Local racing fans mourn
the loss of a 'friend'

Fans of Dale Earnhardt vented their grief Sunday as word of his death in a last-lap Daytona 500 crash became known.

"I feel like I've lost my best friend. I've been his fan more than half my life," said Michelle Moore, a Monroe Circuit Court reporter whose office is adorned with Earnhardt paraphernalia.

When The Intimidator's car slammed into the wall and slid crumpled into the infield on the last turn of the last lap, "I cried," Moore said. "I knew as soon as they took him out."

The wreck didn't look that serious, especially compared to Tony Stewart's earlier in the race. But somehow, she knew - just as she thought Dale's wife Teresa knew before the start of the race that something was going to happen.

Fox TV cameras caught the Earnhardts in a tender kiss, and Moore spotted something in Teresa's expression.

"It was like one of those 'I'm never going to see you again' looks," Moore said.

So when Moore saw driver Kenny Schrader duck a question about what he'd seen, she knew.

"I've been bawling my eyes out ever since," she said. Family members from across the country were calling to console her Sunday night.

Dan Emerick, a Perry-Clear Creek firefighter, said watching such an extreme head-on collision at 180 mph was devastating for him too.

"As a medical responder, I can say the video did not do it justice," Emerick said.

"He most likely suffered third-trauma syndrome. It's the same effect as when a driver hits a tree, but this was at a much higher speed. His organs most likely hit the inner wall of his body when the car struck the wall. He probably had head injuries too. It's high impact, the worst kind of crash you can have."

For Moore, there were a lot of memories. She was at Daytona two weeks ago, when Dale Sr. and Jr. drove in their first Daytona 24 Hour sports car endurance race and finished fourth in a Corvette.

But far more poignantly, she was at Daytona three years ago when Earnhardt finally won the Daytona 500 after 20 years of trying.

"I was one of many standing there crying when he won," she reminisced. "I am so happy I got to see Dale win his only Daytona 500."

Other Bloomington race fans had other memories.

For Helen Whitehorse, the mother-in-law of racing legend Steve Kinser, it was what Earnhardt had done for Kinser when he made a brief try at NASCAR racing in the early 1990s.

"Dale liked Steve when he came over to NASCAR," she said Sunday night. "He tried to help him … He wanted Steve to do well in NASCAR and stay there.

"He feels very bad," she said of the on-the-road Kinser's reaction to Earnhardt's death. "We're really sad, the whole racing community."

Racing fan Pattye Trammell said the bond between fans and drivers is powerful.

"It's family. Everybody's close and everybody takes care of each other," she said.

Carl Zager, a veteran Bloomington schoolteacher and fanatic Earnhardt fan, had other memories - such as of Earnhardt standing on a concrete lamp support along the fence in Gasoline Alley at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway signing autographs for hundreds of fans, and of Earnhardt autographing a photo vest for him at Daytona.

"All of his fans remember the last 23, 24 years," Zager said. "He meant so much to so many people. He meant so much to NASCAR. He was The Man."

But he also thought Earnhardt's end was the way he might have chosen it: At Daytona, running third behind his own two drivers, protecting their lead from challenge coming down to the checkered flag.

"Every time you see Dale Earnhardt, he always had his race face on. He was there to do a job and he had one thing on his mind, which was winning," said 15-year NASCAR fan Bob McWhorter.

"Put yourself in that car and you're watching your two cars finish one-two - and then it all ends. This wasn't a good day, but it was a good day," he said. "He died at Daytona doing what brought us all to stock car racing."

Longtime race fan Jeff Calabrese agreed that tragedies such as this one are a part of the sport.

"You listen to interviews and realize some drivers are superstitious. I heard Earnhardt made the whole crew eat black-eyed peas and ham hocks for luck New Year's Eve," he said.

Even in light of the racing legend's death, he added, "I don't think the sport will change much. They'll miss the driver. They'll miss the competitor. They've lost (four) in the last eight or nine months and haven't slowed the drivers down. They'll keep right on racing." Pedro Sainz, who owns the Coin Shop - where die-cast cars, racing cards, autographs and other types of NASCAR memorabilia are for sale - expects a somber crowd to gather at his store.

"Dale Earnhardt was, by far, one of the top sellers. There are a lot of fans in this town. Everyone will talk about it for quite a while," he said.

"It's hard to say what will really happen. People are stunned, but they also know it's part of the sport. All I can say now is, God bless him and his family."

Reporter Kurt Van der Dussen
can be reached at 331-4372 or
by e-mail at kvd@heraldt.com.

Reporter Stephanie Holmes can
be reached at 331-4370 or by
e-mail at sholmes@heraldt.com.

"My heart is hurting right now. I would rather be any place right this moment than here. It's so painful." -- Michael Waltrip, Daytona 500 race winner

"This is understandably the hardest announcement I've ever had to make. We've lost Dale Earnhardt. -- Mike Helton, NASCAR president

NASCAR has lost its greatest driver ever, and I personally have lost a great friend. -- Bill France Jr., NASCAR chairman

"No matter where it happens or how it happens or even how prepared you think you might be for it, losing somebody close to you hurts. My heart just breaks for Teresa and the family. -- Kyle Petty, a driver whose son, Adam, was killed last year in a

crash during a Busch series practice session in New Hampshire

"Dale Earnhardt was the greatest race car driver that ever lived. He could do things with a race car that no one else could. He had a tremendous impact on NASCAR racing. He's done so much to help the sport get where it is today. It's going to be hard for anyone else to take it there. He leaves a big, big void here that will be very hard to fill. -- Ned Jarrett, broadcaster, former driver and father of driver Dale Jarrett

"I don't know what to say. This is incredible, just incredible. I think everybody is just in shock right now. I didn't see much of what happened. After the race was over, I heard things didn't look very good but, man, Earnhardt. You figure he'll bounce right back. Your first thought is, hey, he'll probably come back next week at Rockingham and beat us all. -- Jeremy Mayfield, driver

"It's just the way this sport is. That's the chances you take. It's unfortunate it happened to him. It just don't seem right. -- Todd Parrott, Dale Jarrett's crew chief

"I feel like somebody kicked me in the chest. I'm stunned. And I'm really sad. -- John Andretti, driver

people around the world, I became a NASCAR fan because I became a Dale Earnhardt fan. Dale was someone I was proud to have my son look up to. We all have our memories we will cherish, memories of excitement, competitiveness and most of all memories of a great man. On behalf of the people of Alabama, I extend my thoughts and prayers to his family and friends. -- Don Siegelman, Alabama governor

"It's always tragic, but this is our main guy. Today when they introduced him, he got the biggest applause there. He's the man, he is NASCAR Winston Cup racing. We haven't had something like this happen. We've got a lot of work to do at the track in the next three weeks (for the March 11 Cracker Barrel 400), but I don't feel like doing anything. I'm just numb. I've lost a great friend. -- Ed Clark, president of Atlanta Motor Speedway

"Like many others, we were fans of Dale Earnhardt - certainly the driver, but especially the man. In spite of our intense rivalry, Dale Earnhardt has been a great friend to us and to all who have helped to make this sport great. Dale Earnhardt transcended NASCAR. His loss will have an effect on racing and its fans worldwide. -- Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology

1975: Made stock car racing debut on May 25, finishing 22nd in the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

1979: Earned first victory on April 1 at Bristol, Tenn; Won Rookie of the Year Award.

1980: Won first Winston Cup Championship, becoming only driver to win Rookie of the Year and season championship back-to-back. 1986: Won five races to take second Winston Cup Championship.

1987: Won 11 races for third Winston Cup Championship, finishing in top five 21 times in 29 races.

1990: Won nine times to take fourth Winston Cup Championship, earning a then-record $3,083,056.

1991: Won four races for fifth Winston Cup Championship.

1993: Won six races to earn sixth Winston Cup Championship.

1994: Won seventh Winston Cup Championship, tying Richard Petty for most career titles. Topped $3-million mark in earnings for third time in five years.

1996: Became third driver to start 500 consecutive Winston Cup races.

1997: Became first driver to reach $30 million in American Motor Sports winnings and first race car driver to appear on box of Wheaties Cereal.

1998: Won first Daytona 500 in 20th career start, breaking a 59-race winless streak overall. Finished eighth in season standings, his 18^th top 10 finish in 20 years.

1999: Won 10th consecutive Twin 125 qualifying race at Daytona.

2000: Won Winston 500 on Oct. 15 at Talladega Superspeedway for final career victory.

2001. Died 18 February and Michael Waldrip and Dale, Jr. finsihed one-two in the Daytona 500, driving two of the three Dale Earnhardt Incorporated (DEI) Monte Carlos.