The Aftermath
Race fans are a hardy bunch, but none were truly ready to let go of the death of what many called the best stock car driver in the business. Race fans mourned. All week long large flags and signs with the distinctive No.3 showed up everywhere from news shows to the crowd at a WWF wrestling match. Flowers and well wishers lined the fences of DEI. Flower orders in Charlotte had a two-month backlog. Fans didn't wait for race day to wear their favorite Earnhardt shirts and jackets-they had been living in them since Sunday. Trucks rolling down the highway had messages hand written on their dusty trailer doors like, "We will miss you No.3." Even the President of the United States issued a statement that included, "Dale was an American icon who made great contributions to his sport. Dale's legacy will live on for millions of Americans. He was an inspiration to many." But it was time for some sort of closure, and the next race was the place.
The track at Rockingham, North Carolina, is called The Rock, and there fans, friends, and the NASCAR family could say goodbye to Dale Earnhardt. NASCAR races are usually a fun place to be. This time though The Rock was noticeably quiet as fans filed in. Flags were half-mast. Each fan was given a Dale Earnhardt pennant for a special pre-race ceremony. Almost everyone in the pits and garage, regardless of team and corporate sponsors, wore a special black hat with the familiar No.3 on it. Crewmembers of the three DEI cars wore white hats to honor their boss. When the fans were asked by Darrell Waltrip to hold hands and give a moment of silence for Earnhardt, the DEI crewmembers stood atop the wall separating the track from the pits and held up the same pennants to face the crowd. Plans were made for a military fly by to honor the day with the missing man formation, but the steady drizzle that covered the area prohibited that. (A week later at Las Vegas Motor Speedway the fly by, an honor rarely bestowed on civilians, was impressively performed by four, Air Force F-16s.)
When race pole winner and fellow Chevy driver Jeff Gordon paced The Rock's starting field, he dropped back one row to leave the pole position open and make NASCAR's version of the missing man formation. All cars sported No.3 stickers inside for TV cameras to catch and outside for the fans to see. FOX TV, in only their second race of their new NASCAR coverage, instituted a silent lap three for the remainder of the year during which their announcers would not talk. The familiar black and silver GM Goodwrench hauler's tailgate sported graffiti in the form of written messages from crewmembers from all the other teams. When it was opened, Richard Childress's black No.3 was now a white No.29. At a press conference Childress said, "We will never run a No.3 black Goodwrench car again." NASCAR has yet to retire a car number, but Childress, who the number is registered to, will not use it for the remainder of the year. After that, it is unclear. Both Childress and Earnhardt agreed to keep the number and their racing going if anything ever happened to the other. The new No.29 GM Goodwrench Chevy was driven by Kevin Harvick. Plans had called for Harvick to be brought up later in the year and for a full time ride in 2002. Reports had Earnhardt telling Childress he'd better snag Harvick as a driver or DEI would. Now Harvick has taken the empty seat of the Goodwrench car. Life can be strange.
When the race finally got started, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got caught up in traffic jam up on turn four and went straight to the outside wall on the first lap. Almost everyone at The Rock held their breath until it was clear he was okay. The crew elected to pack it up and go home. In the end it was teammate Steve Park in the Pennzoil Chevy who won, making it two for two for DEI. The next week, racing seemed a little more back to normal, and Dale Jr. got to race. Winning a third straight for Chevy was Jeff Gordon.