It ends with the late Dale Earnhardt asking, "Are there really any heroes?"Not anymore.
So much of CMT's documentary, "Dale," is well put together -- wrapping 2 of Earnhardt's passions around the entire film. On one hand it's his obsession with the Daytona 500, the race it took him 20 times to win. On the other, it's his farm and his fishing pond.
But more than anything about Earnhardt's stunning and interesting life and racing career -- and there is so much about it that draws emotions from family, friends and fans -- it's something that NASCAR president Mike Helton says that truly speaks to Earnhardt and everything he meant to stock-car racing.
Helton says that, in Earnhardt's 2001 death, NASCAR was faced with its biggest obstacle in
trying to move forward.
It's an obstacle that NASCAR never cleared.
Even after 6 years, NASCAR still hasn't found its own identity. Think about it. The racing is more boring, the racers are more vanilla and the television coverage is more unbearable than it ever was before.
Earnhardt would have scoffed at the idea of points racing, the philosophy that dominates every single Nextel Cup race.
"It pays more to win."
Earnhardt didn't make friends, didn't care about anything other than competitors, didn't care about the toeing the party line.
He was "The Intimidator."
Earnhardt didn't need floating graphics, color-coded field rundowns or in-car cameras and split-screens.
He was the show.
If Tony Stewart drops an "S"-bomb in victory lane, we're awash it talk about fines and points penalties. If Matt Kenseth gives Jeff Gordon a little bump-and-run at Bristol, we're squaring off on pit road. If Kevin Harvick and Juan Pablo Montoya aren't getting along, we've got nothing but satellite radio soundbites.
Gone are the days where a guy like Earnhardt would just take care of all of that stuff himself -- right out there on the track, his own Car No. 3 police force.
"Dale" doesn't make me like or dislike Earnhardt any more or less than I did before. I appreciate some of the difficult decisions he had to make, but there's not a whole lot of new ground that's broken. It's more like a good family photo album -- plenty of memories but not a lot of ol' Uncle Earl downing a fifth of Jim Beam in the basement out of everyone's eyesight.
Given that the documentary had both NASCAR's and Teresa Earnhardt's blessing, that was obvious going in.
But, again, what's more obvious than ever is that NASCAR has never been able to replicate what Earnhardt gave the sport. It never will.
10 comments:
Travis,
The documentary was well done. Your commentary is even better. I'm sure Dale has been lying face-down in his grave for a while now.
Kalle O.
I don't think you have a clue.
Of course it was a family album. It was the true picture of the man instead of the fiction that ESPN created with "3". I saw it in the theatre and I watched it last night and I will buy the DVD. Another piece to add to my Earnhardt collection. Teresa and Richard did an awesome job. Your first statement is very correct. There are no more heroes.
I worked with DEI on the retail end, and you are so right.. NASCAR has not recovered.. Dale could hold many things together, just because he understood the value of doing it right.. as has been shown by the parting of many things, that made up DEI/NASCAR.. aka.. Steve Park/Micheal Waltrip/Dale Jr/Good Racing/Old School Drivers/Rubbing is Racing
Great article T, it made the news links on Jayski......
In reality it is us,the old die hard Nascar and Earnhardt fans that have not recovered.The fans today do not no the old Nascar from the new Nascar.Those of us that grew up with the old Nascar will never be satisfied with the way things are today.
There are still many hero's in Nascar,old school no,but there are thousands of kids that are fans that watch there hero Dale Jr and Jeff Gordon race every Sunday.
Has Nascar recovered from # 3?
Yes they have,with a whole new generation of race fans.
For us old Earnhardt fans,our hero is gone and will never be replaced.Going to the races has never been the same and never will be,never.
For my kids they have a new hero,Dale Jr.They love watching him as much as I loved watching his dad.To them Dale Jr is as big as life,just as his Dad was to me.
Hero's come and go in the real world.In the heart they live forever.
Tim Robinson
Well said Travis.
Dale Sr. was, is and always will be NASCAR to me. I still expect to see him on the track to this day. My one big regret is that I never got to see him win when I was there .
A fan forever
Dale Earnhardt was not a hero, he was Jack Tatum surrounded by racecar armor. I've never understood the ridiculous adoration for him in the years since his death, as though a mass of people feel they must pay permanent obeisance to him out of guilt.
He wasn't "the show," he was just part of the the show. His death is not why the racing is worse now than it's ever been - although it semi-directly led to the abolition of the one aerodynamic package (the rook wicker and big rear spoiler) that has actually improved the racing; bullying by Sterling Marlin and others after the Autumn 500 in 2001 led NASCAR to abort the package, though they brought it back for the Busch Series.
The reason the racing is worse now is not because Earnhardt is gone, it's because they're not using that wicker package, it's because NASCAR has not cracked down and forced the contraction of the money guy multicar teams, and it's because the points structure refuses to reward winning and leading - BTW, Earnhardt may have talked tough about not points racing, but the fact is he stroked it as much as anyone for points - he won his last three titles by stroking for the majority of those three seasons.
As for drivers being vanilla, what the heck is wrong with being ordinary? We don't need flash or style, because we have too much of it now - we have idiots like Michael Waltrip and Kenny Wallace acting like clowns, we have these stupid burnout victory laps instead of simple, unshowy laps, and we have drivers straining to not be "vanilla." They need to grow up, because there's nothing wrong with vanilla.
Earnhardt was not the police force, he was part of the crooks. The sport shouldn't forget him, but we need to stop mourning him because he didn't deserve all this adulation.
Nobody will ever come close to doing what Dale Earnhardt has done in the days of his racing. He will always be #one as far as I see it. We watch the races every week and cheer for Jr. with a big hand drawing of his Dad on the wall facing the TV and we say he is watching Jr. with us. We will alway love him, as many others will.
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