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Earnhardt inducted into 'Hall'
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Provided by
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on Monday, October 15, 2001
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There are those who
always knew the late Dale Earnhardt of Mooresville was an exception to the
rule.
That fact was taken literally during Labor Day Weekend ceremonies surrounding
the induction festivities involving this year's members into the the National
Motorsports Press Association's Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame.
Earnhardt,
who was killed in a crash on the final lap of this year's season-opening
Daytona 500 in February, was inducted under an exemption to the traditional
five-year waiting period.
He was the first person voted in under a rule adopted in January allowing
"extraordinary candidates'' to become eligible immediately. He joins his
father, Ralph, as a Hall member.
On behalf of the family, his sister, Kathy Earnhardt Watkins, was on hand in
Darlington to accept the selection.
"A few years ago,'' offered Watkins in a short but sentimental address,
"our family attended this same gathering in honor of our father. Dale
was then a champion in his own career and very well known in his style of
driving and personality traits. That night, he attended as a son and a
brother.
"We knew the day would come,'' added Watkins, "that we would honor
our brother because of his contributions to this sport. I wish it had not
come this soon, but that doesn't change the honor and pride we feel as a
family.''
Watkins' speech capped an evening at the Darlington Country Club during which
fellow motorsports giants A.J. Foyt, Glen Wood, Bill France Jr., and
Earnhardt were enshrined.
NASCAR President Mike Helton read a letter from Earnhardt's widow, Teresa,
and then his sister came on stage to accept the presentation.
"Watching Dale's life through the media is like taking a lap around
Bristol and then Talladega,'' she noted. "Fast, furious, scary,
passionate, gratifying, challenging, sometimes disappointing but always
exciting.
"We did not always like what we read or heard,'' she continued,
"but that's the way Dale's life was. We watched him perform as a
champion and accept defeat with humility. The honor of his induction into
this Hall of Fame will keep Dale forever a champion, young, healthy and his
legacy alive forever.''
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