Earnhardt: Racing helped him cope with plane crash

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[August 31, 2019]    Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn't want to discuss the details of the Aug. 15 plane crash that he and his family survived, but he has one message to share: the Earnhardt family is getting through it.

 

"Everybody is OK. We just get to carry on," Earnhardt said Friday in his first public comments since the crash.

"There's no point in wasting any time being upset about it or being sad about it. We're all processing it differently and I feel better every day about what I need to be doing tomorrow and the next day. I feel more confident about moving forward in my life and putting that in the distant past."

Earnhardt addressed the media in Darlington, S.C., where he is set to race in the Sport Clips VFW 200 in NASCAR's Xfinity Series this weekend.

On the day of the accident, Earnhardt was traveling with his wife and their toddler daughter in the family plane. Upon landing, it bounced and skidded before being engulfed in flames at the airport in Elizabethton, Tenn. The Earnhardts, their family dog and two pilots escaped. He suffered a bruised lower back and has been cleared to race.

Earnhardt said a lifetime spent at the race track actually helped him to cope with the crash.

"Being in a race car ... you crash into the wall and flip upside down and the first thing you think of is, 'How good is the backup car?' and 'Why did that happen, how can we stop the next car from doing that?'" he said.

"I think the repetitiveness of doing that all my life has insulated me from some of the typical emotions and reactions you might have in a situation like that."

The 44-year-old Earnhardt no longer races full time. Now a NASCAR analyst for NBC Sports, he said the plane crash has put things in perspective.

"Lot of things in your life that you go through help you sort of order your priorities, reminds you sometimes ... of what's important, what's not so important. And unfortunately, you don't want to go through a situation like that. But certainly, there are some positives that come out of it. Remembering what matters, like your family and friends."

--Field Level Media

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