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Saying goodbye Services to be held Wednesday and Thursday
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (CNN) -- Services for Dale Earnhardt are to be held Wednesday and Thursday to commemorate the racing legend who died when his black No. 3 Monte Carlo slammed into an outside wall in the final lap of the Daytona 500. David Allen with Champion Sports Group, a public-relations firm that has marketed Earnhardt products for two decades, said a private funeral will be held Wednesday morning for family members and others close to Earnhardt. He said the family has asked not to disclose the location. On Thursday, a memorial service to be attended by family members and the race-car circuit will be held at Calvary Church in Charlotte, N.C., Allen said. He said that service also will be closed to the public, but broadcast on television. Earnhardt's body was returned Monday night to his home state of North Carolina for burial. Earnhardt is a native of nearby Kannapolis, N.C., and town officials said a memorial service to honor their hometown hero will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at A.L. Brown High School in the auditorium, which seats about 1,500 people. "It will be standing room only," administrator Larry Woods said. A funeral home director in Daytona Beach said they had prepared Earnhardt's body Monday afternoon, before turning it over to NASCAR for the trip to North Carolina. Earnhardt, considered by most as NASCAR's greatest driver in history, was killed on the final lap of Sunday's Daytona 500 when his car spun out of control, slammed into an outside wall at 180 mph and then was hit by another car, which pushed Earnhardt's car across the track. Outside Dale Earnhardt Inc. headquarters in Mooresville, N.C., a steady stream of fans continued to line up, leaving a mountain of flowers, hand-written notes and Earnhardt posters. "I just love the way he never quit. He just always kept coming after it," said Robert Clemmons. On Monday, Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip said recent changes in NASCAR rules to create tighter races had nothing to do with the crash that killed legendary driver Dale Earnhardt. Instead, Waltrip said, Sunday's accident was a display of racers' competitive spirit in the final lap -- "guys just wanting to get to the checkered" flag. "When the checkered's waving, nobody is going to let off," said Waltrip, a member of Earnhardt's racing team. NASCAR recently made aerodynamic changes to its vehicles in an effort to create closer, more exciting races. The 200,000 fans at the speedway and a national television audience witnessed 50 lead changes before the crash, a reflection of the tightness of the race. NASCAR officials insist safety is a top priority of their drivers and that they are always studying ways to improve safety precautions. NASCAR president Mike Helton said the stock-car circuit is "always investigating safety issues" and will continue to do so. But he said it would be premature to implement widespread changes immediately. "We're simply not going to react for the sake of reacting," he said. "We will do it when it's the right thing to do."
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