Remembering Dale Earnhardt

Wow dad would come into the bus and say yeah we all got cars can win this race just work together and I'm like whatever man they're gonna know about him winning he explained to me on Friday how the three of us together we're gonna win this race it was going to take all three of us working together to win only time in his career that any of us can remember where Dale didn't really want to win the race he's just back there kind of running interference he was driving very aggressively blocking and I was kept telling I said Larry Larry if they'll keep doing that somebody's gonna wreck him he can't keep cutting people off like that it almost reminded me of a mother duckling or a mother hen protecting his two little chickens up there as it came down to that last lap I thought boy that's an exciting finish storybook finish really with Michael Waltrip and a Dale Earnhardt car and Dale jr. right there and Dale senior trying to protect their turf we get the white flags in the air and Michael and Dale jr. go down into turn one and they got a little gap between everybody else and Dale's backer all over the place you know got everybody bottled up we came off turn two for the last lap of the Daytona 500 I looked in my mirror and it looked perfect then it all got clustered up when we went in turn three I thought everybody's not gonna get underneath Dale you know it's just not going to happen y'all saddle the bottom falls like goat and Kenya had you know Dale pinch down like was all trend rates to check Flay sterling had a nose under Dale and they'll cut him off one more time and that was one time too many what I saw was when pretentious car kind of turned there now went down to so y'all seen him go back outside to the flag when you almost just wish we could have went off there right then I guess he dieded darrell waltrip very somber Lee said I hope Dale isn't hurt too bad and I thought myself he can't be hurt too bad my god just knew from from the from the impact this is it wasn't that hard I mean it was hit but it not like taking harder to me at that point everything was still okay everything you know we were just we just had dad just got caught Rick I was sitting on the pit box and I jerked my headset off and jumped down and I said I better make sure he's okay I put my headset back on that's a deal you alright well you're alright and he never came back I just go over walk over Dale when I took his net down I was just you know I was little just quite surprised as far as a the condition he was in I think when I first realized that we we might be in trouble here I saw Kenny walked to the car and in Kenny was in a panic mode I knew he was in trouble I knew he was in big trouble you're looking inside turn free where rescue workers are huffing Dale earnheardt to get out of his car I was the first physician to get to the car we really realized that he's not breathing and so we started CPR we look in the booth and we're on them while I'm looking on the monitor I didn't realize the first couple time but about that time Dale hits the wall Kenny Schrader hits Dale and so not only did he go forward but then he went that way that scared me basically once we started the CPR it became very apparent that he had a basal skull fracture at that point he basically was a cardiac arrest and therefore spending more time at the scene is not going to benefit his situation while Earnhardt's driver michael waltrip celebrates Dale Earnhardt rides the back of an ambulance to the Halifax Medical Center Kenny Schrader's called me around to the side and said I said it's not good I mean we're gonna be out for a while and he was white as a sheet he said and it just don't look good I have to tell that to Richard was not you know I mean I didn't tell him he was dead I didn't know he was dead I knew it wasn't good as I was at Victory Lane I just thought I've been into wonder more and more as time passed Waddell wasn't there why Dale jr. wasn't there the first familiar face I saw was traitor Dale had just been you know what I thought would probably why not being fatally injured and Mikey just wanted to a twenty five hundred his first race you know I need to it was no decision I need to be down her talk to Mikey the moment in victory lane when I grab straighter and I'm smiling you know and it's like can you believe this and uh he just didn't look right to me I get come up and tell him that I mean it's just uh I just I just felt so sorry for Mikey he said he'll it's not good it's just no Dells else hurt it's not good and then that and he said I love you and left they had the cameras on Dale junior and Theresa rushing in to the hospital that's when I started praying one minute I'm going to victory circle and the next minute I'm in a car headed to the hospital to check on check on Dale and see see if what you're telling me is really true I would say it was probably an hour so I was sitting there with Dale jr. and a few of us sitting in the room together and when they came in and told us that we lost them the first time Buffy and I were alone I said he's gonna be okay right and I knew it was hurt but I just was hoping that it wasn't the worst and she said no he's dead this is undoubtedly one of the toughest announcements that I've ever personally had to make but after the accident and turned four at the end of the Daytona 500 we've lost Dale Earnhardt silence at a NASCAR track is traditionally awful and it in situations like that it traditionally the silence grows louder and louder and louder just shock miss just shock just couldn't leave with him I remember going a parent setting up about all night long Sunday night thinking it was a nightmare one thing that I didn't ever understand and I don't think I ever will on this earth is why it had to happen you know why that have to turn out like that Dale Earnhardt was Superman we thought the del would never be hurt and we were wrong

Channel: Dave Lynch

Views: 3,766,427

Rating: 4.8531823 out of 5

Keywords: Dale Earnhardt, Richard Childress, Ken Schrader, Alfred Alson, NASCAR, Intimidator, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Michael Waltrip, Daytona 500

Id: IyqZ5EJG-eg

Length: 7min 55sec (475 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 18 2011