It really ate at him that he competed so well at Daytona -- he won every conceivable race you could win there -- and yet he could never win the Daytona 500. In 1998, he had a great car. But after a practice, we needed to do some work with the engine. Someone tells me he decided to go socialize with the fans. I was like, "Well, he's picking a helluva time to be social with fans. We gotta work on this car."
He comes back, and he's absolutely beaming. He met up with a little girl in her wheelchair. She had a very bad disease, and this may have been the last 500 she'd ever see, and all she wanted to do was meet Dale. He spent 15 minutes with her, and she gave him a lucky penny to hold on to for the race. He went looking for some adhesive to glue it to the dashboard of his race car. I helped him with that. Nothing could get him down at that point.
Kids would open up his heart till it got bigger than the moon. The rest, with his victory, is history.
Dale Jarrett, Nextel Cup driver for the No. 44 Toyota UPS team car
Everything you've heard about him was true. He was the ultimate competitor. And it didn't matter if you were both racing for first or for 15th place -- if you were in front of him, he'd try to move you out of the way. Yes, you'd have words with him. It could get heated. But, ultimately, you looked forward to racing against him because you knew you would be racing against the very best, every week.
Off the track, he could be very generous. He'd always come up with a new business venture, like Chase Authentics apparel, and he'd invite me, Rusty Wallace, the Labonte brothers and even Jeff Gordon into the deal. In 1999, when I was contending for the Cup championship, I'd spend time with him after practice or qualifying and take the opportunity to pick his brain. I wanted to know more about how to win this thing. He'd tell me enough to make it worthwhile to ask. But then he'd put on that sly grin of his, and I knew I wasn't going to get anything else out of him. He wasn't going to give everything away.
Then, I won that year. We wanted to bring my family and friends to New York for the awards banquet to show them how much I appreciated their support over the years. But we had to figure out how to get all of them there. Dale ended up loaning me his plane, and we had a great time. A few weeks later, it's late December, and I called him so I could settle up the bill before the end of the year. He said, "I'll send you something in the mail." A few days later, I get an official letter from Dale Earnhardt Inc. It looks like an invoice, with all the details about how many people flew on the plane and the miles flown and all. Then, at the bottom, he wrote: "Congratulations on the championship. Merry Christmas. No charge."
Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News anchor
We were close in the 1990s. I'll always remember his smile more than any glare. He had a warm, crinkly, wry smile. He loved to tease people. I don't think he really bought into the "Intimidator." But he knew the value of that reputation, how to market it. He clearly relished being a successful, self-made businessman. By the end, he was very happy with where he was. He'd tell us, "If I die racing, please understand that I died doing what made me happy."
I was on vacation in 2001 when I saw the accident in Daytona. I immediately left to get back to my office in New York. When I checked my voice mail, I saw he had left a message on the day he died. He just checked in to say hello. He wanted to know if I was coming to Daytona. I'll always keep that message.
Terry Bradshaw, Hall of Fame quarterbackfor the Pittsburgh Steelers
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"I was very moved that someone like him would make such a fuss over my children."
-- Terry Bradshaw
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He nearly gave me a heart attack when he drove me around a track. At one point, he takes his hands off the wheel, turns to me and says, "See? You don't really need to hold the steering wheel. The gravitational forces hold the car down." Now, we're going more than 100 mph! I'm absolutely petrified. He knew he was scaring me out of my wits, and he was having a great time.
Later that week, he made up for it. He saw me with my kids. So he went up to them, grabbed them and gave them a big hug. He told them, "Your daddy is the coolest guy on Earth!" I was very moved that someone like him -- who was bigger than I'll ever be -- would make such a fuss over my children. He could be very kind that way.
Humpy Wheeler, president of Lowe's Motor Speedway
I'd tease him about building his Dale Earnhardt Inc. headquarters. It was some monstrosity in the middle of a pasture. I'd tell him, "You have no idea how much money you've spent on that thing, do you?" He'd say, "No. I've got hundreds of people working on it, and it's a real pain." But I could tell, secretly, that he loved putting it together. I think it just made him feel good to be building something. And those fans of his -- the contractors, the brick masons, the carpenters and machine operators -- they all felt a connection there.
I don't think too many people know how easily it all could have ended for him long before it did. In Talladega in 1996, he had a terrible wreck. For the next couple of years, people thought he was washed up. I asked him once if he was OK. He told me, "I think I still got it in me, Humpy. But it's just been tough lately."
Then, Dale Jr. started winning on the track. This recharged him. Then, he got an operation, and that made him feel stronger again. The night that Dale Jr. won the Winston in 2000 at my track was the night it all came back together for him. That's the hardest race to win because there's a lot of money at stake. So you either drive hard to win, or you don't show up, and if you destroy your car in the process, well, that's what you need to be willing to do. Dale Jr. was a rookie then, and his win just confirmed for his dad how great a future his son had. There he was in the winner's circle with his son, celebrating with all the drivers who offered their congratulations, and he was just giddy with pride. You would never see him like that after a race, ever. Racing with his son in the last years of his life really turned him around, until the very end.
Kix Brooks, of Brooks & Dunn
I met him in the early 1990s, and we got to be good friends. We ended up taking a vacation together on his boat. He had a wicked sense of humor. One time off the coast of El Salvador, I caught a white marlin, and we tagged it and threw it back. Then he starts cleaning the boat. There's blood and other fish stuff on the deck, and he tosses it into the shark-infested water. Then he grabs me and throws me overboard! He tells his boat captain to take off, and I'm left in the ocean, listening to him cackle in the distance.
Great article today in USA today and two special covers.
http://usaweekend.com/07_issues/070902/070902earnhardt.html#collectors
********************************************
"The Dale Earnhardt I knew"
With Larry McReynolds, Dale Jarrett, Brian Williams, Terry Bradshaw, Humpy Wheeler, Kix Brooks.
He died racing, as he eerily suspected he would. By then, Dale Earnhardt Sr. was his generation's grea-*test*-('") driver. But who was this man? USA WEEKEND Magazine recently spoke with those who knew Earnhardt best -- and some of those whose lives he touched -- to find out more about the still-beloved and much-missed racer.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Country Music Television will broadcast "Dale," the only authorized documentary on his life, narrated by actor (and racer) Paul Newman, on Tues., Sept. 4 at 8 p.m. ET.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dale Earnhardt Sr. did not compromise a second of his life. Maybe it's because he figured he didn't have much time here on Earth: His dad, also a racer, died of a heart attack at age 45. That family history, coupled with his chosen profession, lent an immediate sense of mortality. Once, he confided to a reporter, a woman asked him to drive her husband's hearse. It was the man's dying wish. Earnhardt declined. "I'll be in one of them things soon enough," he said.
Little more than six years after his death at age 49 on Feb. 18, 2001, while crashing into the Turn 4 wall at Daytona, Earnhardt has a mystique that has only increased with time. He was the Intimidator, capable of inspiring fear in competitors when his black Goodwrench Chevy appeared in their rearview mirrors. He could be notoriously gruff, but in other circumstances, warm-hearted and kind. Twenty years ago, he won the first of his two American Driver of the Year awards. The Daytona 500 next February will mark the 10th anniversary of his first and only victory in NASCAR's most celebrated race.
Larry McReynolds, a Fox NASCAR analyst who served as crew chief for Earnhardt's winat the Daytona 500 in 1998
He could go back and forth with his moods. I gave him lap times on the headset during a race in 1997, and he screamed at me, "Stop giving me those damn lap times! Leave me alone! I'm doing the best I can." Then, a few minutes later, he complained, "Am I all alone here? Are you gonna talk to me?"
It really ate at him that he competed so well at Daytona -- he won every conceivable race you could win there -- and yet he could never win the Daytona 500. In 1998, he had a great car. But after a practice, we needed to do some work with the engine. Someone tells me he decided to go socialize with the fans. I was like, "Well, he's picking a helluva time to be social with fans. We gotta work on this car."
He comes back, and he's absolutely beaming. He met up with a little girl in her wheelchair. She had a very bad disease, and this may have been the last 500 she'd ever see, and all she wanted to do was meet Dale. He spent 15 minutes with her, and she gave him a lucky penny to hold on to for the race. He went looking for some adhesive to glue it to the dashboard of his race car. I helped him with that. Nothing could get him down at that point.
Kids would open up his heart till it got bigger than the moon. The rest, with his victory, is history.
Dale Jarrett, Nextel Cup driver for the No. 44 Toyota UPS team car
Everything you've heard about him was true. He was the ultimate competitor. And it didn't matter if you were both racing for first or for 15th place -- if you were in front of him, he'd try to move you out of the way. Yes, you'd have words with him. It could get heated. But, ultimately, you looked forward to racing against him because you knew you would be racing against the very best, every week.
Off the track, he could be very generous. He'd always come up with a new business venture, like Chase Authentics apparel, and he'd invite me, Rusty Wallace, the Labonte brothers and even Jeff Gordon into the deal. In 1999, when I was contending for the Cup championship, I'd spend time with him after practice or qualifying and take the opportunity to pick his brain. I wanted to know more about how to win this thing. He'd tell me enough to make it worthwhile to ask. But then he'd put on that sly grin of his, and I knew I wasn't going to get anything else out of him. He wasn't going to give everything away.
Then, I won that year. We wanted to bring my family and friends to New York for the awards banquet to show them how much I appreciated their support over the years. But we had to figure out how to get all of them there. Dale ended up loaning me his plane, and we had a great time. A few weeks later, it's late December, and I called him so I could settle up the bill before the end of the year. He said, "I'll send you something in the mail." A few days later, I get an official letter from Dale Earnhardt Inc. It looks like an invoice, with all the details about how many people flew on the plane and the miles flown and all. Then, at the bottom, he wrote: "Congratulations on the championship. Merry Christmas. No charge."
Brian Williams, NBC Nightly News anchor
We were close in the 1990s. I'll always remember his smile more than any glare. He had a warm, crinkly, wry smile. He loved to tease people. I don't think he really bought into the "Intimidator." But he knew the value of that reputation, how to market it. He clearly relished being a successful, self-made businessman. By the end, he was very happy with where he was. He'd tell us, "If I die racing, please understand that I died doing what made me happy."
I was on vacation in 2001 when I saw the accident in Daytona. I immediately left to get back to my office in New York. When I checked my voice mail, I saw he had left a message on the day he died. He just checked in to say hello. He wanted to know if I was coming to Daytona. I'll always keep that message.
Terry Bradshaw, Hall of Fame quarterbackfor the Pittsburgh Steelers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I was very moved that someone like him would make such a fuss over my children."
-- Terry Bradshaw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He nearly gave me a heart attack when he drove me around a track. At one point, he takes his hands off the wheel, turns to me and says, "See? You don't really need to hold the steering wheel. The gravitational forces hold the car down." Now, we're going more than 100 mph! I'm absolutely petrified. He knew he was scaring me out of my wits, and he was having a great time.
Later that week, he made up for it. He saw me with my kids. So he went up to them, grabbed them and gave them a big hug. He told them, "Your daddy is the coolest guy on Earth!" I was very moved that someone like him -- who was bigger than I'll ever be -- would make such a fuss over my children. He could be very kind that way.
Humpy Wheeler, president of Lowe's Motor Speedway
I'd tease him about building his Dale Earnhardt Inc. headquarters. It was some monstrosity in the middle of a pasture. I'd tell him, "You have no idea how much money you've spent on that thing, do you?" He'd say, "No. I've got hundreds of people working on it, and it's a real pain." But I could tell, secretly, that he loved putting it together. I think it just made him feel good to be building something. And those fans of his -- the contractors, the brick masons, the carpenters and machine operators -- they all felt a connection there.
I don't think too many people know how easily it all could have ended for him long before it did. In Talladega in 1996, he had a terrible wreck. For the next couple of years, people thought he was washed up. I asked him once if he was OK. He told me, "I think I still got it in me, Humpy. But it's just been tough lately."
Then, Dale Jr. started winning on the track. This recharged him. Then, he got an operation, and that made him feel stronger again. The night that Dale Jr. won the Winston in 2000 at my track was the night it all came back together for him. That's the hardest race to win because there's a lot of money at stake. So you either drive hard to win, or you don't show up, and if you destroy your car in the process, well, that's what you need to be willing to do. Dale Jr. was a rookie then, and his win just confirmed for his dad how great a future his son had. There he was in the winner's circle with his son, celebrating with all the drivers who offered their congratulations, and he was just giddy with pride. You would never see him like that after a race, ever. Racing with his son in the last years of his life really turned him around, until the very end.
Kix Brooks, of Brooks & Dunn
I met him in the early 1990s, and we got to be good friends. We ended up taking a vacation together on his boat. He had a wicked sense of humor. One time off the coast of El Salvador, I caught a white marlin, and we tagged it and threw it back. Then he starts cleaning the boat. There's blood and other fish stuff on the deck, and he tosses it into the shark-infested water. Then he grabs me and throws me overboard! He tells his boat captain to take off, and I'm left in the ocean, listening to him cackle in the distance.