Darrell Waltrip: Unlike the World Series or
Super Bowl, which close
the season, our biggest race, the Daytona 500, is unique because it
opens our season. Last season, it was a barnburner, with tons of
passing. Then we had an incredible finish, with my brother,
Michael, and Dale Jr. leading and Dale doing some incredible
blocking, protecting the lead for them. Our audience was on the
edge of its seat when cars tumbled, flipped, and rolled. I knew it
was a scary-looking accident, that Dale was hurt, but it didn't
seem anything to get alarmed about.
Michael won his first [Winston
Cup] race. We did our victory circle interview, then in that
euphoria, we learned of Dale's tragedy.
Because of Dale's death … fans continued to watch to see what was
going to happen next. Because we were able to hang onto that 29
percent bigger audience, telling a story week in and week out, and
because we knew what Dale meant to the sport, I think it all
mesmerized the die-hard fans and it brought us a bunch of new ones.
American Way: Dale Earnhardt was the face of NASCAR. Can anyone
replace him?
Waltrip: Dale was the connection to the past. Most of the guys
from our era have pretty well moved on, but Dale still represented
what our sport was when it began. Even though we've worked on our
image, got the big TV contract, Dale never changed. He was just who
he was from day one - one tough customer who didn't make any
excuses for who he was. That's the connection we lost - to our
heritage.
As for individuals, you line 'em all up now and nobody sticks out …
guys are a lot slicker than they used to be. They argue a little
about someone pushing them on the track, but there's just nobody
single-handedly representing what the sport is all about.
American Way: What helped Jeff Gordon win the 2001
championship?