In an interview aired Friday night on “Dateline NBC,” Teresa Earnhardt recounted how she came to find out about the death of her husband, racing legend Dale Earnhardt, and spoke of her efforts to prevent the publication of his autopsy photos and preserve his legacy. Dale Earnhardt, a seven-time Winston Cup champion, was killed in a last-lap wreck in the Daytona 500 two years ago. In the interview, NBC’s Katie Couric asked Teresa Earnhardt what she was thinking when her late husband’s accident unfolded. Earnhardt said she did not think anything serious at first. “I know the cars are safe,” she said. “And in racing, things happen so quick that there’s no time to like dwell on anything.” Asked why she became so deeply involved in the efforts by the Florida legislature to prevent the publication of her husband’s autopsy photos, Earnhardt replied: “I just think it’s a privacy issue, and a dignity issue. And it should never have even been an issue. But it was.” Earnhardt went on to explain her efforts to preserve her husband’s legacy through the creation of a foundation that will work to further causes her husband held dear. “I hate it so bad, feeling bad, that I just turn it off. I mean, I miss him, and I always will,” Teresa Earnhardt said. “Just terribly. But I’m not going to feel bad about it. I’m going to feel glad about what I had.”( Thatsracin.com ) and see a article on MSNBC: Days of thunder with video links. No idea if this will be re-aired.(2-15-2003)
