My Ongoing Tribute to the Greatest NASCAR Driver Ever

Dale Earnhardt

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Earnhardt victory marred by Web exposure

By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive

March 29, 2001
11:58 PM EST (0458 GMT)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- On a day when Teresa Earnhardt flew to the Florida state capital to witness the signing of a bill designed to protect the autopsy photographs of her late husband, the NASCAR world was sent reeling by news that autopsy pictures of two deceased NASCAR drivers had been posted on the World Wide Web.

Mrs. Earnhardt traveled to Florida with her personal attorney and a close friend, Laura McEachern.

The Florida Senate Thursday by a 40-0 vote passed SB 1356, also dubbed the "Earnhardt Family Protection Act," which made releasing autopsy photographs a third-degree felony. The bill contained a clause making it retroactive, thereby sealing Earnhardt's autopsy materials from individuals seeking to capitalize on his celebrity.

"I am pleased and grateful for what has happened here in Tallahassee today," Teresa said in a statement released by her spokesperson. "I would like to recognize and say thank you to Fla. Governor Jeb Bush, Senators Jim King and Bill Posey, Representatives Jeff Miller and Randy Johnson and most of all, the tens of thousands of people in Florida and elsewhere who spoke out in defense of my family's fundamental right to privacy."

"These men acted swiftly during a very difficult time for Teresa and the entire Earnhardt family and they are to be commended for their efforts," NASCAR president Mike Helton said. "I would also like to extend our thanks to fans of NASCAR and fans of Dale Earnhardt, both in and outside the state of Florida who took the time to voice their support of the act to the Florida State House."

But Thom Rumberger, lead attorney for Dale Earnhardt's widow in the case to seal his autopsy photographs, said prior to the 3:30 p.m. bill signing in the Governor's cabinet room at the state capitol building that he was sickened by the sight of 34 autopsy pictures of NASCAR Winston Cup drivers Neil Bonnett and Rodney Orr on an Internet Web site.

The NASCAR community quickly closed ranks against the perceived attack.

"This is a disgusting example of the exploitation of these photographs," Helton said at Texas Motor Speedway near Fort Worth, where NASCAR Busch Series cars qualified Thursday. "It is exactly what Teresa Earnhardt fought against and championed the legislation that was signed into law today by Governor Jeb Bush.

"It is a perfect example of an opportunist with no morals. Our hearts go out to the victims, Susan Bonnett, her children and the family of Rodney Orr."

"We live in a time where information can be transmitted around the world instantly, but often without respect or a full understanding of the consequences," Teresa said. "We have said from the beginning that if one news organization is granted access to these private and painful images of my husband, others will request access, and sooner or later, they would be published on the Internet and elsewhere.

"Even now there are others, including a college newspaper and a Web site, attempting to get their hands on Dale's autopsy photos. In fact, today I've just learned that a Web site had the indecency to go ahead and post graphic photos taken at the autopsies of two other NASCAR drivers. We hope this new law will stop these organizations, and others, from further exploiting such tragic events."

Earnhardt, the seven-time Winston Cup champion and winner of 34 races at Daytona, was killed Feb. 18 in a crash in Turn 4 of Daytona International Speedway on the last lap of the Daytona 500. Teresa Earnhardt sued Volusia County three days after his autopsy to seal the file and a temporary injunction was granted.

A group of Florida and national media outlets, informally led by the Central Florida newspaper, the Orlando Sentinel, launched a counter-suit a day later, citing Florida public records law, in an attempt to simply view the photographs for the purpose of making an independent determination of the cause of Earnhardt's death.

Teresa Earnhardt had maintained from the suit's beginning, however, that she feared publication of Earnhardt's autopsy materials, particularly on the Internet. On Thursday, NASCAR reported that a Web site owned by Michael Uribe of DeLand, Fla., had published the other drivers' photos.

"It repulses me, as an advocate and as a person, what those creeps are doing," Rumberger said of the posting of the images of the drivers who were killed at Daytona three days apart during Speedweeks 1994. "You know exactly where they were going with the Earnhardt photographs."

Uribe joined the media suit after it was initiated, but was excluded from a mediated settlement between Mrs. Earnhardt and her attorneys and the Sentinel and its representatives. That agreement enabled Dr. Barry Myers, a Ph.D. and associate professor at Duke University who is a head and neck injury specialist, last Monday to view Earnhardt's photos for no more than 30 minutes.

He is scheduled to file a report on his findings in up to two weeks.

Uribe, meanwhile, continued his legal action by filing actions to gain possession of various materials from Earnhardt's autopsy file. In addition, a hearing on a suit filed by The Independent Florida Alligator will be held on April 5 at the Volusia County Courthouse Annex in Daytona Beach, Fla., on the legality of the temporary injunction.

The Alligator, an independent production of University of Florida students in Gainesville, has also said it was not interested in publishing the photos, but it was concerned over the infringement on Florida's public records laws.