Waltrip: I was waiting for Dale in Victory Lane

Earnhardt's cars, driven by Waltrip and his son Dale Jr, finished first and second in America's biggest stock car race of the year, but the final corner of the last lap claimed the life of 'The Intimidator', who died of head injuries after his car hit the wall.

"Yesterday was our day," said Waltrip. "In Victory Lane and I just couldn't wait. I had won the race and I just couldn't wait until I got that big grab on my neck and a big hug. I just knew any minute Dale was going to run into Victory Lane and say, 'That's what I'm talking about right there.' But that wasn't to be. My belief is that in a twinkle of an eye you're in the presence of the Lord. So instead of patting me in the back and hugging me, he's up there hanging out with my dad. So, that ain't a bad thing either.

"I think Dale was doing what he loved to do," he added. "He was coming for the chequered [flag] and his two cars were winning the race. I didn't realise it at the time, I thought Dale Jr was pushing me along and helping me out. I didn't know the thunderstorm Dale [Snr] was fighting in back there with all those other cars. He was just doing his job and close racing sometimes makes contact happen, and when contact happens you hit the wall. Schrader hit it and Schrader walked away and Dale didn't."

Waltrip, whose win in such tragic circumstances was his first in the top division Winston Cup series, added his opinion to the debate over whether the HANS (Head and Neck Support) device should be used by drivers as a matter of course. Earnhardt's fatal injury has been listed as a "blunt force trauma to the head" which resulted in a serious fracture to the base of his skull, the area the device is designed to protect.

"The HANS Device is something that I think all of us are curious about," said Waltrip. "Some drivers are wearing it and others have tested it and elected not to use it. There's mixed reviews about it. People like the way it stabilizes your head in an incident, but people also are concerned that it's cumbersome and hard to get in and out of the car, which would be a concern during an accident as well. The area inside a racecar where I sit, when I'm in there with all my stuff on, my belt and my helmet, that's my responsibility. I try to make sure that gain all the knowledge I can from what's out there to be as safe as I can.

"The HANS Device is an option, it's just something that I haven't elected to use yet. And I don't personally think that that is something that should be made a requirement, I just think it's something that the drivers need to investigate and find out if it's right for them."

Waltrip has confirmed he won't wear the device in the second round of the Winston Cup at Rockingham this weekend, but will test it at Atlanta next week. NASCAR's president, Mike Helton, also spoke positively about the system's use.

"Safety is our number one concern," said Helton. "In specific regards to the HANS Device, it's more than just an option. NASCAR recommends drivers to try it and to work with the developers of it to perfect it for stock car racing, which is unique to open wheel racing because of the configurations of the cockpits and everything. So, it's a joint effort by every mind in the NASCAR garage to make all these elements work right. The process is ongoing, from inspections to the rules to the drivers meetings, that whole process is all safety-oriented."

Daytona Speedway's director of emergency medical services, Dr Steve Bohannon, has reiterated that if Earnhardt had been wearing the HANS device, it wouldn't necessarily have saved his life, however.

"I think it's still a matter of speculation," he said. "Even if you restrain the head and neck in this type of injury with the forces we are talking about. Hitting a concrete barrier at 150, 170mph, whatever, there's still one more element that you have to address and that is the body has internal organs that are free floating. The brain is floating in fluid. Internal organs, the heart, the liver, are floating inside the body. Even if you restrain the body, the head, the neck, the chest, all of those organs internally move at time of impact.

"The brain for example will still impact on the inside of the skull and there's considerable forces involved. Small blood vessels are torn, the brain is injured, bruised and torn. With the impact of Dale's nature, even if he had the device on, hitting the wall that fast, it may have resulted in the same injuries."

The Earnhardt family has requested that, rather than flowers, donations should be directed to the Carolina Foundation. Its address is as follows.



This weekend's second round of the Winston Cup goes ahead as planned at Rockingham, North Carolina. Earnhardt's son, Dale Jr, has already pledged to keep on racing: "We'll get through this. I'm sure he'd want us to keep going and that's what we're going to do."