NASCAR lost its voice with Earnhardt Sr.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
NASCAR lost more than an icon on Feb. 18, 2001. It also lost its voice.
That, of course, is only one of the reasons Dale Earnhardt still is mourned today, five years after he died in a crash at the Daytona 500. But some drivers believe they partially lost NASCAR's ear on that fateful day. They believe that, when the seven-time champion talked, the sport's governing body seemed to listen.
"We don't really have a voice as far as the drivers go," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said recently as he and others who will drive Sunday in this year's Daytona 500 reflected on his father's death. "There's a lot of drivers I respect and a lot of drivers that know exactly what they're talking about, but they don't necessarily get that ear from NASCAR that Dad got.
"[NASCAR officials] like to be able to pick and choose who they listen to and go to advice for. I wish we did have a voice. There's a lot of guys out there with a lot of good things to say and a lot of things that would be able to make NASCAR's job easier."
Thought Gordon would step in
Many believed that, after The Intimidator's death, Jeff Gordon would take over Earnhardt's role as the drivers' conduit to NASCAR.
Gordon, however, doesn't believe a driver can simply lay claim to such a role.
"I don't think even Dale really chose to be the leader," said Gordon, the No. 2 qualifier, behind pole-sitter Jeff Burton, for Sunday's race. "It just kind of happened over time. Just expecting someone else to be the leader, I don't know if that necessarily happened. We do it together as drivers."
Gordon believes it will be hard for anybody to measure up.
"I feel like over the years that I've been here that I've earned more respect," Gordon said. "But I don't know if I'll ever have the type of respect that Dale had. Because Dale had that kind of respect, everybody looked up to him. Whether they enjoyed racing with him or having dinner with him or not, they all respected him tremendously."