Start your engines!
Play RPM.ESPN Stock Car Challenge!
Win a Honda S2000!
Play The CART Challenge powered by Honda!
|
|
Sunday, February 25
Race to resume Monday morning
By Wayne Drehs
ESPN.com
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- It was supposed to be the day that NASCAR put its best foot forward. A day that the racing community would come together, remember Dale Earnhardt and then do its best to move on.
But Mother Nature and Lady Luck had other ideas.
As if the week hadn't been lengthy and emotionally draining enough, a rainstorm red-flagged the race after 52 laps, postponing its completion until 11 a.m. EST Monday.
|  | | Crew members for driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. push his car down pit road as rain delays the start of the Dura-Lube 400. |
The ominous gray skies and dark puffy clouds were eerily fitting, considering the downtrodden emotions of many in attendance.
"I guess this is God's way of crying," said Charlotte's Jacob Alexander as he exited the speedway turnstile, his black Earnhardt T-shirt soaked in water and stuck to his body. "He was an Earnhardt fan too, you know. So he had to be pretty upset."
When the race resumes on Monday, Stacey Compton will be its leader. Compton was the only driver who didn't pit during a caution midway through the race. Jeff Gordon, the pole sitter, led the race's first 44 laps and is currently second.
The start of the race was postponed an hour due to rain and another sprinkle put the race under caution for 29 laps. After the third shower, the hardest of the afternoon, NASCAR decided enough was enough.
"I think it's hard on everybody," said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs racing. "But it's part of what we do. You have to be the type of team to bounce back, get ready to go tomorrow and hopefully have a good day."
FX will televise Monday's race, with forecasts calling for partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the upper 60s.
Prior to the start of the race, the thoughts of many were on Earnhardt. Darrell Waltrip, a former series champion and now a broadcaster for Fox, presided over an emotional moment of silence and a prayer for the fallen legend.
"Our hearts hurt today," Waltrip said. "Many wonder how we can race today. But it's easier knowing this is what Dale would want us to do. So let's join today and celebrate Dale's life."
The challenge on Sunday wasn't trying to find someone who was honoring Earnhardt, but rather trying to find someone who wasn't. Driving along U.S. Rte. 1, the only road that leads to the North Carolina Motor Speedway, stickers, posters, flags and T-shirts commemorated the life of the NASCAR legend.
During the National Anthem, the three racing teams owned by Dale Earnhardt Inc. stood together on pit wall, interlocking their hands above their heads, with some holding Earnhardt pennants.
Fans entering the track Sunday received the 12-by-30-inch inch pennant that included a picture of Earnhardt's black No. 3 Chevrolet and a stamped signature. As the pace car pulled off the track and the race went green Sunday, everyone in the stands held the pennant above their head and waved it in the air.
It was the most uplifting moment of the day, especially considering the weather.
"It's like a movie," Bill Gibbling of Raleigh said of the storms. "With the clouds and the light rain, everybody is down. It's not the same."
Outside the stadium, numerous fans have been stopping by Earnhardt's souvenir trailers, signing tributes to "The Intimidator" and well-wishes to his family. Trailer personnel reported "better than usual" sales of Earnhardt souvenirs.
|
“ |
There isn't a person in this track he [Earnhardt] hasn't influenced. Even if you didn't like him, you respected him. You appreciated all he did for this sport.” |
|
|
—Dale Jarrett |
One fan, Rob Turner of nearby Fayetteville, bought three Earnhardt T-shirts for his wife and two sons. Each of them was wearing an Earnhardt T-shirt and baseball cap already.
"You can't get enough of these sorts of things," Turner said. "You never know when you're not going to be able to get them anymore. So I wanted to get my share while I can."
At the driver's meeting Sunday morning, each driver was given a black and red Earnhardt hat with his signature and white No. 3 on the front. The hat was similar to the one that Jeff Gordon and many other drivers wore during qualifying on Saturday.
"It was a great tribute," said Compton. "Everybody here misses him and realizes his loss was a tremendous blow to our sport.
Each of the race cars also displayed a special No. 3 logo.
"That's the least we could do," said Dale Jarrett. "There isn't a person in this track he hasn't influenced. Even if you didn't like him, you respected him. You appreciated all he did for this sport."
Following the national anthem, four Air Force F-15s from 333rd Fighter Squadron in Goldsboro, N.C., were supposed to fly over the track, but weather prevented that from happening. Originally, the plan was for the No. 3 jet to pull up and form the "missing man" formation.
During driver introductions, Dale Earnhardt Jr. received the warmest reception from the crowd. Wearing blue jeans and the red Budweiser jacket of his sponsor, Earnhardt Jr. took a second to stand on the podium and wave a "thank you" to the crowd.
Outside the track nicknamed "The Rock," fans gathered around a large boulder that lists the winners of past race winners. Since early in the week, fans have been placing flowers, pictures and poster board signs against the rock in honor of Earnhardt.
Francine Gephardt, who drove from Carbondale, Ill., for the race, placed a large No. 3 wreath against the boulder early Sunday morning.
"I never imagined this would happen, I never imagined I'd be at a race without seeing that black No. 3," said Gephardt. "So this is my way of saying thanks, of appreciating all that Dale did for us." Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
|
|
|
|
