DALE JR. TAKES CHARGE.Byline: STEVE DILBECK Dale Earnhardt This article is about the elder Dale Earnhardt. For his son, see Dale Earnhardt, Jr.. For the racing team he founded, see Dale Earnhardt, Inc.. Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. Jr. is going back today, back to a place none of us can truly imagine. Back with emotions known only to him. NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. has become the king of all racing, and the Daytona 500 is its crown jewel Crown jewel A particularly profitable or otherwise particularly valuable corporate unit or asset of a firm. Often used in risk arbitrage. The most desirable entities within a diversified corporation as measured by asset value, earning power, and business prospects; in takeover . The stock-car race in Florida that haunted Dale Earnhardt Sr. for years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time one victory always just out of his grasp - until 1998. The race that took his life three years later, on the last turn of the last lap. And the same race that provided a storybook sto·ry·book n. A book containing a collection of stories, usually for children. adj. Occurring in or resembling the style or content of a storybook: storybook characters; a storybook romance. finish almost beyond belief, when last year Earnhardt Jr. captured the Daytona 500. ``Everybody was all excited and happy for me, but it was like pure relief,'' Earnhardt said. ``I think just because of watching Dad come so close so many times. Living every heartache out in front of the television. Just knowing how devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. it is when you lose or come in second or blow a tire or whatever. ``When I crossed that finish line ... I was like, 'Man, I got that over with. I don't have to worry this every time I come back here.' Now I can just thoroughly enjoy the whole experience.'' Which by all accounts is what he's done this week leading into today's race. He seems more comfortable, more at ease with who he is and his place in racing. The legacy he inherited, the burden of being NASCAR's new poster boy - it's a more relaxed fit. All coming at a time when he is rolling the professional dice like few, if anyone, before him. Last season he won six races and battled for the Nextel Cup The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series is NASCAR's top racing series. It was formerly known as the Strictly Stock Series (1949), Grand National Series (1950-1971), and the Winston Cup Series (1972-2003). championship into the stretch. And he gave it all up. Traded it straight up with Michael Waltrip Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963 in Owensboro, Kentucky) is a professional race car driver and owner of Michael Waltrip Racing. He is the younger brother of Darrell Waltrip, a three-time NASCAR champion (now retired). , the other Dale Earnhardt Inc. team. Waltrip did not win a race last year, did not seriously compete for the overall championship. He traded the cars, the crew, the chiefs, the bumper stickers, the results. Earnhardt is 30 now, and he's eager to make his own decisions, to more firmly control his future. And, maybe, to preserve his family in the process. Last year his crew chief was Tony Eury Sr., his uncle. His car chief was Tony Eury Jr., his cousin. The two juniors had frequent disputes, often heated during races. Scanners could bristle bristle 1. the thick strong animal fibers collected at commercial abattoirs for use in brushes. 2. the sharp serrated awns of grass and some cereal seeds that confer a capacity to penetrate normal skin and mucosa and to cause ulcerative stomatitis, grass seed abscess and the like. with their exchanges. Over the course of a long season, Earnhardt decided it was no longer worth it, even if his team had narrowly missed winning the Cup. ``I was willing to make the changes we made to get myself out of a miserable situation,'' he said. ``Knowing that's the type of thing I dodge and avoid, I don't make myself miserable dwelling on the championship I wanted. I want to win it. ``But I'm not going to let it consume me to where I'm a miserable person. I enjoy racing. I will be miserable if I don't run good. All I ask is to go to the racetrack and be a challenger, be up front, be competitive.'' Few figured Earnhardt is the Daytona threat he would have been if he had not tossed the keys to Waltrip. Earnhardt starts today in the fifth position. Waltrip is third, with Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956 in Newton, North Carolina) is an American race car driver. Jarrett currently races in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series exclusively, driving the #44 Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing. on the pole. Earnhardt starts today a more confident driver than the one who first tried to emerge from his father's long shadow. He's more in touch with himself personally and professionally. ``You have to have a great car, but the moves you make and the positions you put yourself in are how you win that race, and I think I'm better at it than any of those other guys,'' he said. ``When it comes down to it, if my car doesn't fail me, I don't believe I'll fail it. That's just the attitude I have.'' His new crew chief is Paul Rondeau rondeau One of several formes fixes (fixed forms) in French lyric poetry and song of the 14th–15th century, later popular with many English poets. The rondeau has only two rhymes (allowing no repetition of rhyme words) and consists of 13 or 15 lines of 8 or 10 , and so far, a season still ahead, so good. ``It's a bit refreshing,'' Earnhardt said. ``He has a lot of respect for me, and we don't have a history, no family ties. ``That whole team is really happy to have me. I feel appreciated. Not that I wasn't in the past, but really feel it a lot now. And it's a really good feeling. They're pumped up. ``I like the position I'm in now with the company. I feel like a grown- up.'' Earnhardt is taking more control of his life, making more decisions. He has come a long way from the teenager who would lurk To view the interaction in a chat room or online forum without participating by typing in any comments. See de-lurk. lurk - lurking around the track with the other drivers' sons, waxing cars so they could place their bumper sticker - Super Waxers - on the back in hopes of catching a little TV time. Earnhardt grew up around the track, soaked it all in. He was given a team uniform by his father as a child and took his role seriously. ``I was like, 'Man, I'm part of the team,' '' he said. ``I started looking at it more that I was there for a reason. I have a purpose today. I was less of a fan and more of a study.'' He scoffs at the suggestion that there is heredity heredity, transmission from generation to generation through the process of reproduction in plants and animals of factors which cause the offspring to resemble their parents. That like begets like has been a maxim since ancient times. involved, something passed on from sporting father to son that enables him to excel at Verb 1. excel at - be good at; "She shines at math" shine at excel, surpass, stand out - distinguish oneself; "She excelled in math" driving the way Ken Griffey Ken Griffey may refer to:
``You're a product of your surroundings,'' he said. ``And if you're around racing all you life, you're likely to be successful in some area of it, having the knowledge that you do as a child. ``It was an easy avenue for me, or for Ken Griffey Jr. to get involved in baseball. That's what his father did, that's what he watched all his life. ``I don't think its like, 'I got this extra peripheral vision peripheral vision n. Vision produced by light rays falling on areas of the retina beyond the macula. Also called indirect vision. Peripheral vision my dad gave me.' '' He did get the extra attention, of course, and he also appears more comfortable with that. There were times the battle was less the expectation than just inheriting a racing empire. ``The burden, the obligation was pretty heavy for me after Dad died to do this and do that and handle this deal,'' he said. What Earnhardt said he never felt was the burden to become the very thing he is growing into - NASCAR's next icon. Other great young drivers on NASCAR's circuit have emerged, creating a kind of parity that has at least deflected some of the attention. ``It does take a little off my shoulders, but I never really felt responsible for what was going on or the way we're headed,'' he said. ``I never felt this huge responsibility to represent (NASCAR).'' There was a time a couple of years ago when he felt beaten down by the 36-race season, wondering how long he could drive. He asked the veteran Jarrett how he managed to keep going. ``And he said, 'I was always glad just to have a ride,' '' Earnhardt said. ``I know how fortunate I am to be in the position I am. Your last name is going to carry you so far. It's opened a lot of doors for me. ``It would almost be selfish not to stick it out as long as you could. To quit early would be kind of foolish.'' So he's back at Daytona, scene of some of his greatest, and most devastating, memories. Back gambling, evolving before us. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Dale Earnhardt Jr., left, who races today in the Daytona 500, parted company this season with former crew chief Tony Eury Sr., his uncle. Getty Images Box: LINEUP DAYTONA 500 |
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