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We lost a legend way too soon. Today marks the fourteenth
anniversary of the death of Dale Earnhardt
Photo Credited to s8.photobucket.com

Fourteen years ago today was the darkest day in NASCAR. We lost so much in turn four at Daytona on this day, and it was a moment that some of us thought that would destroy NASCAR. The ambassador of the sport was gone. However, with the unfortunate death of Dale Earnhardt, we see a legacy that he brought to us and how he is still impacting the sport today even though he was gone way too soon. You see, I believe that God had a plan for NASCAR on February 18th 2001. It was a plan that we simply could not see at that time. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. We may not always see that plan in place, but there is a plan that God has in store. For Dale, it gave way to changes to dramatically improve the sport that he loved more than anything in this world. Unfortunately it took the loss of someone that meant the world to us for these changes to take place. However, because of Dale Earnhardt, we see drivers today go through an accident that would have seriously injure a driver in Dale's day walk away just fine. NASCAR is still Dale Earnhardt, even though we may not talk about him at the race tracks anymore, he is still why the sport is successful, and also why the drivers are safer today. After the death of Dale, we saw the additions of mandatory full faced helmets, something Dale did not believe in, and also the use of a head and neck restraint, or the HANS device. From there we saw the safer barriers at all race tracks and the development of that to even interior walls. Today, when a driver in NASCAR hits a wall there is a little cushion to soften the blow a little bit. We then had the COT or Car of Tomorrow that came into NASCAR. Some would say that those boxy cars were bad for NASCAR, but I believe that they were necessary because they made the drivers safer within the car. Today we have the Gen 6 car that has the basic safety components of a COT car, but have the body looks of what gave NASCAR its start, the cars that you can buy at the dealerships. I am reminded of a quote that Dale Earnhardt once said, "You can't let one bad moment spoil a bunch of good ones". We cannot look at this day simply as the darkest day in NASCAR. We need to look back upon the life of Dale Earnhardt and remember those moments such as The Pass in the Grass, when he wrecked Terry Labonte to win at Bristol, the 1998 Daytona 500, or even his last win at Talladega where he flew to the front of the field in only a few laps. These are the moments that we need to remember about Dale Earnhardt, as well as the great things that he has done for the sport since he left us here. NASCAR is Dale Earnhardt, and it will always be Dale Earnhardt for the rest of its time. Dale we will always remember you, and we thank you for making our favorite sport what it is today.