Even if you are mystified by the allure of stock car racing, it is impossible to dismiss the death of Dale Earnhardt as that of just another redneck who chose to court death every second of his working career by piloting an automobile at 180 miles an hour. Earnhardt was different.
Death is a part of automobile racing, indeed, an inherent component of the automobile experience.
Fellow racers and fans have their time of grief and then it's time, once again, to pull on the helmet and go racing. But when they die, the millions they leave behind are left searching. There is a degree of fatalism at the heart of the South. I speak from experience, having done my time in garages and trackside. Earnhardt spoke to that and in this time of cultural erosion, that is why he struck the chord he did.