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Earnhardt's death leaves a void
I never met Dale Earnhardt. In fact, growing up outside the United States in Britain, where interest in NASCAR was at best limited, the majority of his 22-year Winston Cup career passed me by. Certainly, I'd heard of him back in those days. Indeed, having subsequently come to the U.S. and learned of his 76 victories and seven Winston Cup titles I could appreciate that this was a great champion with legendary status in the sport. Yet still, without a real grounding in this down-home esoteric form of motor racing, the true magic of the man eluded me. Until now. The grief and devastation his tragic death at Sunday's Daytona 500 has brought to the sport, and to people in general here in the United States, has been palpable enough for even a foreigner to understand what a truly unique individual he was. The only parallel I can draw, for those living overseas, is that of Ayrton Senna, the late great Formula One champion who was also killed by devastating head injuries at the San Marino Grand Prix of 1994. As with the case of Senna, most American sports fans, and even people with little interest in sport, will know where they were when they heard Earnhardt had died. He was that kind of larger-than-life figure. Watching newscasts, listening to the radio, reading newspapers, Earnhardt's death is at the forefront of people's minds right across the nation. And in the same way that Senna's death prompted national mourning in his native Brazil, so Earnhardt's demise has cast a shadow over America. People cared about Dale Earnhardt. And as a foreign observer, that's what comes through loud and clear. So if you're reading this in Europe, Australia, South America, Africa or Asia and can't quite relate to what on the surface is just the death of an obscure racing driver, think of your own national hero and it may become clearer. Dale Earnhardt was a part of America's heritage, and his passing leaves a gap which can never be filled.
Terry Baddoo is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
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