Hagen Brothers farms,Goodrich ND | Dale senior was a bully, who enjoyed being a bully. The fact that he was one of the most skilled drivers of his day and did not need to use that driving style to win, made his bully boy style all the more repugnant.
His bull headed refusal to wear a HAN device when the other drivers mostly all used it, very likely cost him his life in that last wreck.
Dale Jr is a gentleman racer of the same cut as old Richard Petty. Early on in his career driving for DEI, that became very apparent. Several times when someone else won and Dale Jr finished second, the winner stood on the winners platform and gave Dale Jr credit for clean driving.
It was obvious to everyone that Dale junior valued the safety and feelings of his fellow racers more than gaining a position by drop kicking the leader into the wall like Dale Sr would do in a heartbeat.
Once in a while, Dale Jr's clean driving style costs him a track position, but he is much loved by the fans and racers who respect what he is.
Any of you guys remember the race in the days when Petty was running Pontiac with little success ? Well Petty with his rooky driver(Andretti ?)
had done everything right all day,and were leading in the last few laps of the race. The fans and race announcers were about going wild with excitement, Richard petty and his rooky driver were about to end a years long dry spell and win a race !!! Well Dale Sr caught them on the last lap and drop kicked the rooky into the wall. When he came around on his flag lap, the shocked silence,and the look on the faces of the announcers and the fans said it all. About the only ones that cheered the "hero" were the few who were so loaded up with beer that they had no idea what had just happened.
Edited by Jon Hagen 2/7/2007 01:18
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Dale Earnhardt
