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Announcer's
The 7 Time Winston Cup Champion, Car 3, Dale Earnhardt.
And Dale Earnhardt is going to win the Daytona 500.
News Correspondent's
Dale Earnhardt was stock car racings Intimidator. It wasn't just a name; it was a 200mph way of life.
Dale Earnhardt Senior was 49 years old.
He has 76 career victories, 34 of them coming on that very track in Daytona Florida.
The
compass of this sport has lost it's true North. Dale Earnhardt defined the limits of on-track behaviour, and every time he pushed that limit, the limit moved with him. He set the standards, and the goals, for every driver who followed.
Dale Earnhardt was the legend of our sport. He was NASCAR. It will be different.
This is losing a superstar of the highest magnitude. You don't replace a Dale Earnhardt.
If Dale Earnhardt could have chosen how he wanted to die, I do
believe he would have chosen, at the throttle, the Last Lap, Daytona.
It will be a long time before fans go to a race and don't think about Dale Earnhardt not being in a race.
Dale Earnhardt looking forward to this Daytona 500 as much as any driver.
Before he knew of the tragedy, Michael Waltrip said he could have never won without Dale Earnhardt.
Dale Earnhardt was probably the best talent to ever sit behind the stock car racing wheel and he think he will be sorely missed by everyone.
It was the way he lived, it was the way he died, at full throttle on the final turn of the final lap of a race won by a driver of car Earnhardt owned, with his namesake right behind.
At 17:16, his wife was there at his bedside
Whatever stock car racing is, Dale Earnhardt was. He was the guy that came along in 1979 and became rookie of the year in Winston Cup racing and one year later, was the Winston Cup National Champion. And through it all, he seemed quite. He became the Intimidator, one who didn't have much to say, but he did it with his deeds on the race track. His wife Teresa changed a lot of that. He became much easier with the media, until 1994 on this very track, just a few
hundred feet from where he died today, his best friend in this world, Neil Bonnett, lost his life in a very similar type of crash. It seemed as if he went into a dark period for a bit. And then he's come out of it. 1999, nearly won the 500, it was right there, and then one year later, we saw him in victory lane. 20 years of effort in winning the race that meant the most to him, and there he was, up on top of the world. Now we come to this point in his career; going down the backstretch in the final lap. Out in front, Michael Waltrip in one of his cars. His son is running in second place. And as they went into that turn and he saw what was coming about, I would consider that Dale Earnhardt died happy.
Our top story this hour: Dale Earnhardt, one of racing's most popular drivers has died from head injuries suffered in a crash during the final lap of the Daytona 500. The flags at Daytona International Speedway have been lowered to half staff memorializing the death of Dale Earnhardt. He leaves behind a wife and four children.
NASCAR Statement
This is undoubtedly one of the toughest announcements I have ever personally had to make, ahhh but after the accident in turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500, we've lost Dale Earnhardt. Our prayers and our wishes and out effort right now, at this moment is with Teresa and the Earnhardt Family. NASCAR has lost its greatest driver ever.
Jr. Speaks
We are deeply saddened by the loss. And, um, appreciate everybody thought,
everybody's thoughts and prayers and we'll get through this. And um, I'm sure he would want us to keep going, so that's what we're going to do.
My dad was tough. Nothing ever got in his way. He pushed everything to the limit. I know he would want us to push on.
Radio Chatter
I got out of the ambulance and asked this guy inside the car as he was hooking it up, I said "See if it will Crank" - 97 Daytona 500.
I could run faster than Stewart could when I was in front, I thought.
I hope you got it tight this time.
Y'all see anything, I don't feel it now.
Okay champ, one more time. White flag, you da man. Watch your mirror, clear all around you, clear. Come on, bring it on home champ, come on home Champ. You da man, you got them on their feet now, you got them on their feet. Come on Champ, You da man. Great job guys, good job. Hey Dale, you done it buddy, you got that monkey off your back buddy. Yeah, it works with me buddy, works for me big time. Congratulations Dale, that's they way to do it buddy. Way to go three crew, Good job. Thanks you guys. You are the Man.
Thank you, proud of all the guys that done it.
Thank you guys, You are the Man (Echo).
Dale Speaks
What makes the Monte Carlo so good. Heh, Me!
I'm a race car driver. When you drive a black car and you're, you're
aggressive, and, you, you know, maybe some, some are intimidated, maybe some aren't. I wanna race. I mean the faster you go, the racier it gets; I'm, I'm comfortable with that. I'm a lucky person; I've got a great wife, got great family, got great kids. I'm fortunate to have a lot of things and enjoy a lot of things probably a lot of people don't have or will never have. But, ah don't, it really doesn't matter what you have, as long as got happiness, and family, and, and
friends and church. Uh, and enjoy it and take advantage of that happiness. Don't let it slip away, don't let it go by you, and then one day you're gone.
I can remember going to the races with my day when I was 10-12 years old, and, uh, that was what you was involved in. I really didn't play that much sports in school. I was always eager to get home, and see what was going on at the shop and wait, couldn't wait to get to the next race
I hear drivers talk about we're going too fast and we're doing this and we're doing that. Well maybe are, maybe we're not. Whose to say, how do you put a gauge on that. Do you wanna race or don't you. I wanna race.
Anything you can have or do to, to be competitive more than the other guy, to beat them, is, is a part of your, you know, your plan to beat them, or your system to beat them. If you intimidate them and they call you the intimidator, then so be it.
Guy's we're racing. We've got very safe race cars and we know that risk level when we get in the car. I use the best safety equipment I possibly can. We know the risk, and, but we're racing; there is a danger level.
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