My Ongoing Tribute to the Greatest NASCAR Driver Ever

Dale Earnhardt

* please wait for all the graphics to load *

Fans cease all activity to view Earnhardt service

By Tim Packman, Turner Sports Interactive
February 22, 2001
2:08 PM EST (1908 GMT)

MOORESVILLE, N.C. - Dale Earnhardt evoked much emotion from fans and competitors during his career. On Thursday, that same group of people stood still for him.

Race shops, grocery stores, gas stations and office buildings were not a place of great productivity during the live, lunch-hour broadcast of Earnhardt’s memorial service. It was held at Calvary Church in Charlotte, some 45 miles to the southeast, but broadcast nationwide by several television networks.

Mooresville’s Lakeside Business Park is home to many race shops that house Earnhardt’s competitors. Some shops were closed to visitors during the broadcast. Employees, the very ones who built race cars to compete against the seven-time champion, stopped to pay tribute.

His death in Sunday’s Daytona 500 caused people to freeze in disbelief wherever they were when they heard the news. His fans, and race fans in general, have gathered outside of his Dale Earnhardt Inc. race shop steadily since Sunday. They stood and stared at the mounds of flowers, hats, T-shirts, posters and messages that have been left at the fence as a tribute.

Flags are flying at half-mast at fast-food restaurants, home building centers and real estate offices throughout this town on the shores of Lake Norman. The signs outside those same places that would normally advertise their own specials or deals instead pay tribute these days to “The Man in Black.”

During the memorial service, crewmen from the teams of Ricky Rudd, Jeremy Mayfield, Jason Keller and Jeff Green came to watch it at Vinnie’s Raw Bar. They sat among fans in their Goodwrench No. 3 jackets and hats, office workers and construction workers in dirt-covered boots and work clothing.

A mile away, unusually slow sales were reported at Lowes Food Stores. Three doors down in the same strip mall, patrons at Big Al’s Pub sat and quietly ate their lunch while watching the service and listening to what Dale Beaver from Motorsports Outreach had to say. With tears in most of their eyes at some point during the memorial, they comforted each other with pats on the back.

When the service was over, some stayed to finish their lunch and talk, others paid their bill and went about their day. Like many others around the country on this day, their eyes were cast downward.