He was a favorite to win on Sunday. His tenacity was obvious early in the race as he made stellar, white-knuckle passes along the apron in his march to the front. Cars from the shops of Dale Earnhardt Incorporated were fighting in the top ten all day, and Dale ran hard with his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Mike Skinner. How ironic it was, then, to watch Michael Waltrip take the win with Dale Jr. in close pursuit at the same moment that Dale Sr. was sliding toward the infield after hitting the wall and colliding with Ken Schrader's Pontiac. The scene in victory lane, when Waltrip was told of Earnhardt's fate, reminded me of a similar victory lane situation at Talladega in 1975, when race winner Buddy Baker was informed that his friend Tiny Lund had been killed earlier in the afternoon.
Victory looks small when compared to the heartache that comes with such painful news.
This is the kind of heartache that we all suffer, no matter how deeply we may have been involved. Adding to the irony and heartache of Sunday afternoon was the fact that Stevie Waltrip, wife of Darrell Waltrip, gave Dale Earnhardt the customary piece of scripture she always made sure he had in his car before running an event. She handed him a small piece of paper on which was written a verse from Proverbs 18. By Sunday evening, after all was said and done, Dale Earnhardt was safe. How tragically and painfully ironic.