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Wednesday, February 21
Can Earnhardt Jr. fill the void?
Associated Press
There was a moment of awkward silence and confusion when the NASCAR hierarchy was asked if anyone could possibly fill the void left by the death of Dale Earnhardt.
New president Mike Helton looked down the table to chairman Bill France Jr., whose father invented big-time stock car racing. Only France could answer so vital a question.
|  | | Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of the prime candidates to replace his father as the face of American racing. |
"It's going to take time, if we ever fill it," France said.
Then he seemed to reverse himself.
"Life has to go on," he said. "I'm sure we will. Somebody's going to come along."
Most fans think a big part of NASCAR died with Earnhardt. Through hard driving, a record-tying seven championships and slick promotion, he became a racing icon who almost single-handedly lifted NASCAR into the mainstream of American sports.
Fans, vendors and promoters aren't sure the loss of Earnhardt will be bad for business. Some expect him to loom as large in death as he was in life.
"He's the Elvis of NASCAR," said Fay Litt of London, Ontario. "There will never be another Dale Earnhardt."
But like every fan interviewed outside Daytona International Speedway, where the sport's greatest star crashed and died Sunday in the Daytona 500, Litt said her love for racing will not wither.
Woody Harrington of Waterloo, Mich., also won't stop going to the races, but knows he won't see Earnhardt bumping and rubbing in the black No. 3 Chevrolet, the fans on their feet cheering and screaming. Harrington doesn't share the optimism France voiced during a news conference the day after Earnhardt died of a massive head injury.
"Elvis Presley was a one-time deal. The Beatles were a one-time deal. Dale Earnhardt was a one-time deal," Harrington said.
To Jeff Hickle, Earnhardt is a permanent deal.
Hickle's family runs a collectibles business in Uniontown, Pa. He says the demand for Earnhardt souvenirs was always great. Now, he can see an Elvislike windfall for the industry.
He estimates that Earnhardt paraphernalia accounts for about half of all sales in the driver market. Now, his company is getting ready for "Farewell Dale" bumper stickers.
Earnhardt touched so many people who don't want to let go, and Hickle admits he's one of them.
"I have a Monte Carlo, and I'm going to get it painted black and have the guy that does our decals do it just like his," he said.
One by one, fans said they'll tune in or turn out Sunday for the second race of the season, in Rockingham, N.C.
Like many racers, Mike Wallace can't imagine ever seeing a better handler of a car than Earnhardt.
"You'd look at it and think, 'That just isn't possible,"' Wallace said.
Kyle Petty said Earnhardt could do things that mystified the others.
"You could see a 20-car pileup, and if just one car made it through, it was the one Earnhardt was driving," Petty said. "He was the last cowboy."
Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart are the two established stars under 30 with enough years remaining to put them in a class with Earnhardt on the track, but both lack his charisma. In fact, only King Richard Petty, who shares with Earnhardt the record for championships, was ever so beloved.
So, can there be a serious candidate to replace The Intimidator? France sees one: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
"Dale Jr. seems to have the potential to follow in his father's footsteps," France said.
Sterling Marlin, whose car touched Earnhardt's a few seconds before it crashed into the fourth-turn wall, would love to see the 26-year-old take over.
"He's a heck of a talent, and hopefully Dale Jr. can just pick up and carry on what his dad started," Marlin said.
Marlin credits the elder Earnhardt with "making the sport" at the time it was rapidly gaining in popularity, and wonders about the future.
"I thought about it as soon as it happened, the effect it's going to have on us all," he said.
Earnhardt certainly had an effect on Eddie Cheever, the 1998 Indianapolis 500 champion, who forced The Intimidator to the grass last Friday in an IROC race. Earnhardt spun out Cheever on the cooldown lap, and the Indy Racing League star thought there was going to be trouble after the cars returned to pit road.
He was relieved when he saw Earnhardt's trademark sly smile. Then, The Man In Black wrapped his arm around Cheever, silencing the booing crowd.
"I have known only two individuals whose very presence transcended the fact that they were extraordinary racing drivers: Dale Earnhardt and Ayrton Senna," Cheever said.
He raced against Senna, the three-time Formula One champion killed in a crash in 1994. To Cheever, Earnhardt and Senna were equally huge stars off the track.
"No one else could fill a room like they could," Cheever said.
They also did a fabulous job filling seats at the race track and sofas in front of the TV. Cherie Scott of West Palm Beach, Fla., was there in large part because of Earnhardt, and will remain a NASCAR fan despite his death.
That doesn't mean there won't be a feeling of emptiness.
"Everybody always looked forward to The Intimidator coming around that corner," Scott said. "But he won't be doing that anymore."
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