Letters

Death in the Fast Lane

"Dale Earnhardt made NASCAR what it is, and his death is the reason I have cried myself to sleep every night since Feb. 18." JANEY HANSEN Greeley, Colo.

Thank you for your story on the death of NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt [SPORT, March 5]. Reading the anecdotes and stories of drivers, friends and family broke my heart but at the same time brought a smile to my face. I've heard some say, about getting upset over his death, "You didn't even know the man." But sometimes people have a particular effect on you, and Dale certainly did on our family. He will always be a hero in our hearts. We will miss you, Dale. JENNIFER CARTER Wills Point, Texas

Earnhardt was a great driver, a superstar in his profession, well liked and admired by many race fans. But to see him referred to as a hero makes my blood boil. In the world in which I was reared, the word hero was reserved for people who performed lifesaving feats at great personal risk or who laid down their life to protect their country. But thanks to the media, "hero" now describes anyone who can throw a football, shoot a puck or, as in this case, drive a car really fast. GARRETT LINDGREN Carmel, N.Y.

Earnhardt stood alone as the genuine article--a no-nonsense American folk hero for the workingman. He raced hard and died doing what he loved. GLENN RILEY Cincinnati, Ohio

Yes, this sport is dangerous. Yes, there are crashes. But true NASCAR fans know this. We do not watch racing for the crashes. We watch it for the excitement, the jockeying for position, the 16-sec. pit stops that just a few years ago took 22 sec. to complete. We watch it to see our drivers win--not die. NASCAR and the drivers know there are safety issues to deal with. True fans will keep rooting for our favorite drivers, but we will be sad that we can no longer watch them try to get away from Earnhardt's famous black car, No. 3. KATHY NEISSE San Leandro, Calif.

In his piece for TIME, NBC news anchor Brian Williams suggested that people north of the Mason-Dixon line "wondered what the big deal was" after Earnhardt's accident. That was insulting. I live in a small town in Minnesota, far away from the South. Everyone I know has been affected by this loss. Earnhardt was my hero, and I have been in tears ever since the accident. I never met him, but to millions of people, losing him was like losing their best friend. JON MARQUETTE Garfield, Minn.

For NASCAR fans, Earnhardt's death was a special tragedy, but for many other readers, it was also puzzling in its senselessness. "What caused Earnhardt to take such excessive risks--a desire to commit suicide in a publicly acceptable way?" asked a reader in Minneapolis. "Those voyeurs of violence paid their money fully expecting this kind of mayhem, and then shed crocodile tears when it happened," wrote a nonfan of NASCAR from Salem, Ore. "Shame on all of them." "If any other sport had a comparable death rate, there would be calls for legislation to ban the slaughter," declared an Oklahoman, while an Ohio environmentalist found even more reasons to condemn motor sport: "NASCAR is truly the winningest sport of all--it's tops in noise pollution, and beats out clean air and oil conservation. Wherever NASCAR's rubber meets the road, the human race is the loser."

The FBI Spy