![]() ![]() It had seemed like the dawn of a new age in NASCAR. ![]() I don't know when I finally walked back to my car in the media parking lot that night, but I do remember finding it particularly hard to grasp everything that had transpired during that day. It was a short statement, but I will never forget his last words: "We've lost Dale Earnhardt." I remember vividly the stunned silence of the room and the way Helton's voice cracked as he spoke. People were just standing around, waiting, but not exactly sure for what.Įventually, NASCAR president Mike Helton arrived at the media centre and addressed the crowd. NASCAR officials had locked the chain-linked garage gate entrance immediately adjacent to the media centre, where more and more media members seemed to be arriving. We all seemed to know what had happened, but until someone officially confirmed it, there wasn't anything to do about it. PLUS: How Earnhardt's death changed American motorsportįor the next hour or so, it seemed like nobody knew what to do. My contact called from the hospital and confirmed that Stewart would be OK, but revealed he was there when Earnhardt had been brought to the hospital and that he had died. I had asked a friend of mine who worked with Stewart to check on his condition, as he had been taken to the hospital after the earlier wreck. I didn't think at first there was anything particularly serious about this one but, in my short time as a motorsport journalist, I had learned nothing spoke louder at a race track than silence. TV replays showed a hard hit for 'The Intimidator' but, in my relatively brief experience at the time, I had covered much more vicious wrecks - including three fatal NASCAR accidents the previous year. It was while waiting on pitroad that I caught a glimpse of the last-lap wreck near Turn 4 involving two cars - one of which I recognised as Schrader's - while ahead, Waltrip took the chequered flag for his first-ever Cup win (at the 462nd attempt), with Earnhardt Jr and the banged-up Ford of Rusty Wallace close behind. I prepared to head from my post at the infield media centre to pitroad and the garage area at the race's conclusion, with thoughts of the many cool storylines filling my head. Drivers and crew members seemed unsure of what to say, or even if to say anything The more people I saw after the race, the quieter everyone seemed to be.
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