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FBI file Earnhardt received death threat after 1987 Winston
By Mike Fish, CNNSI.com Dale Earnhardt prided himself on his aggressive driving style, unafraid to bang a few fenders on his bump-and-run dashes to the front. His legion of fans affectionately dubbed him "Ironhead" and "The Intimidator," while a few rivals were known to turn red-faced with anger over his tactics -- or even bump back. And at least one fan, so enraged after Earnhardt spun out Bill Elliott in a 1987 Charlotte all-star race, threatened to shoot and kill Earnhardt. The death threat came in a typewritten letter dated May 25, 1987, postmarked Elmira, N.Y., and addressed to then NASCAR president Bill France Jr. A copy of the letter and details of the ensuing federal investigation were in Earnhardt's FBI file, obtained by CNNSI.com through a Freedom of Information request. "You (expletive) people won't do anything about his dirty driving, so someone else will have to," the writer warned NASCAR. "He has pushed his way around NASCAR tracks for too long. … You (expletive) had better get your (expletive) together or you're going to be short one driver. Tell Dale to watch his ass WHEREEVER (sic) he goes."
The writer specifically mentioned Pocono, Watkins Glen and Dover as tracks where Earnhardt would be targeted, and warned France to leave the star racer home. If Earnhardt traveled north, he was advised to: "1) have some bodyguards, or 2) wear a bullet-proof vest. I will be at one track, probably all three with my 30.06. When I get a clear shot...." Everyone involved took the threat seriously. "You had to watch where you went, ate, things you were doing at the time," recalled Richard Childress, longtime owner of Earnhardt's No. 3 Chevrolet. "You didn't go out and make a scene. It ended up being a prank-like thing, but something like that is pretty serious." If Earnhardt was unnerved, he didn't let on around his inner circle. "Dale -- no, nothing scared Dale," said John "J.R." Rhodes, his PR man. The subject, who would go uncaught, was deemed "armed and dangerous." There was no follow up threat, no finger prints of value and the letter itself couldn't be associated with material in the FBI's Anonymous Letter file. The FBI would shutdown its case in late October of 1987. The FBI was first called May 28, a day after the letter surfaced at NASCAR headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla., immediately bringing its Baltimore, Buffalo, Charlotte, Philadelphia and Jacksonville offices into the investigation. Within hours, agents alerted track officials of the threat -- including Dover, where Earnhardt and the NASCAR boys would race the following Sunday. According to the file, agents interviewed at least three NASCAR officials, two other unidentified people and Earnhardt. The names of all but Earnhardt, the seven-time Winston Cup champion who died in a Daytona 500 crash last February, are deleted from the 30-page file.
"Interviewees relate occasion (sic) harassing phone calls from a few irate fans, but nothing similar to the language of the threating (sic) letter or specifically directed toward Earnhardt," the report said. "Dale Earnhardt related that if the letter writer were to attempt to carry out such a threat, Earnhardt would be more concerned about the tracks at Pocono and Watkins Glen, due to the layout of the two tracks that allow infield fans closer to the track. He advised this is particularly true at Watkins Glen where fans are able to sit in the grass among trees in the infield close to the track." Drivers have been cursed out during a spectator's fist-shaking, alcohol-induced tirade -- but death threats are an entirely different story. Sterling Marlin was recipient of some after Earnhardt's fatal crash last February. In years past, Rusty Wallace and Darrell Waltrip have also been on the receiving end. But how many serious threats are directed at drivers is unknown. "Occasionally, you'd hear stuff," said Rhodes, Earnhardt's former spokesman. "But this got the FBI's attention." The anger and rage here flowed after The Winston, a 10-lap sprint that paid a $200,000 top prize, back when an average payoff for winning a superspeedway event was $80,000. Earnhardt and Elliott were the two most popular drivers of the day, finishing the season No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the point standings. "Of course, if you loved Earnhardt you really loved him," said Jim Hunter, a NASCAR vice president. "If you didn't, you hated him. And Bill Elliott has been one of the most popular drivers for a gazillion years, including back then." The dynamic duo collided on the first lap as Earnhardt slipped past into the lead. On the third lap, Elliott and Earnhardt touched twice. Later, when Elliott tried to catch him in a turn, Earnhardt, already known as the most fearsomely aggressive driver on the circuit, forced Elliott up the track and almost into the wall. Elliott, who wound up 14th, rammed the back of Earnhardt's car at least twice during the warm down after the race. Bodine also smacked Earnhardt's Chevrolet. "I was on the pole when the race started and the caution car didn't get out of the way," Elliott recalled. "That bunched everybody up. I got together with Bodine. Then, Dale and I got together. It kind of got into a bit of a deal there. He won the race. I lost the race. And there were a lot of fans upset about it" According to the FBI file, the death threat was a "direct relationship" to the rough riding at the May 17, 1987, race, further stating: "BILL ELLIOTT, a popular NASCAR driver, was bumped by ERNHART (sic) during the race and, subsequently, ERNHARD (sic) won the race. ERNHART (sic) and ELLIOTT were both fined $2,500 and posted $75,000 bonds returnable if no future incidents occur during the racing season." The $75,000 bonds may be a case of the FBI mistakenly tacking on an extra zero, as NASCAR reported at the time a $7,500 bond for both Earnhardt and Elliott. But two days after the flare-up, on a Tuesday, NASCAR president Bill France Jr. flew to Charlotte for a meeting with Earnhardt, Elliott and Bodine, along with Wallace and Kyle Petty -- who had their own shoving match in the garage area after The Winston. "It was what you'd call a little sit-down," Hunter remembered. "And he told them, 'We're not going to put up with this.'" Earnhardt and Elliott had already made peace, it turned out, before the threatening missive was slipped into a mailbox in central New York.
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