A little over a week ago my favorite NASCAR driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., was involved in a crash while practicing for a Le Mans Series race he was participating in during his off weekend. I hadn't yet heard about the wreck when Eric called. Now, knowing my feelings about the Earnhardts, knowing that I probably had a hard time with Dale Sr.'s death, knowing that I'd probably freak if anything happened to Dale Jr., Eric decided it was best to start of the conversation like this ... "Did you hear what happened to Junior?" ... "He had a bad wreck" ... "They airlifted him to the hospital" ... "I'm not sure what the latest news is " ...

"But he got out of the car under his own strength. They think he may just be badly burned."

Good job, Eric. I think you almost made me cry. Umm, let's forget I just mentioned the crying thing because we djust don't have the time to open that can of worms. I bring this up a week later because I still find myself listening to the old newscast-infused music mixes that I pulled out of the vault when I started thinkin about Dale Sr. again. Couple Eric's dramatic reporting of the news with ESPN's recent airing of their Top 25 Sports Headlines countdown (Sr.'s death at 15) and it just seemed like the right time to sorta sit and think about "NASCAR's greatest driver ever" and the man responsible for drawing me to the sport.

I'll spare you the hero worship, but I think I would like to share some of the most memorable clips with the name of the song accompanying the clip in parentheses.

"This is undoubtedly one of the toughest announcements I've ever personally had to make, but after the accident in Turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500 ... we've lost Dale Earnhardt."
- Mike Helton

"We're all deeply saddened by the loss. And I appreciate everybody's thoughts and prayers. We'll get through this. I'm sure he'd want us to keep going, so that's what we're gonna do."
-Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"Dale, can you win your second 500 today?"
-Interviewer before 2001 Daytona 500 (Please Remember Me by Tim McGraw)

"I think it's gonna be some exciting racing. You're gonna see something you probably haven't seen on Fox"
- Dale Sr. before the 2001 Daytona 500 (Please Remember Me by Tim McGraw)

"Great job, Dale. You done it, buddy, you got that monkey off your back, buddy."
- On the radio to Dale Sr. after winning his first and only Daytona 500 (One More Day by Diamond Rio)

"I think Bill France's quote sums it up, 'NASCAR has lost its greatest driver ever'"
-Mike Helton (If I Had Only Known by Reba McEntire)

"I can remember goin to the races with my dad when I was ten-twelve years old. That's what you was involved in. I really didn't play that much sports in school."
-Dale Earnhardt, Sr. (If I Had Only Known by Reba McEntire)

"Anything you can have or do to be competitive more than the other guy and beat em is a part of your plan to beat em or your system to beat em. Then if you can intimidate em and they call you the Intimidator then so be it."
-Dale Earnhardt, Sr. (If I Had Only Known by Reba McEntire)

"You do look around and try to not go so fast. You need to stop and say hi, or you know, stop and call your mama and tell her you love her before you leave town or when you get back in town, and I still don't do that enough."
-Dale Earnhardt, Sr. (If I Had Only Known by Reba McEntire)

"Just as Earvin Johnson was Magic, Walter Payton, Sweetness, and Muhammed Ali The Greatest, Dale Earnhardt was stock car racing's Intimidator. It wasn't just a name, it was a 200 mile an hour way of life."
(Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton)

"It was the way he lived, it was the way he died. At full throttle, on the final turn of the final lap of a race won by a driver in a car Earnhardt owned, with his namesake son right behind."
(Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton)

"Dale Jr., he's competitive too and this is something his dad would want him to continue because of his competitiveness, so we should not be surprised to see him drive, and I would not be surprised to see the number 3 retired from Winston Cup racing."
(Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton)

"I'm so at ease racing, drivin a race car racing, it's really ridiculous."
-Dale Earnhardt (The Dance by Garth Brooks)

"We lost the greatest driver this sport ever had"
(The Dance by Garth Brooks)

"There's just certain people that you don't feel this could ever happen to, and he's one of them."
(The Dance by Garth Brooks)

"I think anybody that follows the sport, that's involved with the sport in a little or big way is a little numb today."
- Ward Burton (The Dance by Garth Brooks)

"I just miss the excitement that Dale Sr. added to it. Especially when Bristol comes up. Who else is Rusty Wallace gonna complain about?"
(The Dance by Garth Brooks)

"I don't know, I just stir up controversy, don't I?"
- Dale Earnhardt (The Dance by Garth Brooks)

"I used to watch him every Sunday, and it's just really sad, it hurts my heart to see that I can't come home every Sunday and watch him."
(The Dance by Garth Brooks)

"North Carolina's always been about racing, and tobacco, and farming, and that pretty much sums up Dale Earnhardt."
(The Dance by Garth Brooks)

"When you think of NASCAR, you actually thought of Earnhardt before you thought of the word NASCAR."
(The Dance by Garth Brooks)

"I just grew up just wantin to be a racecar driver, not a great racecar driver or one that has won championships or anything"
- Dale Earnhardt (The Dance by Garth Brooks)