You aren’t just handed the term “legend”. You bust your ass for years on end and do extraordinary things to earn that title. Richard Petty is a legend for his win streak and overall ability to drive. Junior Johnson, Cale Yarborough, the Allisons, Buddy Baker…they earned their places. So did Dale Earnhardt…he drove, he won, and he had the personality to go along with the show that was disappearing from NASCAR in the 1990s. He might not have been your favorite driver…he had plenty of people who didn’t like his style…but you had to give The Intimidator his due: when he hit the track he was all-business until the checker flag dropped or until it was evident that the show was over.
While battling it out with Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett and Ernie Irvan for second place on lap 189, Earnhardt’s hope for a good day at Daytona went straight down the tubes. Exiting Turn 2, Gordon tried to pass Earnhardt and crowded him, shoving the black Chevy Monte Carlo up to the wall. Earnhardt skipped off of the wall and bounced back towards Gordon, all the while slowing down. That’s when Jarrett clipped the rear bumper and sent the #3 car flipping over Irvan’s Thunderbird before sliding down the front straight. Earnhardt was okay, and after taking a moment in the ambulance, he decided that the Monte Carlo was okay as well, because he hopped out of the ambulance, drove the car back to Pit Lane, and started ordering his crew to fix the car at any cost. Duct tape? Get it. Screws, zip ties, glue, whatever was needed to limp the car around the track a few more times to earn points, needed to happen. And he did.
Jeff Gordon won the Daytona 500 in 1997. And as he was celebrating in Victory Lane, he saw a battered black Chevy rolling up to the party, and wondered what fate awaited him. The thumbs-up from Earnhardt said more than words could have.
