Jeff Burton (31), Clint Bowyer (33), Martin Truex Jr. (56), David Reutimann (00), Carl Edwards (99), and Greg Biffle (16) race during the second of Thursday’s two qualifying auto races for Sunday’s NASCAR Daytona 500, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla.(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)Bobby Tuders remembers the day NASCAR changed forever, but the accident that claimed Dale Earnhardt’s life is not what the Marion County resident wants to think about today, the 10th anniversary of the legendary driver’s death.
That memory is too painful for Tuders — known as “Earnhardt” to his friends — to discuss at length. Instead, he prefers to recall a personal moment with the Intimidator, a memory that shines a light on why Earnhardt’s popularity still surges so long after he died on that last-lap accident at Daytona.
“Me and my family used to go over to Dale’s car dealership [near Charlotte, N.C.] each year when he had his fan appreciation day,” Tuders said Wednesday. “My daughter Raylin, who was a little thing back then, had a black-and-white cheerleading outfit on and she wanted to do a cheer for Dale.
“We got to talk to him a bit, and he signed something for me, but we started to walk away when Raylin said, ‘I didn’t get to do my cheer.’ Dale called us back over and she did a cheer where she cut Jeff Gordon. Dale loved it and I remember him turning and telling some friends, ‘Ya’ll get the TV crew over here. I want everyone to see this baby do this cheer.’
“He thanked us and told my family as we left, ‘If it wasn’t for people like you, I wouldn’t be anybody.'”