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Vultures
by Steve Wingate
In the short hours between Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash and Mike Helton's haunting announcement, I could sense them circling above. Slow, deliberate circles in the sky above, waiting for their time to feast.
Their cue came when Mike Helton suddenly appeared on TV screens everywhere. They began to drop from the sky in droves.... they fell upon Wal-Marts, Kmarts, collector shops, drug stores, everywhere. They cleaned every shelf in every store across the country of anything and everything to do with the man in black. Did they all want one final remembrance of Dale Earnhardt? No. Vultures, being the opportunistic creatures they are, seek only to profit from someone else's misfortune. The true Earnhardt fans didn't get any of these mementos because most of them were too stunned to move until the next morning. The vultures, however, moved fast and got out there, devouring everything they could to turn around and re-sell at an obscene price. This kind of behavior makes me sick. An American hero, a cultural icon and all around nice guy is dead, and all some people can think about is making money at the expense of this great man and his true fans. And that's not even the worst of it. Read on....
There is a man in my hometown who operates a small racing collectibles shop. He is a true racing fan, an enthusiastic collector, and one heck of a nice guy. On more than one occasion, I've gone into his shop and pulled up a chair just to sit and talk racing with him. He recently had to move his shop out of the local mall due to an outrageous increase in rent and move it into a tiny strip mall. The strip mall is a terrible location... his store is between a tattoo parlor and plumbing supply company. The shop is hard to see from the busy highway, and his walk-in traffic has become almost non-existent since the move. He's been there a year, just barely getting by, but still enjoying what he does.
On the night of February 18th, 2001, a group of vultures broke into his tiny store and stole virtually everything to do with Earnhardt. They broke his windows, destroyed his display cases and damaged what little merchandise they didn't take. "They weren't even collectors." he said of the break-in. "They left all the boxes. A collector would want the boxes." As a result, this nice guy, this friend of collectors and race fans, has been forced to close the business that he so dearly loved. An honest man has been driven to ruin by the acts of a few despicable and greedy vultures who sought personal gain from tragedy.
Reports like these and a few others I have heard about have forced me to move my Earnhardt collectibles to another part of the state. I have no intention of selling anything I have and I certainly don't want my few remembrances being pilfered by the likes of these vultures.
I apologize to my regular readers for the darker tone of this article, but I just can't help it-- I'm angry. I'm angry that so many people are so heartless and uncaring that they belittle the memory of Dale by seeking to profit from his death. I'm angry because I saw the same thing happen in 1993 when Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison died, and it made me angry then, too.
I suppose I'm rambling again... I guess I just think that everyone should miss Dale as much as I do, and that this is no time to think about money. This is the time to remember the wisecracks, lop-sided smirks, and sheer racing prowess that was Dale Earnhardt.
UPDATE: Vultures Descend Upon Las Vegas Motor Speedway--
I just left Jayski.com where I read some very disturbing news. It seems that officials at LVMS wanted to do a little something special for their fans. Everyone entering the speedway was promised a FREE souvenir Dale Earnhardt poster when they left that evening. However, as the posters were being passed out, a group of unruly vultures overpowered LVMS security personnel and made off with boxes and armloads of the free posters. The LVMS staff appreciates the understanding of the many fans who left the speedway without the posters they were promised.
How could anybody do such a thing? It never fails to disturb me when I see examples of the power of greed. No doubt these morons who stole the posters have plans of re-selling them and making money off Earnhardt fans. I'll be on the lookout for an image of this poster, and I'll post it if I find one so that Earnhardt fans everywhere will know NOT to buy one. We don't want to line the pockets of vultures.
2001 Car Guy of Benchfield