I can't believe it is 8 years since the death of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. It seems like yesterday when it happened. As I watched the accident happen, I thought nothing of it as there are always wrecks in NASCAR. But, as soon as I heard how concerned Darell Waltrip was, I knew that it was bad. In no way did I think that he died. It wasn't until later on that a friend called and told me.
I left for a business trip to France for a week the next day and was bummed out. I wanted to stay home and watch all the TV coverage and specials because it was almost as if it were a close friend that had died. A week later and the coverage was still all over the TV. The next year I went to the spring race in Dover and on lap 3, as with all the other tracks, it was a lap of silence with everybody, and I mean everybody, holding up three fingers for the entire lap. It was a very moving and emotional lap that I will never forget. For at least one lap, there were no Gordon fans. No Rusty fans. No LaBonte fans, etc. There were 100,00 plus NASCAR fans all mourning the death of a NASCAR legend and icon.
After the race, my brother and I were walking around and we saw a merchandise trailer for Dale Earnhardt Sr. and people were signing it. I wanted to sign "See ya in racing heaven Dale, Sean". So many people had signed the trailer all I could fit was "See ya in heaven, SG". And I had to squeeze that in.
You will be forever missed Dale. #3
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