The Truth Is Out There - Fans Want Full Disclosure

Dateline: 05/02/01

It was good to see NASCAR veteran Rusty Wallace in Victory Lane at California Speedway last weekend, but it was even better to see his victory lap. After taking the checkered flag, Rusty pulled the #2 Miller Lite Taurus to a stop and waited while one of his crew brought him a huge #3 flag. He then proceeded to make his victory lap, flag flying proudly in honor of his friend and fellow competitor Dale Earnhardt.

It is good to see Earnhardt's fellow drivers and the tracks they race on paying homage to his memory each week, just as it is to see the Fox Television team continuing with their tributes. However, it is disturbing to see that the organization that he helped to put into the center of national sports attention, NASCAR, virtually ignore his memory, instead focusing on a continued campaign to push his memory further and further from people's minds.

Their tribute to Earnhardt on the nascar.com site is now obscured by the multitude of other information, and has been reduced in size to a small space on the lower left hand column of its front page, tucked in between the calendar of events and the advertiser information buttons. Hardly a fitting place for its greatest driver.

When you add in the confusion over the broken/cut/intact seat belt, the conflicting medical reports and the delay in the "official" NASCAR investigation into the crash, the resulting fan and media response is predictable. That's why NASCAR is holding high level meetings May 2 to try and deal with the issues and reduce the speculation.

Fans want to know the facts. Plain and simple facts! They want to know what the cause of the accident was, and how it can be avoided in the future. They want to know that the memory of Dale Earnhardt isn't being diminished by NASCAR. They want to know that there isn't a "cover up". They want to know that NASCAR is doing everything in its power to protect the safety of everyone involved in the sport. Unfortunately, too many fans feel that these things are not being done and it's hurting the sport.

It is time for NASCAR to publicly come forward with their findings. NASCAR has lost the trust of many fans, and it is time to make a move to gain it back. The time has come for full, open disclosure of the facts as they are known. As they say on The X-Files, "The truth is out there..." Whatever that truth is, the fans deserve to know!