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12A • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2011

DALE FROM 1A Visitors learn of the old Earnhardt Road, where a teenaged Dale sometimes navigated his yellow 1956 Chevrolet in and out of two 90-degree turns. Earnhardt drove the same ’56 Chevy around “Idiot Circle,� the West Avenue cruising spot for young drivers in the 1960s. Dale Trail folks can drive the streets of the Car Town neighborhood where Earnhardt grew up, Ralph had his backyard garage and his mother, Martha, still lives. The Car Town streets have names such as V-8, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Dodge, Plymouth, Ford and Buick. There are trail references to Eddleman’s Garage, the “Flying Mile� and Midway. Ralph Earnhardt built engines at Eddleman’s Garage, including powerful V-8 Cadillac motors for moonshiners such as Junior Johnson. Those high-powered Fords would be tested on a section of U.S. 29 (Cannon Boulevard) dubbed the Flying Mile. In the section of Kannapolis known as Midway, Dale Earnhardt raced slot cars at a business called D&D Model Raceway. It was where Earnhardt earned his first racing trophy. The garage and slot car

SALISBURY POST

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emporium are gone now. Racing on the Flying Mile today most probably would land you in jail. At Curb Motorsports, two of Dale Earnhardt’s earliest Winston Cup cars — his blue and yellow Wrangler models (when he was No. 2, not No. 3) — are on display in the showroom off Dale Earnhardt Boulevard. Earnhardt’s first Winston Cup Championship trophy from 1980, when he drove for record-mogul Mike Curb, sits between the two early cars. Museum manager Jerry Spurgeon says the 10-year anniversary of Earnhardt’s death has not really attracted many additional visitors. In fact, the Earnhardt cars are not the year-round draw you might think they would be, he says, except for the weeks connected to the races at Charlotte Motor Speedway. A couple of Dale Trail stops in downtown Kannapolis already have disappeared. The Junction Cafe & Grill, which made Dale’s favorite tomato sandwich, has closed. The trail brochure now sends people to Punchy’s Diner in Concord, which offers a sandwich the way Martha Earnhardt prepared it for her son — sliced tomatoes, lettuce, Miracle Whip and white bread. The former Cannon Village Visitor Center on West Avenue has become the R3 Career Service Center. The

The Dale Earnhardt Plaza, a 1-acre park between A and B streets, is filled with Earnhardt numerology. The 900-pound statue’s granite base is divided into seven sections, representing Earnhardt’s seven Winston Cup Championships. Azaleas and daylilies around the center seat wall are planted in sets of three, again for his car’s number. Benches also are grouped in threes. Eight lights shine on the statue at night, signifying the number of father Ralph’s old race car. The statue itself offers a muscled Earnhardt, arms crossed, with a devilish grin. His trademark sunglasses hang from his shirt pocket. He’s also wearing Wrangler jeans and cowboy boots. “That is a real nice replica of him,� William Childress of Durham says after taking in the sculpture. Childress and his wife, Joyce, attended the Charlotte Bobcats-Los Angeles Lakers game the night before and decided to find the mark wineka/SALISBURY POST statue on their way home. The Cabarrus County Visitors Center, on Dale Earnhardt The couple also planned Boulevard near Interstate 85, prominently features Earnhardt’s to visit Dale Earnhardt Inc. connection to Kannapolis and the county. — Earnhardt’s racing headquarters before he died — “Dale Earnhardt Tribute� at the R3 Center, says people which is located in that used to be inside the vis- still come in looking for the Mooresville about 13 miles itor center is gone, as are the Earnhardt exhibit. “I send away on N.C. 3. murals of Earnhardt painted them up to the statue,� she “If he was on the track, by Sam Bass. The artist has says. those other guys knew it,� reclaimed the murals, and “We get somebody in here Childress says. “When you that portion of the building every other day. They come saw Dale coming up behind is now office cubicles and from Pennsylvania, New you, get out of the way.� meeting space. York. I think I had a couple Bob and Judy Fletcher Jan Blalock, receptionist from Florida once.� and Mary Benjamin stopped

by the statue on their way from Maine to Florida. In North Carolina, they met up with one of Mary’s grandchildren, Marcus Benjamin, who works for Ken Schrader Racing. Bob Fletcher says Earnhardt was “the last of a special breed of race driver,� and he also acknowledges losing some interest in the sport since Earnhardt’s death. “I liked his style of driving,� Fletcher says. Just how broad Earnhardt’s appeal was is evident in the plaza’s brick sidewalks. Heartfelt tributes are etched into the bricks from places as far away as Colorado, North Dakota and Nova Scotia. Most people drawn to Kannapolis these days by the Earnhardt legacy are oblivious to the dramatic changes his hometown has gone through. It’s the kind of change that cost Steven McCree his job, then his home. The sprawling manufacturing plants that made towels and sheets have been replaced by research buildings dedicated to the science of nutrition. But for many people, Kannapolis still means one thing — the Intimidator. In the Earnhardt statue’s shadow, Brian Anderson gives his sweetheart, Deanna, a Valentine’s kiss. “There’s no place she’d rather be,� he says. Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263 or mwineka@ salisburypost.com.

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