It was a beautiful day on November 5th, 2000. I remember that day very clearly. It was my FIRST ever NASCAR race. I was so excited. I was 8 years old and I had an obsession with rainbows, hence why I was a Jeff Gordon fan. I remember seeing all of the fans anxious in anticipation for the green flag to drop. I could hear the track announcer mentioning something about Rusty Wallace. I only assumed that he was starting on the pole, which he was.
There was so much action! There were at least 5-6 drivers that had a chance to win that race from the way the lead kept changing hands. Jeff Burton was the class of the field for most of the day, but guys like Jeremy Mayfield, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, and Ricky Rudd also had pretty solid cars. Unfortunately for Rudd, he had some sort of issue and wound up like 37th. It was my older brother’s first time at a race, and it was for my mother as well. She was really funny. She asked so many questions, but she would always ask me because of course NASCAR was and still today is my obsession. I’m in love with it. I thought it was annoying at first, but later on it would prove to be a defining moment in my life.
I had never had so much fun in my entire life. Wow! This is what it feels like to be a true NASCAR fan. I was sitting on the backstretch seats that Phoenix used to have and it amazed me at the representation of drivers you saw out there. I was so amazed that I saw the Labonte fans, the Gordon fans, and the Stewart fans for example. Bobby fans were booing Terry, and Terry fans were booing Bobby. I was like, “These fans are competitive as well.”
But nothing meant more than after the race walking back to the car. It was a zoo. That’s for sure. We were all in a pack with some other fans that were just leaving and no one was paying attention, but someone in a golf cart was slowly driving past us. It was Dale Earnhardt. No one even noticed him. I didn’t even notice him, but the person that I taught about NASCAR earlier in the race, did. That was my mom. She said, “Hi, Dale Earnhardt.” Everyone just stopped as if zombies had invaded the Earth, then everyone looked up and screamed at the top of their lungs. Dale was surprised and got all red and smiled that smile that so many people in NASCAR have had a privilege to see. I didn’t like Dale before that race. I thought he was just a dirty old man, but after that I realized that he was just like any other person. That was when I became a Dale Earnhardt fan. And it was on November 5, 2000 that I came face to face with the greatest driver that NASCAR has ever seen. Dale Earnhardt was a driver on the track, but the next day he was your next door neighbor.
