NASCAR hit the track for the first time in 2012 this week, as 25 teams prepare for tonight's Budweiser Shootout, and all are getting set for this year's Daytona 500.
Being back at Daytona brings back the feeling of joy and prosperity for drivers, crews and the fans. Three months without waving a green or seeing a driver take home the checkered flag, the anticipation of getting the 2012 season under way is at a fever pitch.
But looking at the date of when this race is held, that's not the only thing on the minds of the fans.
February 18 is a day NASCAR remembers not for victory, not for joy, but for the ultimate loss for both fans, and the sport as a whole.
Today marks 11 years since NASCAR lost it's icon, and by far most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt. Even now, the pain and the hurt felt with the loss of the "Intimidator" still is felt. That 2001 season-opening Daytona 500 had everything one could expect in NASCAR, as a new rules package for restrictor plates got it's first taste of Daytona, and Dodge would make a return to the sport after two decades away.
Earnhardt himself was coming off a year where he was close to winning his eighth championship, coming up short behind Bobby Labonte. Heading into the season, he was already favored to get that title, having gained a lot of momentum at the end of the season.
When the checkered flag fell, Earnhardt himself may not have won the race, but he got to see his two drivers, Michael Waltrip and son, Dale Jr, go for the win, with Waltrip getting his first career victory.
Unfortunately, the sight that Earnhardt would ultimately see is a concrete wall in turn 4, with Ken Schrader's M&M's Pontiac right beside it.
I remember hearing Schrader say in his interview afterward, "I'm not a doctor." At that moment, I and everyone else watching knew things were not right. That sinking feeling in the stomach set in immediately, and further came about seeing the ambulance make the trip to Halifax Medical Center.
The joy everyone had for Waltrip seemed to disappear slowly, because despite being in victory lane, thoughts were still about the driver of the No. 3.
Finally, when the announcement came from Mike Helton, saying "we've lost Dale Earnhardt," nothing else mattered. No celebrating, no victory, no joy among anyone in the sport. One man, holding a microphone, with a somber look on his face, took all the joy out of what should have been an exciting afternoon.
I remember hearing the announcement and just not believing it, but knew I had to make a phone call to a friend that was going to miss the race. Although I knew she wanted results, I ultimately made the call to give the news.
The conversation went as follows:
ME: Hey, the race is over.
HER: Great, who won?
ME: Michael Waltrip, but that's not the reason I'm calling. I need to ask, you believe everything I tell you right?
HER: Yeah, why?
ME: What I'm gonna tell you is the truth.
HER: Ok?
ME: Dale Earnhardt is dead.
On the phone I could hear laughter, as if what I said was a joke. Shortly after, her voice came back on the line.
HER: Yeah right, come on.
ME: No, I'm serious. He died, right at the end of the race.
HER: Don't kid like that, seriously.
ME: Turn on ESPN right now, and just watch.
I could hear the television change stations over the ringer, and a few seconds later, I heard the phone hit the floor. It's a sound that still lives in my mind even today.
Eleven years later, the image is still greatly embedded in my mind, as in the minds of everyone that witnessed that race. Even now, with safety improvements and drastically different cars, the images of that day still haunt everyone. That corner is part of NASCAR, and that moment is one that will forever be linked to Daytona.
As NASCAR hits the track tonight for the opening event of the season, all the excitement around the first green flag will never overshadow what happened on that day in 2001.
It will forever be, as FDR said, "A day that will live in infamy."
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