May 01 2012
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NASCAR's Landscape Drastically Different Since Dale Earnhardt's Passing (Bleacher Report)
Looking at the numerous changes in NASCAR in the 11 years since Dale Earnhardt’s death in the 2001 Daytona 500. Earnhardt, who would have been 61 on Sunday, never would have foreseen the collapse of his race team, Dale Earnhardt Inc., or the defection of his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., to rival Hendrick Motorsports.
As for the schedule, it’s nearly unrecognizable. Darlington lost one of its two race dates, as did Atlanta. In their place, the schedule has added a series of events on 1.5-mile tri-ovals, and to top it all off, there’s now some strange 10-race “playoff” system at the end of the year, like other major sports, called the “Chase for the Sprint Cup.” You got all that, Mr. Earnhardt?
