Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Jan. 5, 2006, edition 1 / Page 21
Part of The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
5C • •O SPORTSACtt Charlotte $ot Thursday, January 5, 2006 I I^SCAR INSIDJ RespectingHISTOR^ Earnhardt Jr. raids vault of NASCAR movie classics By RICK MINTER Cox News Service Atlanta D ale Earnhardt Jr. is the face of NASCAR’s present and fu ture, but a big part of his heart is in the past. He says he is proud of every tro phy he has won at some of the newer tracks across the country, but his most treasured victories have come at the sport’s old speedways where he once roamed the inheld with the little die-cast cars while his dad, the legendary Dale Earnhardt, raced. He bought his first racing movie at a souvenir trailer when he was a kid taking along with his dad. “It had old footage of the 70s,” he said, “lhat was when 1 really want ed to know more.” So he has obtained an amazing collection of racing films fiom that era, and he studies them to learn everything he can about the sport’s early days. The love for the old footage is so strong that Earnhardt is starting a production company He plans to be come the narrator for the old films, and the Speed Channel is negotiat ing for 10 episodes. Earnhardt said he’s excited about sharing his interest with NASCAR fans. “A lot of fans, if they’re like me, can’t get enou^ of the past, and a lot of the new fans probably want to know what the sport was like,” he said, adding that for today’s fans to truly imdCTstand the sport, a histo ry lesson is in order. “Whai you take history class, you’re not just taught about the past five years and the present day” he said. “Tb teU what’s happening today you’ve got to know the story fix)m the beginning.” Earnhardt thin^ NASCAR was never better than in the 1970s, when legends like Cale Yarborou^, David Pearson and Richard Petty were in thdr prime, and independ ents like Frank Warren and Cedi Gtordon — and sometimes Earnhardt Sr. — filled the field, hoping for breaks that would make them fixjntrunners. “I liked the way the cars looked then,” Earnhardt said. “I liked the tolerance fix)m good to bad in the field and how hog a difference it was. It’s the most interesting era of this sport.” Through the years, he has studied numerous films, carefully dissecting the moves Pearson and Petty and Yarborough and Bobby Allison used to beat up on each other. “That was the best tool just to fig ure out who raced vdio, and how who raced, and get an idea of the mentality of Cale Yarborough and David Pearson, specifically” he said, adding that Yarterou^ impressed him the most. “I bet Bobby Allison won’t be happy to hear this, but if I’d been 20 or 30 years old watching races back then, Fd have probably pulled for Cale,” he said. “He was willing to do whatever it took.” Earnhardt has other heroes from DAVID TULIS / Cox News Service Dale Earnhardt Jr. may very well be one of NASCAR’s stars in the 21st century, but he has a profound respect for the sport’s formative days in the 1970s. the past, including Jimmy Means, Jim Vandiver and Coo-Coo Marlin, who always seemed to be able to push their inferior equipment to the fix)nt at Tblladega and Daytona. He liked Ray Elder, the sportfs original road course “linger,” who won two Cup races on the old road course at Riverside, Calif “It was cool to have their names jxjp up there,” he said. “Back then, the same four or five guys were racing up front, but every once in a while, some body would pop up in what you Imew was not as good equipment and have a decent run.” Early in his Late Model career, Earnhardt actually raced against one of the old stars, when 1978 Thlladega win ner Lennie Pond, who retired fixim the Cup series in 1989, showed up for a 1995 race at Carolina Motor Speedway ‘"We ran side by side for a little bit,” Earnhardt said. “1 broke a ri^t fiont wheel and crashed right in fiont of him, but that was awesome. I couldn’t Earnhardt, who died of a heart at tack in 1973, the year before Junior was bom. The enduring image of his grandfather comes fix)m — natural ly — old racing footage he watched years ago with his dad. “Granddaddy ran sec ond to Fireball Roberts or Curtis Tlimer or somebody that was a regular Grand National driver, but they got thrown out and they gave Ralph the win,” Earnhardt said. “They actually interviewed him and asked him what he thought about it.” Ralph Earnhardt in herit^ the victory when the apparent winner was disqualified for using whe^ wider than the rules allowed. “Granddaddy said, ‘Well, they told us in the drivers meeting that you couldn’t run those wheels, so I guess it was wrong for those guys to do that.’ ” That was the first time I’d ever seen his maimeiisms, or seen him speaking, talking, walking. And to watch the look on Dad’s face, to see it after it had been so many years since Dad had seen him alive. That was really amazing.” -I P “The Intimidator” also UALb passed on to his son an believe I was racing EARNHARDT JR. appreciation for the old against Lennie Pond. 1 tracks, many of which couldn’t believe it. 1 just have been lost to time, couldn’t. He’d won Thlladega [17] Father and son once went to the years before.” site of the old Ontario Speedway in Earnhardt would like to learn California, which was razed after more about his grandfather, Ralph the 1980 season. “I bet Bobby Allison won’t be happy to hear this, but if I’d been 20 or 30 years old watching races back then, I’d have probably pulled for Cale.” “I’d only seen old tapes of races there fiom the 70s, but he was like, ‘There’s where you went to get your pit passes. This is this coma',’ ” he said. ‘You could kind of see some banking. It was eerie, like looking at the Titanic in a way... really eerie.” In his ovm Cup career, Earnhardt has come to know how his father felt about the demise of Ontario. He was there when venerable North Carolina Speedwayin Rockingham, N.C., dropped off the Cup sch^ule. Initially he was happy to leave the track after its last race because he wasn’t pleased with his perform ance there. “But at the same time, I knew tliat one day I’d be driving by there and you wouldn’t recognize the place, and that would be a sad day,” he said. “I never ran great there in my Cup car, but I do have a lot of m^ories of going there as a chilc^, and I watched a lot of races there.” Earnhardt said he takes great satisfaction in winning races on the tracks that formed the foundation of the NASCAR of today “When you win at Atlanta or Bristol or Charlotte or Daytona, tracks that have been there for a very long time and have a lot of his tory it’s a very good feeling for me,” he said. ^ “I like winning races, obviously, but to go to Atlanta and win is a very different feeling than maybe a Chicago or a California. “There’s a different sense of ac complishment. When you’ve done something that makes you part of a crowd like Petty or Cale or those guys that have won there, and you’ve seen your daddy win there so many times, it’s definitely a differ ent feeling.” n MEANS Retired driver remains ‘hero’ to ‘Little E’ Dale Earnhardt Jr. says that none of tlie older drivers are closer to his heart than Jimmy Means, a relatively unknown driv er who raced ^m 1976 to 1993. Means, who ran 455 Cup races witliout a victory, now owns his own struggling Busch team and has an interest in a start up Cup team. But few newcomers to the sport even know his name. He can roam the garage at will, rarely botliered for an autograph or interview. Earnhardt talks with him often. “He was my fa vorite driver be sides my father,” Earnhardt said. “It was amazing to me how he did everything witli nothing.” Earnhardt said he and Means’ son. Brad, who fabricates race car bodies for Nextel Cup teams, used to wander the garage during races, picking up new spark plugs and sup plies cast off by the richer teams and tak ing them to Means’ trailer. “Jimmy maybe didn’t even need it, but I was a fan of Jimmy so it was cool for me,” Earnhardt said. “But Brad probably was doing it because he thought his dad needed it.” Like others in the sport, Earnhardt was heartened in October of1987, when power ful team owner Rick Hendrick offered Means one of his best cars for the 500-miler at Lowe’s Motor Sjjeedway Means had caught Hendrick’s eye at Richmond the month before, when he drove his underfunded Pontiac into the lead on three occasions before running out of new tires and finisliing eighth. Means didn’t disappoint in qualifying. He was fifth fastest in the Chevy that had been driven earlier that season by Tim Richmond. Earnhardt, 13 at the time, watched the race fixim his family’s condo overlooking the track. “They started the race and Jimmy was drivii^ like he was in his own equipment,” he said. “He was taking it easy, fell back a couple of spots, just riding there ” Then came ^e wreck that ended any hope Means had of parlaying the one-shot deal into a career break. “There were probably 15 cars in the wreck,” Earnhardt said. “Daddy was in it. Abunch of CEirs wadded up.” Earnhardt wasn’t too lx)thered tliat his dad crashed, but seeing Means wreck had a profound effect on him. “I cried and cried and cried,” he said. “I just couldn’t believe it. A man dug so hard for so long to have a chance like t^t. How could this world be like that? It hurt me for a long time.” Means said his heart was broken, too. “It’s a shame something else didn’t come out of it,” he said. “But that’s life.” Earnhardt said watching Means’ trials and tribulations was eye-opening. “I’ve got a lot of respect for him, and maybe some way somelmw, just by know ing Jimmy and having spent some time close to him has helped me appreciate things a little mcoe,” he said. “Maybe I wouldn’t have turned out on the good side that I did.” Likewise, Means has benefited fixim knowing Dale Jr. He can take satisfaction in the fact that after all these years he’s a hero’s hero. “[Earnhardt] is not ashamed to say that I was his hero growing up,” Means said. “I’m just amazed that he would still think of me in those terms. It means a lot to me.” • Rick Minter, Cox News Service ‘Preseason Thunder’ to begin next week Cox News Service Tbst sessions for the 2006 Nextel Cup Series sea son begin next week at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for the season-opening 48th annual Daytona 500 on Feb. 19. Those Nextel Cup teams that finished the 2005 season with an odd number of owner’s points will be testing Jan. 9-11. Tfeams finishing the 2005 sea son with an even number of owner’s points will be testing Jan. 16-18. All Craftsman TVuck Series teams will be testing Jan. 13-15, while all Busch Series teams will be testing Jan. 20-22. As part of NASCAR’s “Preseason Thimder,” fans can watch the January testing sessions from the Oldfield Grandstands, located just outside of the Daytona USA complex near the track. Also part of “Preseason Thunder” is the annual Fan Fest at Daytona. Events include fen forums, bands, shpw cars, pit stop demonstrations and var ious displays. Here are the Fan Fest dates: • Jan. 10: Nextel Cup Fan Fest • Jan. 13: Craftsman TVuck Fan Fest • Jan. 17: Nextel Ciq) Fan Fest • Jan. 21: Busch Fan Fest Admission for the Jan. 10 and Jan. 17 Nextel Cup Fan Fest dates is $15, while admission for the Busch and TVuck series’ Fan Fest events is $10. Get the refund you deserve. A BIGGER ONE. We find deductions the others miss. • We know all the latest tax law changes • Our average refund is $400 more than the average IRS refund • FREE electronic filing with paid tax preparation Call 1-800-234-1040 for nearest location. SAVE $15.00 ON FEDERAL TAX PREPARATION WHEN YOU PRESENT THIS COUPON! ! Offer valii on Menl tu pnpmtan Pletsefreient coupon »t time Cff tax i preparation. Soodoidy at paitiapetingkxatan; and may not he combined I erith any oOter offer Most offices are axlepiandentlf omied and operated | I EXPKES: 12/31il>6 COUPON CODE: OC72 • ! Lu I Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate for Cox News Service. (800) 255-6734. 'For release the week of Jan. 2, 2006
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 5, 2006, edition 1
21
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75