This weekend marks 5 years since NASCAR’s (arguably) greatest driver (Commenters are arguing the greatest is Petty) was killed in a race accident. But now, the sport is seeing how even Dale’s death has probably saved countless more because the changes his death brought to safety issues on the track.
Through death, Earnhardt gives NASCAR life
Here we are at the five-year anniversary of the race where he died and, strange as it seems, Dale Earnhardt – arguably the greatest driver in NASCAR history – means more to his sport in death than he did in life. If you don’t believe it, just ask: How many others would have died by now if Dale hadn’t?
“It’s bad to see somebody pass away,” Earnhardt contemporary Bill Elliott said as he prepared for Sunday’s 500. “But look at all the good that came from it.”
Sadly and paradoxically, it often takes disaster to make the world a safer place. Two mind-numbing events five years ago provide the depressing proof: When terrorists crashed jets into the World Trade Center, it changed forever the way our nation approached air travel. And Earnhardt’s crashing his car on the final turn of the last lap of the Daytona 500 transformed the way NASCAR Nation approached ground transportation.
Related Links:
FoxSports: Sunday’s Daytona 500 Viewer’s Guide
Elizabeth Arden launching `Daytona 500′ fragrance–for Men
Official NASCAR Site
Am I the only one who remembers that Earnhardt was the badboy of NASCAR, despised by fellow drivers for his reckless driving and disrespect? I know when I last followed the sport closely that was the case. There was a reason his nickname among the fans who LIKED him was “The Intimidator”. His near deification after his death has always puzzled me.
And the greatest NASCAR driver ever was The King, Richard Petty. (Whose father, son and grandson were also NASCAR drivers)
5 Years already? WOW! I was never a Dale fan, but cried like a baby when I heard this. I watched the race and knew something wasn’t right when I saw Jr running to the wreck and then nothing more and the broadcast went off. It’s still a shock. But yes, there has been a lot of good from this man’s death — he is a legend and went home to God doing what he loved.
I don’t mean this in any way to diminish the tragic death of Dale Earnhardt. However, those who consider Dale the greatest driver in NASCAR history have not been following the sport for very long. In fact, the greatest driver in NASCAR history is still alive today. His name is Richard Lee Petty from Level Cross, NC. Back when NASCAR was literally an offshoot of moon shining, and developed as a result of building fast cars to outrun the law in order to distribute illegal whiskey, Richard Petty was the first of the drivers to begin using scientific methods to build automobiles. He is the only driver to win 200 NASCAR events and his famous winged Plymouth is in the Smithsonian in Washington DC. As the cigarette ad used to say, “you’ve come a long way babyâ€. This is to say from moon shiner to multi-million dollar purses, to national sponsorships, to the largest mass audience spectator sport in the world (2nd only to pari-mutuel betting); from a southern “pastime†to a national phenomenon.
Earnhardt has a cult-like following now for two reasons, I think. First, the greatness of a person is always exaggerated after he has died, and even more so if he dies young. Second, people always prefer the more recent to the historical; so naturally, there is a silly debate about whether Earnhardt could be better than Petty. Wait a decade and most NASCAR fans won’t even know who he is, let alone debate whether he was the greatest driver.
Where to start? Well, Mr. Martini…Dale has 7 Championships as does Petty, I don’t think he will be soon forgotten. I will agree that the Petty/Earnhardt argument will go on forever, it really is apples and oranges in a way. When Petty won his 200 races, NASCAR was running between 40 and 50 a year, down to an average of 30 when Dale was driving. Petty ruled the sport when the competition was thin, arguably thin, while Dale drove with more ‘superstars’. Richard Petty is the King, always will be for all he did for the sport, and his talent, but Dale will always be NASCAR for his marketing smarts…are any posting aware that it was Dale that perfected the die-cast marketing that has made millions for the sport, drivers, and team-owners?
Dale was Nascar for those of us that came of age in the eighties while Petty was Nascar for the seventies. I went to my first race in 1978, so I watched them both, Petty on his downhill slide and Dale on his meteoric rise.
Yes, he was “The Intimidator”, but Petty probably wrecked more cars than Dale ever did, they just were not whiners when Petty was wrecking them.
Okay, I’ve ranted, when someone else reaches the 7 Championship mark, maybe we can have this discussion again, until then, the two greatest drivers in NASCAR are Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty, the order is what beer is made for!
I’m not nor was I ever an Earnhardt fan, but I do have tremendous respect for what he did for the sport. He and and Richard Childress put together a team and an enterprise that help bring NASCAR into the modern age. Love him or hate him, he was the Flagship brabd throughout the 80’s and 90’s.
Like Petty, he was able to transcend the confines of the sport and become a cultural icon and an inspiration to millions. Let’s face it, if you weren’t rooting for him on Sundays, you were rooting against him which is just as much fun.
Dale Earnhardt also wasn’t the type of guy to talk about his charitable work, but it is known that he was a very genrous man who gave millions away quietly to those in need.
First of all, I have to comment on the fact that I never in a million years expected a NASCAR related post on this site, I guess you get a surprise every day. Second, I have no opinion on who the greater driver was, Petty or Earnhardt becauseI don’t really care that much, not a big NASCAR fan.
When Dale died a friend of mine, who was heavily into NASCAR, made just one comment “Live by the sword, die by the sword.” Dale died the way he lived, he knew the score.
I never followed NASCAR very closely until recently, but my brother-in-law sure does. He has a room in his house just for Earnhardt memorabilia. Big fan before his death, big fan since.
No one ever claimed that Earnhardt was an angel (he practiced the sport the way good ole boys did back in the dirt track days), but there is no denying that what he meant for NASCAR is similar to what Babe Ruth meant for baseball. He was the perfect guy to promote a sport based on runnin’ and bumpin’ and he did it perfectly.
Modern NASCAR’s popularity owes everything it has to the advances that Earnhardt made in marketing the sport and himself – even in death. I know several people that never watched a race in thier lives, but tuned in out of curiosity following Earnhardt’s death “to see what the fuss was all about” – and got hooked.
When discussing a “legend”, there’s more to the mix than just wins and numbers…it’s the mark they made and the effect they’ve left. In that respect, Dale Earnhardt will remain number one (or two) for a lifetime.
Stonemason,
You have made a fine argument and I concede the point.