20 replies to this topic

[wembi]

I know that Dale Earnhardt was a Nascar driver, but his loss is not only a personnal one to me, but a the entire motor racing community has loss a GREAT driver! F1 might have never seen Dale Sr. race in a Ferrari or Williams, But Dale E. Sr. was a BIG F1 fan, which is one of the reasons why I liked him so much and followed his career in Nascar for more than 10 years now.

On May 1, 1994 when Ayrton Senna died, Dale Earnhardt was racing later that day. He went on to win the event and afterwards in the press room, he immediately dedicated his victory to the memory of the great Brazilian champion, in front of a room full of Nascar fans and media people who could have cared less about F1 or its champion. But Earnhardt Senior cared and felt the loss , just as bad as F1 fans did. He also sent a note and flowers to Senna's family in Brazil.

I remember when Nigel Mansell came over to Cart and everyone in the American media unfamiliar with F1 labelled him a " rookie", Dale E. Sr. was the only Nascar champion who told anyone who wanted to listen that Mansell was going to crush the CART competition and that he was not true "rookie". Subsequently, Dale became a very close and good supporter of Nige during his States visit.

At the end of each racing season, Dale would make the trip to England to visit and celebrate with the big guns of F1 and European racing.

Dale loved Nascar and was truly one of the fiercest competitors on the track. But off of it, he was a man filled with a GREAT sense of humor and a tremendous sense of generosity. Sunday as he was going into the final lap, he must have felt happy to know that his son and his adoptive brother were clear of the attack from the rest of the pack. He could have gone for the win himself, but instead, he did an unselfish act for a driver known as "the Intimidator"...he gave Michael Waltrip his first ever win in Winston Cup racing.

Although I am saddened by Dale's loss, I am comforted at the thought that Dale won 7 championships, but best of all, after 19 tries, he finally won the Daytona 500 in 1998...I wacthed him celebrate his win back then and I was and am still happy that he got to experience something he wanted more than anything in his racing career...winning the Daytona 500.

Love you always # 3 and thank you for the great memories!

Go join the great ones like Senna and Villeneuve as well as your great buddy Neil Bonet and your father.

Thank you, Dale..Thank you :-(

Wembi

[Jackie]

And thank you Wembi, for telling us more about him. I didn't know about what he did after Senna's death.

Truly a tragedy.

[Mario]

I'm new to NASCAR. Started watching last year with greater interest. It was amazing to see Dale charge from way back. He was a fiery competitor and I really enjoyed watching him race in the 24 hours of Daytona couple weeks back. This is a terrible loss to the racing community.

RIP Dale, you will be missed

[Pikachu Racing]

Earhardt and Senna......both of them were my favorite all-time drivers. Just like how Senna was to F1 is like how Earnhardt is to NASCAR. I cheered and liked both of them. Just like how I reacted to Senna was the same how I reacted to Earnhardt. I thought the news report of both of them dying was a joke. It finally hit me later once it's been confirmed through several sources. Both drivers to me, was like GOD. They were unbeatable and nothing awful could happen to them. Senna was in the eyes was GOD in Formula 1 to the drivers breaking in and the fans. Same goes for Earnhardt who was also seen in the eyes as GOD in NASCAR to drivers and the fans. Sad, sad day in racing.

RIP Dale Earnhardt

[Brent]

Thank's Wembi.

Sad day.

[markzed]

Not being an big follower of NASCAR, I didn't know much about the man. I never particularly liked Senna either, but it is still deeply saddening when drivers lose their life.
The risks are there everyday, especially in F1/NASCAR.

[NYR2119935]

[westendorf]

Sad day indeed. Race fans here should know and appreciate that Dale E. was a F1 and Senna fan. Thanks Wembi. GFW
PS I just read that he died of head injuries, I'm wondering if a full coverage helmet would have helped? For some strange reason Earnhardt always wore that open faced helmet. Even stranger Nascar let him!

[Pete Stanley]

Could a full-face helmet have helped? It couldn't have hurt, that's for sure.

[Jonathan]

Originally posted by westendorf
I just read that he died of head injuries, I'm wondering if a full coverage helmet would have helped? For some strange reason Earnhardt always wore that open faced helmet. Even stranger Nascar let him!

No. A full coverage helmet would not have helped. What would have helped is a HANS device. Basically Dale, (like Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin before him), was subjected to extreme de-accelleration, and died instantly do to injuries at the base of his skull. The extra weight of a full coverage helmet if anything would have reduced his chances of survival.

[markzed]

HANS? - please explain what this acronym is.
I guess it's a head restraint system....

[Pete Stanley]

I'm a bit torn. I don't want to get into a debate about this until some time has passed, but it's still important.

The main benefit of a full-face helmet is NOT the additional protection it gives to the face. The best feature is that it does not allow the chin to come all the way down to the chest. That means the momentum of the head is halted sooner, and the pressure on the base of the skull is much less than it could be.

I think a full-face helmet would have helped, and a HANS would have saved him.

[Mike Argetsinger]

Dale Earnhardt was a classy guy. I never met him, so I had no reason to know that about him until the day that Ayrton Senna died. Later that same day Earnhardt won the Talladega 500 - in victory lane the microphone was thrust into his face as he crawled out of his car and the usual questions about his race were asked. Before he said anything else he said something along the following (I paraphrase from memory)- "Before I say anything else I want to pay tribute to the greatest driver in the world - Ayrton Senna - who died today -we should all mourn his loss." Not a direct quote but something very similiar. Remember - he had just won a very, very big race and this was live in front of 200,000 or whatever fans plus a huge national TV audience - and these were the first words out of his mouth. I was very impressed. He was the "real deal", and tonight I mourn our loss of this incredible man.

I posted the above paragraph earlier this evening on the Nostalgia Forum. Later I found this thread and was happy to see that someone else (wembi) had also remembered this incident. I must confess that I first began to closely follow Dale Earnhardt's career the day I heard him make those remarks. The sentiment was obviously heart felt and revealed a side of the man that I had not known existed. After that, on more than one occasion I heard him say how much he respected F-1 racing and the skill required to drive single seater cars.

I also remember seeing him pull off one of the most remarkable feats I have ever seen in racing. The week before the Winston Cup race at Watkins Glen (without looking it up I am going to say it was 1997 - I'm not sure)he had a very big crash and his injuries included broken ribs and a broken sternum. The word was that he would skip qualifying (he could get in the field by taking a provisional) and then start the race and hand over to a relief driver on the first yellow (he would still get whatever points the car scored). Well, he not only qualified the car but he put it on the pole. Watching his qualifying lap he was visually much faster than anyone else who had gone out but I couldn't figure out if he was really fast or just very ragged from his injuries. It didn't take long to find out that he was purely fast. So the word was that - well, he could do that for one lap but he won't last long in the race with those injuries. Sure enough there was a full course caution on the 3rd or 4th lap and the relief driver was poised on the pit counter and all the TV experts were predicting his stop. He never did though and, in fact, I believe he led the first 65 laps or so. He drove the whole race and ultimately finished 6th. Now I know it's often said these days that there's nothing heroic about being a race car driver - but as someone who has been racing now for 36 years and (understands a little about the physical difficulties involved even on a good day!) I will tell you that Dale Earnhardt was a hero to me that day.

I join the others on this and other threads in extending my condolences to his family who must be heart broken. We have lost a great man and our sport is forever poorer for his passing.

[_Hink]

Originally posted by markzed
HANS? - please explain what this acronym is.
I guess it's a head restraint system....

The acronym stands for Head And Neck Safety. It's a restraint system which the driver wears before getting into the car. It looks a lot like a big collar.

[luskiiimj]

First, the emergency doctor said it (the HANS) would probably not have helped. I don't know that I agree. He probably died because his head snapped forward and hyperextended his neck causing the instant, fatal injury. I would guess that a properly developed HANS system. I suppose it is fully developed and therefore should have been mandated to NASCAR. I also feel that F1 should use/mandate the system. Earnhardt's age could not have aided him, but the more likely cause was the quickness of the accident. He was still fighting to regain control of the car when he hit the wall. There was no time to brace for impact.
I can't think about it anymore. sorry.

[911]

For those of you who want to see what the HANS device looks like, here's a link:

http://www.hansdevice.com/

911

[senninha]

Originally posted by Jackie
And thank you Wembi, for telling us more about him. I didn't know about what he did after Senna's death.

Truly a tragedy.

Me, too.

Racings are sometimes so unfair ...

[The RedBaron]

Not that I was ever a regular NASCAR viewer, but Dale was my favourite driver...I guess it was his nickname that first attracted me to him -The "Intimidator". I then started reading his racing history....this guy was truly immense and on a par to A.Senna within NASCAR racing world.

RIP

[Pacific]

HANS couldn't have hurt.

Dale loved all racing though. Many of the F1 drivers do and you can tell when you here them talk how much they respect the F1 drivers. I've heard it from Dale, Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Dale Jarrett, Johnny Benson...I think any serious NASCAR driver is aware of the supreme abilities F1 drivers have. Dale was not alone in his admiration of Ayrton and the other F1 drivers in the NASCAR community.

[westendorf]

Jonathan, when I heard of DE's death all I had to that point was that he had expired from head injuries. About 3-4 years ago I was part of a seminar and gave a talk of how physical fitness effects race car drivers. During another part of the seminar the inventor of the HANS device presented his head and neck thing. I believe he is from Lansing Michigan, there may be another guy that collaborated with him. GFW

[Pacific]

Derrike Cope also made the point how Dale probably didn't have time to get ready. What Derrike meant was that, for instance, if your one of the cars that get involved in those 20 car incidents, often times, you have the chance to hunker down and take that "death grip" on the steering wheel. Your whole body tenses up...I've noticed this in hockey, the worst hit I ever took was one that I didn't see my opponent get me because I happened to be looking across/up the ice. He was in my blind-spot and I got nailed...Usually, you see your opponent coming and you "get ready" for the hit.

So...I don't know. Still mad with NASCAR in a lot of ways, but this is my throttled-back thread. But Derrike is a highly experienced F1 driver and he had good points when I saw him on TV. Scott Pruett was also interesting to listen to and watch. (Scott has a wide variety of experience, so...)