Click Here To Find Cool Nascar Items!

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR Crashes, FanHouse Exclusive, NASCAR

EDITOR'S NOTE: Ten years ago on Feb. 18, we lost Dale Earnhardt. NASCAR President Mike Helton used those very words that day - "we lost Dale Earnhardt" - in making the announcement that shocked and saddened people like no other death in American motorsports. It was a national tragedy - Earnhardt's photo appeared on the covers of Time and Newsweek - and it reflected the fact that during his amazing career, the sport had grown from its regional roots into a major national sport, in good measure because of his exploits.

Starting today and continuing for seven days, FanHouse is proud to present a series entitled Ten Years After - The Untold Stories. Most of these stories about that fateful day or about Earnhardt's career have either never been told or are recalled in greater detail than ever before. In this story, FanHouse's Senior Motorsports Writer Holly Cain recalls that fateful day.

Peering through binoculars from a seat in the Daytona International Speedway press box -- seven stories above the famous track's finish line -- I watched driver Ken Schrader climb from his wrecked car and run a few feet over to Dale Earnhardt's crumpled Chevy at the conclusion of the 2001 Daytona 500.

It was the final lap, and their cars had collided and hit the turn 4 wall before coming to rest on the infield grass.

Schrader's urgent gestures to the safety crew and then his body language -- turning away from the wreckage -- was unusual for the normally controlled veteran.

I vividly remember the sickening feeling as I realized that Dale Earnhardt might be seriously injured.

I will never forget watching a then 26-year old Dale Earnhardt Jr. running down pit lane towards his dad's car a good half-mile away. The pure joy he experienced five minutes earlier as the runner-up finisher in the Daytona 500 -- his career best -- was replaced with anxiety and fear.

Once the rescue workers arrived at Earnhardt's famous black No. 3 and assessed the situation, it felt as if everyone was moving too slowly. The ambulance -- headed to the hospital just across the street -- left the scene -- and wasn't rushed. The wrecker was in no hurry.

Then, the telltale sign: track workers unrolled a large tarp. After a decade of covering the sport, I knew the tarp was used to cover and cloak race cars in fatal accidents.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Click Here To Find Cool Nascar Items!

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, NASCAR Crashes, Sprint Cup, Richard Childress Racing, NASCAR

In 10 days it will be the 10th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s death.

The Intimidator was struck down on the final lap at the 2001 Daytona 500 when his car slammed into the wall at turn four. After nearly three decades of racing, the impact didn't look that serious compared to some of his past wrecks. But, as Earnhardt well knew, angles matter, inches matter, milliseconds matter. And Earnhardt's wreck hit the wall at the precise angle at the precise inch and at the precise millisecond that was most disastrous. One-hundred and sixty miles an hour, life to death in an instant. The impact of Earnhardt's crash fractured the base of his skull and left all of NASCAR in mourning.

Now, 10 years after his death, it's easier to consider Earnhardt's own legacy in racing. And that legacy is undisputed, Dale Earnhardt is the greatest race car driver in the history of the sport. We can run down a roster of accomplishments -- his seven championships, tied for the most all-time -- his 76 racing wins in 677 races, and his legacy that continues to this day through his son, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who owes much of his popularity to a latent love affair of racing fans to his daddy. But what stands out the most is this fact, Earnhardt brought racing to the masses.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Click Here To Find Cool Nascar Items!

Filed under: Nationwide Series, Danica Patrick

The second stop on NASCAR's "Danica Live Tour" is at Auto Club Speedway of California this weekend and really, is there any more appropriate setting than the land of red carpets and bright spotlights for Danica Patrick to meet her next racing challenge?

In a place that rewards fame as much as substance, Patrick is intent on having both.

She, more than anyone else in American racing, is thriving on this masterfully mixed potion of sports and celebrity.

Patrick's racing talents -- she is the first woman to win an IndyCar race -- and magazine-cover looks and personality have give her a world of opportunities away from the track. Her off-track pursuits and exposure have created a demand and financial support for her behind the wheel.

And she makes no apologies for that. Nor should she.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Click Here To Find Cool Nascar Items!

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, Chevrolet, Daytona Int'l Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It's too early to be too excited Junior Nation, but a front row starting spot in the Daytona 500 could go a long way toward setting Dale Earnhardt Jr. back on the right course.

He'll start alongside his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin, who on Saturday won the pole position for the Feb. 14 Daytona 500. Martin's No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet turned a lap of 191.188 mph around the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway -- just edging Earnhardt's lap of 190.913 mph in the No. 88 Amp Energy Chevrolet.

Martin's lap is the fastest since Jeff Gordon posted a 195.067 mph speed in winning the 1999 Daytona 500 pole. Twelve drivers topped the 190-mph mark. Dale Jarrett's 2000 pole-winning speed was the last time any driver had gone 190 mph in qualifying.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Click Here To Find Cool Nascar Items!

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Chase for the Sprint Cup, IRL, Danica Patrick

Unlike some so-so motorsports seasons earlier in the decade, 2009 was abundant with major story lines and compelling plots. Lackluster it was not.

For as much excellence behind the wheel -- Jimmie Johnson, Tony Schumacher, Mark Martin -- there was equally as much drama off the race track -- Kyle Busch smashing trophies, Danica Patrick's "would-she? wouldn't-she?" NASCAR foray, Tony George's Indianapolis ouster and then the great Michael Schumacher punctuating the year with his comeback announcement.

Here are FanHouse's selections for the top-10 motorsports stories of 2009:

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Click Here To Find Cool Nascar Items!

Filed under: Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR Sponsors, Nationwide Series, Other Racing Series, IRL, Danica Patrick

Why shouldn't she?

That's the conclusion I've come to after months of ad nauseam speculation and story-chasing over the racing future of Danica Patrick.

Why not give stock cars a try? She's got the financial backing of a high-profile sponsor in GoDaddy.com and the race support of one of the top teams, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports and its umbrella Hendrick Motorports operation.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Click Here To Find Cool Nascar Items!

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Nationwide Series

Conceding that it was the "worst kept secret" in racing, IndyCar star Danica Patrick formally announced plans Tuesday afternoon to run a limited stock car schedule in 2010 for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports team beginning with the Feb. 6 ARCA Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

Patrick will run a part-time Nationwide Series schedule in the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, primarily focusing on events before and after her fulltime IZOD IndyCar Series schedule, which begins in March and ends in October.

Patrick made the announcement with GoDaddy.com Chairman Bob Parsons and JR Motorsports' new part-owner Kelley Earnhardt Elledge. Earnhardt Jr. said last week during NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series Champions Week that he had purposely stayed away from all negotiations and details of the Patrick deal, instead leaving that to his sister.

"As a female team owner, I know we're going to have a lot of fun and rock the world,'' Elledge said.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Click Here To Find Cool Nascar Items!

by Holly Cain

Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

CONCORD, N.C. -- Sounding at times deflated and exasperated, Dale Earnhardt Jr. told reporters Friday at Lowe's Motor Speedway that he's just as perplexed by the disappointing performance of his team as the rising tide of critics and doubters.

Most frustrating, he said, is that he doesn't have the quick answers to turning things around.

Earnhardt used Thursday night's qualifying session as a microcosm of his 2009 season. After posting a top-15 speed during practice in his No. 88 Amp Energy-Chevrolet, he managed only the 39th fastest lap in qualifying.

"All the other cars qualified fine and backed their times up in practice and we didn't even get close,'' a mostly subdued Earnhardt said. "We looked ridiculous last night.

"It's like really encouraging one day and the next day it's equally discouraging and that gets really old. I'm about to the end of my rope on it.''

Dale Jr. Near 'The End of My Rope' originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Click Here To Find Cool Nascar Items!

by FanHouse Newswire

Filed under: Mark Martin, Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports

BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) -- The most surprised person to find Mark Martin in Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway was the driver himself.

The 50-year-old NASCAR star has run well but has had to deal with considerable bad luck this season. It looked like more of the same Sunday when the battery in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet began to fail before the halfway mark in the LifeLock 400 Sprint Cup race.

Martin turned off everything in the car that he could, nursing it as best he could. Then he realized the race was going to be a fuel economy run.

Mark Martin Wins LifeLock 400 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments