The Loss on Turn Four
The bleachers swayed and the crowds cheered as the cars raced by on the track below. Fans gathered around from all over the US for a four day weekend of racing in sunny Florida to see the best of the best race to the finish at the Daytona 500 speedway. Today wasn't sunny though. The weather was sad and cold and added a chill that ran deep to the bones. Daytona and all the events leading up to the big race were “something to look forward to in cold February” (Ruck). The events included pole qualifying, advance auto parts clash, can-am duels, and then the final big race.
The checkered flag waved and wiped above in the bitter wind indicating the last lap to all drivers still in the race that all gathered around to experience. With the final lap of the day, Dale’s team, including himself, found themselves at the front of the pack. This was no surprise, “his two …show more content…
“The youngster followed his Dad everywhere and dreamed of beating the best” (Gillispie). Dale stated, “Man, I was a troubled kid. I was going to get kicked out of a Christian school and got sent to military school for a year and a half and I didn’t really have much direction until I got the opportunity to drive race cars” (DeCola). “He even went as far as dropping out of school in the ninth grade to pursue his dream of racing” (Dale Earnhardt Google). He grew up in a racing family with four siblings.
Earnhardt himself was young and in love at seventeen when he married his first wife Latane Brown in the year 1968. The couple was blessed with a son that they named Kerry Earnhardt. However, the couple divorced four years later. The next year after his divorce, in 1971, he married his second wife Brenda Gee. The couple had two children named Kelley King and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale, who like his father, dreamed of racing and set out to accomplish his goals to follow in his father’s
The bleachers swayed and the crowds cheered as the cars raced by on the track below. Fans gathered around from all over the US for a four day weekend of racing in sunny Florida to see the best of the best race to the finish at the Daytona 500 speedway. Today wasn't sunny though. The weather was sad and cold and added a chill that ran deep to the bones. Daytona and all the events leading up to the big race were “something to look forward to in cold February” (Ruck). The events included pole qualifying, advance auto parts clash, can-am duels, and then the final big race.
The checkered flag waved and wiped above in the bitter wind indicating the last lap to all drivers still in the race that all gathered around to experience. With the final lap of the day, Dale’s team, including himself, found themselves at the front of the pack. This was no surprise, “his two …show more content…
“The youngster followed his Dad everywhere and dreamed of beating the best” (Gillispie). Dale stated, “Man, I was a troubled kid. I was going to get kicked out of a Christian school and got sent to military school for a year and a half and I didn’t really have much direction until I got the opportunity to drive race cars” (DeCola). “He even went as far as dropping out of school in the ninth grade to pursue his dream of racing” (Dale Earnhardt Google). He grew up in a racing family with four siblings.
Earnhardt himself was young and in love at seventeen when he married his first wife Latane Brown in the year 1968. The couple was blessed with a son that they named Kerry Earnhardt. However, the couple divorced four years later. The next year after his divorce, in 1971, he married his second wife Brenda Gee. The couple had two children named Kelley King and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale, who like his father, dreamed of racing and set out to accomplish his goals to follow in his father’s