Daytona Beach, Fla.  He was The Intimidator,  The Man in Black, and right to the end, Dale Earnhardt was every bit the brusque daredevil who drew millions to his sport. Earnhardt, the driver people either loved or hated, but had to watch either way, died Sunday at the Daytona 500, a race he spiced up with his trademark bumps and bold challenges, unexpected moves and even an obscene gesture to a green rookie.

Some 200,000 fans witnessed Earnhardt's #3 Chevrolet slam into a wall and careen into the infield during an accident on the last lap of the race.  A few hours later came the terrible news.  At age 49, possibly the best known figure in motor sports history was gone.

Earnhardt's statistics, 76 victories, seven Winston Cub championships, the long awaited victory at the Daytona 500 in 1998, don't come close to completely telling this story.

Rather, his image does. One of the mot repeated quotes in NASCAR history dealt with what if felt like to try and hold off the Intimidator with one lap remaining:  "There is no worse sight than seeing Dale Earnhardt in your rear view mirror," diver after vanquished driver would repeat over the years. Dressed in a black button down shirt, black jeans, and sporting a bushy mustache that was once nearly singed off, Earnhardt was an intimidating figure who went after what he wanted.  Not just on the speedway, but in the business world, in NASCARS from office and in the rules meetings, where he sat front and center Sunday before his final race.

He wore an open faced helmet and shunned some of  NASCARS other basic safety innovations.  He said the restrictor plates NASCAR used to slow speeds at it fastest tracks were for sissies and refused to don a new Head And Neck Safety, or HANS, brace, a device that has been touted as a way to lesson the blow of sever impacts.

Thus continued the pall that has been cast over NASCARS world for the past year.  Earnhardt was more than mean, tough and sullen. He was a winner who still felt he could challenge the field each and every week.

In the International Race of Champions on Friday, IRL driver Eddie Cheever nudged Earnhardt aside, to get a piece of the lead. BUT Earnhardt saved his car and when the race was over, he drove up behind Cheever and spun him out onto the infield. They exchanged words, not all which appeared to be in jest.  It was a move Earnhardt never would of thought twice about had he made it, but Cheever was apologetic after the race.  "The last thing I need is a feud with Dale Earnhardt," he said.

The back and forth with Cheever stole the show, and even winner Dale Jerrett had to stop and marvel.  "Once again, Dale Earnhardt showed that he's the greatest driver in the world'" Jerrett said.  "I'm still amazed that he didn't wreck that car."

Almost everybody else on the circuit filled with fiercely proud and independent competitors had similar feelings.  The race may have encapsulated Earnhardt's career came in 1995 at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he turned the high banked, half mile oval into his own personal battleground.
Early Earnhardt was sent to the back of the field by NASCAR officials for knocking Rusty Wallace into a wall, Half the crowd cheered, the others booed.

The Intimidator also crashed with Derrike Cope and Lake Speed leaving the No. 3 car looking like something that belonged in a junkyard.  But Earnhardt wasn't through. Charging back into second place in his taped up Chevrolet, he ran into the back of leader Terry Labonte as they came off the final turn.  Labonte spun out as Earnhardt took the checkered flag, still the winner but battered and bruised.  There was a gentle side too.

An observer this week spoke of watching Earnhardt goad fellow competitors into taking a picture with a sick child at a publicity function, then shown concern for a woman who had almost fallen off a podium.  He also had begun to steady his once shaky relationship with dale Earnhardt Jr. the son who will take over his mantle much sooner than anyone figured.

Its just like kids growing up wanting to be Michael Jordan or wanting to be Dale Earnhardt," Earnhardt Jr. once said. "When I was growing up, I wanted to be Dale Earnhardt. He was the champion. He was my dad, but he was the guy who was winning and he was the guy I wanted to be.  I always thought about driving hid car and stuff, so it was kind of cool to be able to do that."

After the elder Earnhardt finally triumphed at the Daytona 500 in 1998, after 19 failures, pit crews, drivers and owners stood atop their cats and applauded.  NO other driver could command such respect.

But the party wasn't close to being over.  He won five more races afterward, finished second last year in the winston Cup Point standings and said he felt promised for a  run at a record either title this year.

THE QUEST ENDED MUCH TO EARLY...

Credit for the pictures and story:
Landmark News Service reporter Dustin Long contributed to this report.
Eddie Pells Associated Press
Ladywildlife Endangered Wildlife Press

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