Coping with Earnhardt

Derrike Cope, who won the 1990 Daytona 500 when Dale Earnhardt blew a tire on the last lap, says he's glad Dale finally won NASCAR's biggest race in 1998:

(From Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr., page 160) In some respects, I felt tied to Earnhardt. Until his win (in 1998), I was one of the main obstacles between the Daytona 500 and him. It's almost to the point to where you feel bad that you won it, to some degree, just because he had done everything else in racing that he could possibly do.

Thank God he did win it, because to do what he had done and to get killed in the fashion he did, it would really have been unfair. I'm just very appreciative that he won it.

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Finding my books online

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER: EDITORatWORK

More entries from TARJ

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

EDITOR@WORK blog entries 

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

Entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• OOH! OOH! The stereophonic huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!