Remembering Dale Earnhardt....20 years ago today!

[RascalArms]

Dale and Neil Bonnet were friends of mine. Both of them stayed at my house in Hale Co Alabama. Bonnet was so quiet you'd never know he was a driver. Dale was Dale...all the time.every day. I quit watching NASCAR when they were killed.

Dang man....you rubbed elbows with 2 of the sports finest. That’s both cool and tragic. 😕

[Big Lee]

Dale and Neil Bonnet were friends of mine. Both of them stayed at my house in Hale Co Alabama. Bonnet was so quiet you'd never know he was a driver. Dale was Dale...all the time.every day. I quit watching NASCAR when they were killed.

You may need to share stories of two greats!

[Dale Moser]

Go listen the Dale Jr. Podcast, that had Kenny Schrader featured. It is a 2 part podcast. Number 2 has a segment where Dale Jr. reads Schrader a letter Jr wrote for Schrader. I listened to it recently. It was before teh cold snap, made my eyes sweat.

Ken Schrader is awesome, and hilarious. He’s one of very few who knows, and a lot fell on his shoulders that day, including informing Michael Waltrip what had happened. He carries quite the burden.


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[Big Lee]

An old coworker of mine had this perspective on the wreck and I often times wondered if it was true.

Last couple laps Dale Sr. Was not driving his normal race. Appeared to be blocking and not beating the back bumper off someone's car. Someone meaning his son and team he owned. His 2 cars were up front. Dale Sr was probably grinning ear to ear. Coming down to the last lap Dale (being insensible & a tad confident) starts preparing to be the first to jump out and see Michael Waltrip. Starts loosening belts. And rest is history. I know this sounds insane. But I've pondered that more times than not.

After the wreck Simpson took a little heat. And Nascar stated the belts may have been installed incorrectly. Causing the belts to shear on impact. I find that hard to believe. But who knows. To my knowledge we as fans (understandably out of respect) never saw the inside of the car after the wreck. Or the belts.

Sad deal. But did make racing on all levels safer.

[MacDaddy67]

I was there.....what seemed sureal is the impact and hit was minimal.....I seen Rusty flip a dozen times there and walk away.....

Crazy

[whitecrow]

.............starts preparing to be the first to jump out and see Michael Waltrip. Starts loosening belts. And rest is history. I know this sounds insane. But I've pondered that more times than not.

It literally takes less time to release the belts than it does to say it.......2-3 seconds at most. I cannot conjure a reason for him to have done so.

After the wreck Simpson took a little heat. And Nascar stated the belts may have been installed incorrectly. Causing the belts to shear on impact. I find that hard to believe. But who knows. To my knowledge we as fans (understandably out of respect) never saw the inside of the car after the wreck. Or the belts.

Sad deal. But did make racing on all levels safer.

I realize Bill Simpson took a lot of heat, but if the belts were installed incorrectly that would fall on RCR.....not simpson.

[Big Lee]

It literally takes less time to release the belts than it does to say it.......2-3 seconds at most. I cannot conjure a reason for him to have done so.



I realize Bill Simpson took a lot of heat, but if the belts were installed incorrectly that would fall on RCR.....not simpson.

I agree with you both accounts as well. I also remember during that time Simpson catching some heat for nothing they did wrong. I remember them putting a statement out teaching how to install belts correctly. (I also drive a dirt car) Where do you race at?

[SC-001]

An old coworker of mine had this perspective on the wreck and I often times wondered if it was true.

Last couple laps Dale Sr. Was not driving his normal race. Appeared to be blocking and not beating the back bumper off someone's car. Someone meaning his son and team he owned. His 2 cars were up front. Dale Sr was probably grinning ear to ear. Coming down to the last lap Dale (being insensible & a tad confident) starts preparing to be the first to jump out and see Michael Waltrip. Starts loosening belts. And rest is history. I know this sounds insane. But I've pondered that more times than not.

After the wreck Simpson took a little heat. And Nascar stated the belts may have been installed incorrectly. Causing the belts to shear on impact. I find that hard to believe. But who knows. To my knowledge we as fans (understandably out of respect) never saw the inside of the car after the wreck. Or the belts.

Sad deal. But did make racing on all levels safer.

You may be right, there was a interview with Bobby Labonte later that year that insinuated the same thing, his reasoning for loosening belts may have been different though, its been scrubbed from existance and I've never seen it or been able to find that interview since.

[whitecrow]

.... Where do you race at?

I'm too old and intolerant to race.....my son does. We live less than a mile from Battleground, which is rumored to be opening back up. The only track in our area currently open is 105 Speedway in Cleveland....which also just changed hands. We sold our car last year and are in wait and see mode right now. Kinda enjoying the stress free life, actually.