Wednesday, February 21, 2001

Stars and Stripes

The death of NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt shocked fans of the sport on bases throughout the Pacific.

Earnhardt, a seven-time Winston Cup champion, was killed in a last-lap crash at the Daytona 500 on Sunday.

"It’s just devastating," said Air Force Master Sgt. Mark Heidkamp of the 14th Fighter Squadron at Misawa Air Base, Japan.

Keidkamp wore a NASCAR jacket emblazoned with Earnhardt’s Mr. Goodwrench sponsor logos, while visiting the Aeon Shopping Mall on Monday near Misawa.

"You just don’t think someone with his stature in the sport would die like this," Heidkamp said. "It’s like Michael Jordan dying on the court in the last game of the [NCAA basketball tournament] Final Four."

Earnhardt crashed head-on into the retaining wall at about 180 mph. Race stewards had to cut Earnhardt from the car after the race had ended. Doctors later said Earnhardt died instantly from head injuries suffered during the crash.

"I hate to see anybody die, but at least he died doing what he loved doing," said B.K. Price, a civilian who works at the Child Development Center on Okinawa’s Camp Foster.

Price said he had been "half-watching" the race early Monday morning while serving customers at a bar he owns and operates in Chatan Village, near Camp Foster.

"I saw the crash on the TV, but the volume was down low, so I didn’t really know what happened until I got home later that morning and saw it on the news."

Sgt. John Lombardi of Futenma Marine Corps Air Station said he had slept through the race, which aired on AFN television early Monday morning, and was told of Earnhardt’s death by friends in his dormitory.

"I was surprised he died," said Lombardi, who said he is a huge fan of NASCAR racing.

"The way they build cars these days, the way they strap the drivers in and all the protective gear they wear, you wouldn’t expect it. I’ve seen cars crash and flip 50 times, catch on fire and the guy comes out walking."

Lance Cpl. Tyler Nichols said he thought immediately of his father, who used to work for General Motors, one of Earnhardt’s sponsors, after hearing of the racing great’s death.

"He’s a huge NASCAR fan and loves Earnhardt to death. He has hundreds of dollars worth of race car paraphernaila in our house," said Nichols, adding that he would have watched the race but couldn’t, because he was on duty early Monday morning.

"I couldn’t believe it when I heard the news this morning," Nichols said.

Carlos Bongioanni and Wayne Specht contributed to this report.

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