It was 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee when 32 year old Kenny Kiser had just finished driving for the day and decided to make a stop. He went to a gas station and fueled, then found the nearest truck stop. Exhausted from the day, he finally stopped and climbed into the back of the cab of his semi to rest.
Tuning into the Daytona race, which was broadcasted on one of the few local stations that he could get, he sat watching the duration of the race. Then tragedy struck. Stock car number three driven by Dale Earnhardt had crashed and spun off in the last lap of the race. His car spun out of control across the track and into the grass. The paramedics ran to him, his car was smoking but no flames appeared. Pieces of metal and the tires were spewed across the track due to the accident.
Kiser recalls watching Earnhardt’s family running
…show more content…
“Sterlin Marlin was the guy who wrecked him. He got a real raw deal because racing is racing, he didn’t do anything wrong,” Kiser explains. “Racing is racing,” he repeats thinking about tragedy.
Even Michael Waltrip, someone who worked alongside Earnhardt agrees, Earnhardt "tried to squeeze Sterling off," Waltrip said. "Sterling was there and Dale tried to cut him off, and it turned Dale into the wall. It 's just that simple.” (Hinton 1).
Earnhardt was nicknamed ‘The Intimidator’. He was known for his aggressive, hard-charging driving style. However, off the track, friends and fan described him as thoughtful and generous (Spencer 1).
Some people said that Earnhardt was too rough on the track, others blamed Marlin, no one had a clear answer, they all just had their own ideas of what really happened that day on the track.
Spectators had many of their own opinions on the cause of the crash, however everyone agreed on one thing: there needed to be a change in the way racing was done.
“The loss of this legend created shock across the board. No one was willing to risk this again,” Kiser