Where to begin? That is the real question. We all know where it ended, the fourth turn at Daytona International Speedway on February 18^th on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. This is the race that will not be remembered as the one that Michael Waltrip ended his long winless drought in Winston Cup racing, but as the race in which legendary driver Dale Earnhardt was taken from us.

Dale meant many things to many people. To his fans, he was simply "The Man", the 7 time Winston Cup champion, the indisputable master of the draft and the best to ever turn a wheel. To his nonfans, he was the man their driver had to beat each week, the benchmark in which to measure the success of their own driver…the intimidator. Dale Earnhardt was simply "The Man".

Dale Earnhardt drove hard every lap, every race. Dale Earnhardt gave everything his best. He knew no other way. Whether you liked him or not, whether you were a fan of his or not, you had to respect that. Dale Earnhardt enjoyed success early in his career, winning Rookie of the Year and following that up with his first championship. That early success made him a marked man right away. Dale never stumbled under the pressure of all the expectations and attention, but flourished instead. Dale took over the reigns as the most visible driver in the series from Richard Petty, and became "The Man"

Over the years, there were many pretenders to his thrown. In the early 80’s, Dale would run fender to fender, bumper to bumper with the likes of such legends as Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, and Richard Petty, and more times than not beat them. In the mid and late 80’s, it was Tim Richmond, Bill Elliott, Darrell Waltrip that he would beat routinely. In the 90’s, Dale would mercilessly take the likes of Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Ernie Irvan and later, Jeff Gordon to school. To all, Dale Earnhardt was "The Man".

As Dale grew nearer to retirement, instead of taking it easy and riding it out, he became even more determined to win an 8^th Winston Cup championship. He started his own team, Dale Earnhardt Inc, and hired young drivers Steve Park to drive his Busch Series car. He then started his own Winston Cup team and had the confidence in Park to promote him and that confidence paid off with a breakthrough year in 2000 for Park which saw him win at Watkens Glenn and several other top finishes. He put his own son, Dale Jr. into the Busch car, and was rewarded with two Busch Series championships. He then promoted the entire team to Winston Cup, and his confidence in this team was rewarded with two wins plus the all-star Winston victory. This off season, he hired Michael Waltrip, a veteran of the Winston Cup circuit who had never won a points paying race in the series, to drive a third DEI car. That decision paid immediate dividends with a win the first time out in the Daytona 500. Dale also fielded a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team with driver Ron Hornaday. This team put together two championships and many victories, proving that not only did Earnhardt have a knack for knowing how to win a race, but he also had a great eye for talent and knew how to build a team around that talent and produce great results. Once again, he was proving that as a car owner, he was "The Man".

The greatest tribute to Dale Earnhardt is probably the reaction to his death by those that claimed that they weren’t a fan of his, those who say they didn’t care for him. In the wake of his horrible crash, thousands of the supposedly "Earnhardt haters" joined his loyal legions of fans in their grieve, some openly shedding tears, others joining in tributes and all in respecting the memory of "The Man". I fall into this group. I always said I didn’t care for his driving style, that he was too aggressive for my taste, that I would rather see "anyone but Earnhardt" win the race. Deep down, I probably felt this way because I wanted to be him. I wanted to be as good at something as him, as good at anything as he was. Deep down inside, I wanted to be "The Man".

Sadly, there is only one "The Man". Now, in NASCAR, there is no man. No man with the target as being the one to beat week in and week out. No one to marvel at his style, grace and skill behind the wheel of a car. Nobody to watch come from the back to the front in a matter of laps. At least not anybody like Dale Earnhardt, The Man.