Dale Earnhardt Plus Ten

Here's the end of the race plus a little post-race...
((HT: NASCAR on FOX/youtube))


You've seen all of these over the remainder of SpeedWeeks, so it's time for all of us...

Strangely enough, I was in Birmingham with two shooters doing a February sweeps piece on the XFL. We were set on doing four parts on the new league and its viability as a piece of entertainment for football fans. We were heading home when the sports talk station in town had turned their airwaves over to fans and phone calls.

We had no idea that Daytona had happened the way it did until that moment...

I called FOSG Mark Harmon and the assignment desk and wanted to know what the plan was...

The three of us suggested driving past Talladega and grabbing some people talking about the events in Daytona and their thoughts on Number 3. There was the standard outpouring of emotion and you had the laying down of flowers, but there was one guy who had taken his young son- he couldn't have been anymore than three or four.

They played to the camera perfectly: "Say, goodbye to Dale, son..."

The son kissed his hand and placed it on the #3 logo that was on a piece of paper at the SuperSpeedway entrance.
You race home. You have a lead story with a different perspective than everyone else...

It was one of those "remember when" moments... you know exactly where you are...
And you don't forget...
Ever...

Here's a piece ESPN put together with all the important people of that day...


In subsequent weeks, one of the first stories we did was with the man who created the HANS device- Jim Downing. I made a point to have the helmet and HANS put on me as part of the piece to explain its benefit to the driver.

And in some very sad way, that is probably the longest-lasting legacy of Dale Earnhardt. No one adjusts their five-point harnesses so they fit more comfortably. No one wears open-faced helmets in NASCAR events anymore. And safety devices for head and neck restraints are mandatory in stock cars.

It's these kinds of lessons that are the hardest, sometimes, to learn...