Submitted by NASCAR Eclectic

Almost the same age my dad was when he died, 3 years 3 months after Dale died. See the “3-Factor” there?

I got an email from someone asking me to put together something about Dale so they could post it on their new all NASCAR Blogger’s site - actually, I’m sort of included on the site too, although I haven’t really ‘officially’ posted there yet (too busy man).

That email got me thinking; thinking about Dale’s death and how easily it could have been prevented, thinking about how much NASCAR has changed since his death, thinking about how much a fan can invest emotionally in a driver, thinking about how I will never invest that much ever again into another driver, thinking about how, for lack of a better word, ‘happy’ it made me to watch him race - win or lose, and so on …

Well here it is, my ultimate tribute to the ‘Man in Black’;

“Miss you Dale, wish you were here.”

Kind of a let down for some of you, I know. But if you get it, truly get it, then you know.

For those of you who are interested, below is a link list of my favourite Dale Earnhardt posts from this site.

- “Who is Your Favourite Driver?” - Why Dale is mine.

- “Great Finishes” - 1991 Daytona 500, Ugh!

- “Dale Earnhardt’s Top 10 Races” - O.K., I went past 10 and still missed one great race.

- “The Moment” - when I became a hard core Dale Earnhardt fan, complete with video.

- “Trash Talking and Responsibility” - one of my most favourite stories about Dale and how he tried to psych-out a very young (and in second place) Mark Martin before the final race in the 1990 season

- Gordon vs Earnhardt: The Debate Continues - Dale wins!

I know there are a few more, but these are the ones that stand out in my head.

Happy Birthday Dale!