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A Year of
Triumph and Tragedy As the
2001 Nascar Winston Cup season came to an
end, many things came to mind on how
unique this season has been. What a year
it has been. From gut wrenching tragedy to
joyous victory and celebration, this has
been a season like no other. When Dale
Earnhardt was killed on the last lap at
the Daytona 500 in February the whole
world of Nascar crashed down for a brief
moment. People went from being ecstatic
for Michael Waltrip, who won his first
race in a Dale Earnhardt Incorporated car
to feeling like a family member had just
died. Nascar had lost its leader, the
Intimidator, the invincible man who had
walked away from wrecks so many times
before. How would Nascar continue without
its leader? The following week at Rockingham, Steve Park helped us heal our broken hearts a little with an emotional win for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated. The next week proved to be exciting as well for a guy familiar with winning the million-dollar bonus as Jeff Gordon conquered Las Vegas for the first time. Then a kid named Kevin Harvick gave our hearts something to cheer for as he won at Atlanta in just his third race in Winston Cup, driving Dales old car. As the season continued, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd showed their strength by dominating the top three spots in points. Were Jeff Gordon and his newly constructed team really good enough to run for the championship this year? On a
stormy night in Charlotte that question
was answered. On the first lap of The
Winston all star race, a rain filled track
caused havoc on the field causing a huge
crash in turn one collecting Gordon, Kevin
Harvick, Michael Waltrip and Jeff Burton.
But since it was not a points race and
they had not completed a lap, Nascar
allowed those teams to pull their back up
cars out and race them. Jeff Gordon ended
up winning The Winston in dramatic fashion
in his back up car, giving flashbacks of
the old glory days of him and the rainbow
warriors. This victory pumped Gordon and
his whole team up and showed them that
they were ready to run for the
championship. During the
summer very exciting and emotional things
happened. Gordon won two straight races in
a row at Dover and Michigan and Nascar
returned to Daytona in July for the Pepsi
400. I was lucky enough to be in the
stands that fateful night, when Dale
Earnhardt Jr. crossed the finish line in
first with Michael Waltrip in second, the
exact opposite of the Daytona 500. The
emotion that filled the air is too much to
put into words. Seeing Dale Jr. climb on
top of his car and celebrate his triumph
with the fans was incredible. Conquering
Daytona for him was probably the single
thing that many true Nascar fans needed to
help ease the pain of a turbulent
season. They say
the Brickyard is made for helping dreams
coming true and Jeff Gordon proved that
once again as he won his third Brickyard
400 after just turning 30 in August. This
win padded Gordon’s point lead and
put him in position to win his 4th Winston
Cup title. Then as Nascar was feeling a
little bit of closure from the Earnhardt
investigation, the terrorist attacks of
September 11th occurred. These attacks put
in perspective how precious life is and
how much we have in this great country.
The race on September 16th at New
Hampshire was postponed because of the
attacks. One week later, a patriotic crowd
of thousands of Americans cheered as Dale
Earnhardt Jr. won at Dover. Then comes
the story of Matt Dahl, a young man who
lost his father, Jason Dahl, the pilot on
flight 93. Both were avid Jeff Gordon fans
and one of their dreams was to meet
Gordon. Jeff Gordon made that happen and
Matt was invited to the race and got the
chance to meet one of his heroes. To top
off a fabulous weekend at the new Kansas
Speedway, Jeff Gordon won the race and
dedicated it to his new friend Matt Dahl.
Classy acts like this really show you how
much these drivers care about others and
how they want to help out. At Atlanta
in November, Jeff Gordon finally clinched
the Winston Cup title. Robbie Loomis was
finally a champion crew chief. This
capped off an incredible year for Gordon
who ended his season with six wins and a
championship. As the
season finally ended at New Hampshire, on
a surprisingly warm day in November Gordon
was in victory lane, but it was not Jeff
Gordon, it was Robby Gordon, who had
bumped Jeff out of the way at the end to
win the race. But Jeff Gordon did not go
quietly as he let Robby know how mad he
was by hitting him from behind on the
caution lap. Boos rained down on Robby
Gordon for a change instead of Jeff, who
had just gained a little more respect from
the fans. This should give people a lot
to talk about in the off-season as we gear
up for Daytona. In New York at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel it was an emotional awards ceremony for sure! Tears filled the room during the Dale Earnhardt tribute as Garth Brooks sang The Dance. Teresa Earnhardt made a much-needed appearance, accepting Dale’s award of Most Popular Driver. Then Jeff Gordon took the stage and poured his heart out, pumping himself and his team up for 2002. Many thanks were handed out and true emotions flowed freely. Overall, this season has been bittersweet. The loss of Dale at Daytona overshadows even the happiest of moments this year. This season has tested even the strongest of people and the sport will never be same without Earnhardt but at least we know we have Jeff Gordon to lead us into a new era of Nascar Winston Cup racing with class, respect and great racing, the same thing Dale Earnhardt did for so many years. |
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