My Ongoing Tribute to the Greatest NASCAR Driver Ever

Dale Earnhardt

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Earnhardt fans pay their respects

By Tim Packman, Turner Sports Interactive
February 19, 2001
4:53 PM EST (2153 GMT)

MOORESVILLE, N.C. - The effect of Dale Earnhardt's death in Sunday's Daytona 500 is beginning to have a visible presence.

Thousands of fans have stopped outside the race shop he owns--Dale Earnhardt Inc.--since Sunday evening to pay their respects to the seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion.

The makeshift shrine gets larger each hour as fans place flowers, wreaths, signs and Earnhardt hats, t-shirts, blankets and sweatshirts in front of the shop.

Affectionately referred to as the "Garage Mahal" because of it's size and grand design, it has become a place where his fans, and fans of NASCAR in general, have gathered to share their grief.

Cars line each side of the road for almost a half mile in front of the three shops that house Dale Earnhardt Jr's, Steve Park's and the 2001 Daytona 500 victor Michael Waltrip's racing operations.

North Carolina State Police are directing traffic on the two-lane highway that connects Mooresville, Concord and Earnhardt's hometown of Kannapolis, N.C.

The fans slowly walk to the indented portion of the fence in front of the main building. They bring more roses, bouquets and signs. Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, husbands and wives and entires families stop to pay their respects.

One tall, thin man with ponytail down to the middle of his back and wearing camouflage overalls and a matching Dale Earnhardt No. 3 hat, walks with his young son to the spot. They bring yellow flowers and place them with the others. The father removes his hat, kneels down on one knee and bows his head. His son removes the hood of his camouflage hat and sits on his father's knee, and they pray together.

The father rises with tears in his eyes, puts his hat back, wipes his tears and walks off holding his son's hand.

Emotional displays are shared, people console each other, some drive past and stop long enough to take a picture, others simply stand and stair at the display of affection for their their fallen hero.

American and state flags in the Mooresville area are all flying at half-mast. Business signs also pay tribute. One reads, "Dale Earnhardt- simply the best."

The signs at DEI range from "We love you Dale," to "You were the best and always will be, we love and miss you," to one that reads " A man like no other."

Three women, Jane Heuser, Barbara Boyles and Terri Speas took the day off work and drove an hour and a half from Tabaccoville, NC, to pay their respects. They had already been to Richard Childress Racing, who Earnhardt drove the famous black No. 3 Chevrolet for.

"The scene was pretty much like this with people stopping and leaving flowers and things," said Heuser. "We left flowers there and decided we wanted to come down here."

"We met Dale at a dealership appearance once," Boyles said. "We told him how we always get together and have a Daytona 500 party every year. He told us he wanted to come to it and we told him no. The reason we had the party was to watch him."

One woman who didn't want to be identified said, "I don't know if I'm going to be able to watch racing anymore. He was the reason I watched it."

An American, North Carolina and DEI flag were flying at half-mast on three separate poles in front of the building. A checkered flag was added to the bottom of the pole holding the DEI flag