(NOTE: I originally posted this Sunday, October 14, 2007 on my writing blog.)
It wasn't easy when I wrote "I
Remember Dale Earnhardt" in 2001. Current Cup drivers and all but one Cup
owner (Bill Davis) would not talk to me. They said they were concerned with
licensing — Earnhardt's widow, Teresa, wasn't getting a huge chunk of the pie.
So I called or emailed one team after another and got a no or a no reply.
The first book was good. All of the
stories were genuine and heartfelt, but most of them were too nice. A few
people talked about Earnhardt's often ruthless tactics, but no one could REALLY
tell what it was like to race Earnhardt or to know him.
****
I had wanted for years to update the
book. I really wanted to get Terry Labonte to talk about winning
at Bristol in '95 with a front end crumpled by a last-lap bump from Earnhardt.
Or the 1999 Bristol race, when Terry was leading on the last lap, and Earnhardt
"rattled his cage" all the way into the wall.
Then in August 2007, I got an email
from Cumberland House, the publishing house for "I Remember Dale
Earnhardt." Publisher Ron Pitkin wanted to update the book; would I be
interested? Just send a quick proposal, and we'll go from there.
I did, and I quickly contacted Richard
Childress Racing (Earnhardt's old team) and every Cup team that had a car owner
or driver who raced against Earnhardt. Then I did the same with Busch Series
and Craftsman Truck Series teams. I called and left messages. One woman told me
that the guy I was pursuing was out of the country; wouldn't say where. Most
teams ignored me. Kyle Petty's PR guy called and said Kyle was concerned with
licensing. But he called. Jeff Gordon's assistant said Jeff isn't doing books
right now.
Several people I know wouldn't call
back. I called one former driver several times, and I actually got him. He said
he was busy but for me to call back in a half hour. I did, expecting an
interview, and he said he didn't want to talk about Earnhardt. Had nothing good
to say.
I had a hard time in '01, but it was
harder this time. I'd already talked to a bunch of track presidents, PR guys,
fans, hometown folk and such. All wonderful, but I wanted gritty stories and,
most of all, drivers and people who knew Dale at his best and worst.
I wasn't bashful. The first guy I
contacted and talked to was NASCAR publicist Jim Hunter, the former president of Darlington
Raceway. I called Mike Curb, who excelled as a songwriter and as a car owner. I
called Mike Helton, the president of NASCAR. I tried Steve Park, who raced for
Earnhardt. And I called Brett Bodine, a former driver I met in 1987 and now an
employee at NASCAR's R&D center. I got Hunter, and our conversation carried
me mentally back to the '90s, when I was at the Charleston (S.C.) Post and
Courier, an important paper to Hunter and Darlington Raceway. Jim was warm and
real. Didn't get a callback from Curb, Helton, Park and Bodine, but all you can
do is try.
I did luck out and get Ron Hornaday,
who also drove for Earnhardt. Dick Trickle called me back. So did Geoff Bodine
(Earnhardt's chief rival in the '80s), David Pearson, Larry McReynolds
(Earnhardt's crew chief when he won the 1998 Daytona 500), current Cup driver
Ken Schrader, and other former drivers like Dave Marcis (Dale's great friend),
Jerry Nadeau and Randy LaJoie. All were terrific. Bodine fleshed out the
rivalry, and Dick told me that Earnhardt didn't hassle him because of the age
difference between the two men. You don't wreck your daddy.
I did some networking and found Gary
Hargett, Earnhardt's car owner in Late Model Sportsman in the '70s. Gary said
that Earnhardt hadn't changed. He was an asshole; then he became a rich
asshole. Gary told some stories, and he helped breathe some life -- not myth --
into the Earnhardt legend.
I found Jay Wells, whom Earnhardt
nicknamed the Troll (the story is explained in the book). I talked to Bob
Misenheimer, the current mayor of Kannapolis, N.C., Earnhardt's hometown. And I
called Dr. Joe Mattioli, the boss at Pocono Raceway and a man I've known to be
human, humane and funny.
Getting Bodine, Hargett and Wells made
it worth doing the book again; they were that good. And the others enriched the
project.
Just so you know, the book isn't "I Remember Dale Earnhardt" this time, even though some of the text
is the same. A few years ago, I wrote a story about Earnhardt's kindnesses to
children with the hopes of sending it to newspapers as a promotional tool. I
named it Earnhardt, the Angel in Black. I chose that title because of
Earnhardt's nickname -- the Man in Black -- and it harkened back to Earnhardt's
favorite race track, Darlington, nicknamed the Lady in Black. I sent the story
to Cumberland House's editor, John Mitchell, and John showed it to Ron Pitkin,
the publisher. Ron fell in love with Angel in Black, and the book eventually
became "Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr."
It came out on March 1, 2008.
I wish I could have gotten Richard
Childress, Mike Helton and a bunch of current Cup drivers, but what can you do?
You just keep the engine running, keep it in gear and charge to the finish.
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