I had to chuckle when I read Paul Fearnley’s blog last week about Romain Grosjean and the need for bad guys – black characters – in motor racing.
Paul’s examples were well-taken but all of them pale into utter insignificance compared to the truly legendary Dale Earnhardt, motor racing’s archetypal ‘Man in Black’.
Through the late 1980s and ’90s Earnhardt cultivated and projected his image as one of NASCAR’s toughest guys, always ready to use the fender when necessary. He drove a black Chevrolet with a white #3 on the roof and doors, and most of the time he seemed to wear a smirking grin beneath his trim, drooping moustache.
Unlike most forms of motor racing, stock car racing is a contact sport and Earnhardt was a grand master of ‘laying a fender’ on another car. Using your car’s fenders to best effect is one of the arts of the game, and nobody could do it better than him. Earnhardt was known first of all as ‘Iron Head’, then became ‘The Intimidator’, and over the years he crashed many people, almost always with a deft touch. He played the odds and won many times. He raised the ire of plenty of drivers and even more fans, emerging as the man people loved to hate.
In a US Scene column a few years ago I described a day at Daytona twenty years ago when Earnhardt crashed into Al Unser Jr’s tail on the last lap of an IROC race, knocking Unser ‘out of the ballpark’. Al Jr was as good as anyone in those days and regularly raced with and beat the NASCAR stars in IROC races at Daytona and elsewhere. Al had done a perfect job, slingshooting through into the lead going into the last lap.
But Earnhardt inched closer all the way down the back straight and as they thundered into turn three on the last lap Earnhardt hammered into the tail of Unser’s car. The collision sent Al Jr flying. In fact, he went over the wall and catch fence and literally ‘out of the ballpark’.
Thankfully, he was entirely uninjured. A little shaken to be sure, but unscratched. Back in the garage Earnhardt was grinning and telling the story. “Aw shucks, man! That’s racing! He knew I was coming. He’s okay, ain’t he?”
It was a salubrious lesson for Unser and I’ll always remember Earnhardt’s great rival and sometimes pal Rusty Wallace scowling about the incident. “Now you know why we all hate him,” Wallace barked.
After reflecting on the incident, Al Jr. reached a conclusion. “I guess the only way to beat him is to get far enough ahead so he can’t touch you because if he can get to you, he’s gonna crash you.”
A few years later Alex Zanardi learned a lesson or two from Earnhardt in another IROC race at Daytona. It was the first time Zanardi had driven a stock car or raced at Daytona. He was a raw rookie in that environment and after running well in the middle of the pack for a handful of laps Zanardi was knocked out of line by Earnhardt. The Italian fell back while Earnhardt went on to win.
In the pits after the race Zanardi surveyed the marks on his car’s right rear fender and talked about his rookie experience at Daytona. As Zanardi chatted in his thoughtful, amiable way, Earnhardt swaggered into the frame, grinning widely.
“Hey Zanardi!” he crowed. “What happened to you? Somebody hit you? Now, who would do that to you?”
Earnhardt’s grin grew even wider. “Man!” he added. “You gotta keep your wits about you when you’re runnin’ in the draft like that. Stick with me next time Zanardi. I’ll show you how t’do it.”
With that he was off, leaving Zanardi to ponder some more. About an hour later Zanardi sat down to watch the video of the race and discovered that it was Earnhardt no less who knocked him out of the way on his way to winning.
“He taught me a few lessons today,” Alex reflected. “I know a lot more about him now, on the track and off. They don’t come any tougher or smarter than that, do they? Maybe next time I’ll be ready for him.”
Many drivers hoped for the same after coming off second-best in a scuffle with Earnhardt. Like I said at the beginning, nobody played the game of stock car racing better than ‘The Intimidator’. NASCAR would love to have another ‘Man in Black’, but in a world where all the drivers are trained corporate pitchmen–in NASCAR in particular–nobody will ever fill the giant shoes Earnhardt left behind.
I think ‘Ironhead’ once severely spooked ‘Billy Bob’ Brundle. And that was before their IROC race started.
Gordon, you’re right: Earnhardt was racing’s ultimate ‘Man in Black’.
He’d eat Grosjean and Maldonado for breakfast.
Earnhardt was the “Big Brother” (nothing to do with today’s TV shows) of NASCAR, he intimidated every other racer there, but some of them didn’t accept that treatment. I still remember the way Sterling Marlin used to combat him, that was WAR really….
Two of his more famous quotes: After body-checking a competitor in a late race pass for a win, he said “eight wheels corner better than four” and perhaps the most famous was after wrecking Terry Labonte on the last lap at Bristol, Earnhardt said he didn’t mean to wreck him, “Just wanted to rattle his cage a little.”
I remember that Bristol race – even fans wearing #3 T-shirts were booing him in victory lane!
Yup, Dave, and Doug, I too remember that Bristol race, and how upset (euphemism) the fans were!
I’ll never forget the tirades of Earnhart and Waltrip against F1 and the use of technology in racing. Earnhart was quoted as saying he would never use a HANS device and likened it to a “noose” around his neck.
He likely would have survived his fatal crash if he was using HANS.
No one could fill Earnhart’s shoes because his driving and poor sportsmanship are not tolerated today.
As much as I was often dismayed at Earnhardt’s lack of sportsmanship, there is no question the man had incredible car control. Like Senna, it’s a shame he used the bully tactics he did, as his skill negated the need for such.
Still, I’ll never forget the save he pulled off in the IROC race when Cheever pushed him onto the apron at Daytona; that was really something (and he had a lot of those kind of moves in his history too).
I too remember the incident with Cheever. Iron Head was quite furious with Cheever and pursued him into the paddock. After that The Intimadator should have been called ‘The Hypocrite’!
A ‘salubrious’ lesson? ‘Salubrious means ‘healthful’. Nothing healthy about a dirty, dangerous cheat, yet this article somehow almost celebrates such tactics.
Not sure but I think Ironhead came about as a funny derivative of the Ironheart nickname of his dad Ralph.
to all who don’t fully get the history of NASCAR – Dale’s methods of driving were just an extension of what just about every other successful stock car driver had done before him. (Just look at all the rubbing going on in that legendary 1979 Daytona 500 finish.) He just did it better and got away with it more than anyone before his time. I wouldn’t call it poor sportsmanship, it is the common way of survival in this type of racing.
You have to remember, back in the infancy of NASCAR, many races were held on the little dirt bullrings. Here racing is a contact sport and it transferred itself to the paved ovals.
Regardless of how anyone felt about his “relations” with other drivers, Dale Sr. could do things with a stock car that few other drivers could do. Tim Richmond is one of the few exceptions that comes to mind.
Dale’s incredible car control was often on display when the NASCAR circus visited a road course. One of the more memorable occasions also showcased his grit and determination when he put his car on the pole at Watkins Glen with a broken sternum less than one week after the worst wreck/injury of his career. Wrestling a 3,500lb stocker around the Glen with a broken sternum must have hurt like hell.
For those of you who might have missed it, many of the stories brought up in these posts are covered–and much more–in a story I wrote about Earnhardt called ‘Long Shadow of the Man in Black’ in the February, 2011 issue of Motor Sport on the tenth anniversary of his death at Daytona in 2001. If you missed it and would like a better understanding of Earnhardt and his legend, give it a read.
Doug, I remember when Earnhardt qualified at The Glen with that busted up sternum. Steely stuff, no question.
I remember a lovely Earnhardt story from over 20 years ago now when the man himself opened a Dale Earnhardt themed restaurant. One of the featured plates was a steak for Earnhardt fans called “The Intimadator”, and when asked what would happen if say, some Mark Martin or Geoff Gordon fans wanted to eat there, quick as a flash, ‘No problem,’ says he, ‘we serve shrimp and chicken too!’
Mr Kirby – I’m so bemused that you choose to glorify poor sportmanship! It would seem that your dark interest in motorsport comes mainly for the dubious need of seeing others suffer in the crash.
I for one think that one word was missing from your ‘article’… nobody will ever fill the giant shoes Earnhardt left behind – THANKFULLY!
lorwerth, I was not a fan of Dale Earnhardt (I was a Mark Martin fan), but always respected the talent he had. I did feel the press played him up to be a greater “hero” than his on track actions justified.
Earnhardt is by no means the only case in which the media has given a greatly talented driver with questionable ethics a free pass. By no means.
I believe you may have read of one Ayrton Senna at one point? He does get just that little bit of glorification from the press on occasion…
A real mans racer .