This weekend is the 53rd running of the "Super Bowl" of Racing, the Daytona 500. It is also the 10th anniversary of the death of the legendary Dale Earnhardt.

I will never forget that day. I was sitting at home watching a great race. Seeing  Michael Waltrip lead the pack and Dale Jr. in second with Sr. holding the rest of the group off. Then all of a sudden a big crash that involved Dale. I thought nothing of it, it didn't look all that bad. Especially since Tony Stewart walked away from a crash earlier in the race that looked 10 times worse. I thought "It's Dale Earnhardt, he'll be fine. He's been in worse crashes", and turned off the tv.

I went back to watching tv a little later on in the day when a report came on NBC saying that Earnhardt was brought to a medical center and things didnt look good. I then flipped to CNN where they officially announced that he had passed away. Now I am an emotional guy, but i never get upset when celebrites pass away, but this was a different story. I was a huge Earnhardt fan. He was he reason i got into NASCAR. I cried like a baby, i couldn't believe one of my heroes was gone!

Fans Mourn at Earnhardt Memorial
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It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since that day. It's one of those things that will stick with me for along time.

NASCAR will pay tribute to Earnhardt with a moment of silence on the 3rd lap of the race on Sunday. I will have my eyes glued on the tv, with 3 fingers in the air!

Where were you and what were your emotions like on that day?

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