Word: nascar
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...Daytona 500 in 1990 and now calls races for the Fox Sports Network: "There is nothing like sitting in a projectile going 190 m.p.h. on the brink of going out of control. It's the sheer rush, touching every emotion you have." And a potentially lethal rush: three other NASCAR drivers died in the year leading up to Dale Earnhardt's crash...
Dale didn't ask for much else, though. In fact, love him or hate him, as the patriarch of NASCAR racing he was often the one who provided the good luck, protection or confidence. He enjoyed his on-track persona as the Intimidator, and, yes, he liked to push people to their limits--or to the side of the track, if necessary. All the same, he was the standard-bearer for professional drivers. On the day he died, he spoke his last words to the pit crew, telling them to relay advice to his teammates--my brother...
...knew Dale for 30 years, and saw him grow from an eager but sloppy novice to a consummate success. As his career reached higher and higher plateaus, he became our connection to the past, to the way NASCAR and its drivers used to be. Dale had started out with nothing. In fact, when I met him in 1973, just about the only two things he had in place were his mustache and his ambition. At that time he was racing on dirt tracks in Concord, N.C., looking for a way out or a leg up and often feeling discouraged about...
That streak, though, hardened over a short number of years into smart, unapologetic professionalism. By 1979 he had won NASCAR's rookie-of-the-year honor, and just a year later captured his first Winston Cup championship. And with every victory he slowly overcame considerable shyness, learning to speak for himself rather than let his car do the talking...
Darrell Waltrip, in orange jumpsuit, winner of 84 Winston Cup Series races, is a NASCAR racing analyst...