Page 18 - aruba-today-20171118

A18 SPORTS
Saturday 18 November 2017
Earnhardt

Continued from Page 17 citing.” Earnhardt’s finale
Earnhardt has one final hit a bump Friday — he’ll
destination on his farewell start from the rear of the
tour, at Homestead-Miami field because of an engine
Speedway, a track which change in the Chevys. His
over the last two years also one wish was to end the
helped the sport bid fare- race on his terms.
well to NASCAR greats Jeff “It would be a bit of a
Gordon and Tony Stewart. heartbreaker if we have
His legacy will be different the kind of issue that would
from theirs, and not simply take us out of an event and
because Earnhardt never we couldn’t finish,” he said.
won a championship as Earnhardt, dressed in a red
they did. If anything, he T-shirt and red cap of his
was more beloved as an race sponsor, was at ease
ambassador of the sport as he reflected on the end
than any driver of his era. of career that started May
The 20-something Earn- 30, 1999, at Charlotte Mo-
hardt that retreated into tor Speedway. He finished Dale Earnhardt Jr. smiles as he waves to cheering fans during driver introductions prior to a NAS-
his motorhome to play 16th — dad was sixth — and CAR Cup Series auto race at Phoenix International Raceway Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017, in Avondale,
video games all night has he soon started his perpet- Ariz.
matured into a 43-year-old ual grip on NASCAR’s most Associated Press
man that will be flanked popular driver award. in my mind. That’s crazy. team owner Rick Hendrick races overall. But he never
Sunday by his pregnant Earnhardt cracked jokes, I mean, you’d be fired in since 2008 after he split won a Cup championship,
wife, his mother and sister quizzed his eligibility to this day and time if a driver DEI, the team founded or came close in achieve-
before he slides into the race in an Xfinity race with was that carefree about it. by his father but run by his ments to matching his late
No. 88 Chevrolet one last a reporter and spoke with It didn’t seem to matter.” stepmother. He was un- Hall of Fame father, Dale,
time.”There’s a whole other some regret on the mis- He maintained much of happy with the direction of who won seven titles and
world out there waiting for spent years early in his that spirit even though he DEI since his father’s 2001 was known as “The Intimi-
him,” sister Kelley Earnhardt career. “There were days shaped up and ditched death in a last-lap acci- dator.” A third-generation
Miller said. “There’s his mar- when I would come into the lazy habits and shirttail- dent at the Daytona 500, driver, Earnhardt wanted
riage and having a baby the garage to practice hanging-out wardrobe he and a frosty relationship to win a title for himself,
and doing other things in and everybody was in their kept at Dale Earnhardt Inc. with his stepmother led him Hendrick and the legion
life, either professionally or cars pulling out of their stalls when he joined the more to bolt to NASCAR’s most of fans who have idolized
personally that he hasn’t and I’m just walking in,” he buttoned-down operation powerful team. him for a generation. Earn-
been able to do. He’ll have said. “And, nothing was at Hendrick Motorsports. He won a Daytona 500 hardt has been feted with
time for them now. It’s ex- wrong with that, you know, Earnhardt has driven for with each team, and 26 charitable donations, his
father’s race car, a barrel
of pickles and numerous
video tributes from tracks,
sponsors and teams. Bud-
weiser , his sponsor at DEI,
aired a tear-jerking appre-
ciation of his days in the
No. 88 car.
“They were all very emo-
tional. Amy is the one that’s
obviously the most emo-
tional, with being pregnant
and everything, so they’ve
really been hitting her,” he
said, laughing. Earnhardt,
who says he’s healthy and
feels good in the wake of
concussions that cost him
20 career races, wants
some of those memories
on home video and hired
a photographer to shoot
the final weekend and has
a camera crew filming in
preparation for a potential
documentary. While the
sport has all eyes on Earn-
hardt, his are on two more
parting gifts: JR Motorsports
can win an Xfinity Series
championship on Saturday
and hunting buddy Martin
Truex Jr. is the favorite to
win the Cup championship
on Sunday.q