Last week was Speed Week in Daytona. That, you probably know.
But it was more than just the weekend of the Daytona 500. This happened to be the tenth anniversary of the dramatic and shocking crash that took the life of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt.
Specifically, Friday was the anniversary of the Intimidator’s death. The News-Journal of Daytona Beach marked the date with a 28-page special section commemorating the life of Dale Earnhardt and documenting the changes his death brought to the lives of his friends, colleagues, fans and to the sport he loved.
George Hanns, the News-Journal‘s presentation editor for sports, was kind enough to share the entire section with us tonight.
Here — in its entirety minus the two full-page ads and as large as I can get it without totally breaking the interwebs — is the section.
Click on any page for a much larger view.
This was a broadsheet, but George elected to turn the cover sideways. He tells us:
I worked with our artist Octavio Diaz on the cover. My ideas and words. He make them look good.
The 1994 file photo of Earnhardt was by staffer Nigel Cook.
In addition to this huge section, the News-Journal also published special sections on the driver of the year and on the repaving of the speedway (you remember the disaster that was last year’s race, right?) Therefore, much of this section was designed by presentation editor for news Scott Turick.
The section was written by Godwin Kelly, Ken Willis and Buddy Shacklette. It was edited by assistant managing editor Derek Catron. Octavio Diaz, John Klipfel and Mike Washuta built the graphics.
George is listed in the page two credits as a writer, editor and designer.
Here are pages two and three, which give a nice overview of Earnhardt.
I love the page two picture and the crop on the trio of shots on page three.
Page four focused on Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Page five was an ad, so I won’t bother with it here.
Pages six and seven contain memories of Earnhardt by those closest to him.
Pages eight and nine cover Earnhardt and his history at the Daytona track.
Pages 10 and 11 formed the doubletruck of the first section. George tells us:
Roy Parry, the presentation editor for our regional sections, did the Earnhardt doubletruck. I gave him an outline of what I was wanting and he went for it.
Page 12 is a big photoillustration and stat sheet on Earnhardt’s career. Page 13 picks up with more memories.
Pages 14 and 15 round up lots of brief memories and anecdotes from other drivers and crew members.
Pages 16 and 17 focus on memories of Earnhardt’s fans.
Particularly noteworthy is the story and picture of the woman sitting on Earnhardt’s lap. Make sure you click and read this one, please.
Pages 18 and 19 form a lengthy bio of Earnhardt.
Page 20 — the back of the first section — reprints the News-Journal‘s front page from the day after Earnhardt was killed.
I recall these papers selling for huge amounts on eBay in the weeks after the accident.
While Page 21 is still part of “section E,” in fact, it is the front of a separate section with a different tone. It covers the legacy of Dale Earnhardt and the changes that his accident brought upon stock car racing.
George says he paid particular attention to these seven pages, putting special emphasis on not just telling readers what has changed but also showing them.
Page 21 is essentially an inside cover to this second part.
Pages 22 and 23 are my favorites of the entire section. The stories are smaller and easier to digest, the visuals are larger and more appealing.
And I love the way the News-Journal makes the point about NASCAR safety since Earnhardt’s death with that giant zero.
Those pages were designed by Scott Turick, I’m told.
Pages 24 and 25 contain a number of graphics covering changes in safety features over the past decade. In order to explain all this to readers, the News-Journal enlisted the expert help of retired General Motors’ racing safety manager Tom Gideon. See the little sidebar at the left of page 24.
Page 26 continues detailing the changes. The final editorial page — page 27, right — attempts to guess at what would the racing world be like today if Earnhardt had not died ten years ago.
A fascinating thought and a fitting end to the tribute.
Here’s how the News-Journal promoted the section on the front of Friday’s paper.
Somewhat sheepishly, George wrote me:
My only caveat to our designs, looking at the beautiful graphics you’ve been posting from South Africa, I/we are designing all this stuff in Harris, a pagination system… When I look at our artists using InDesign or Illustrator or Quark or whatever, I feel like a Neanderthal smearing cranberries and buffalo crap on the wall.
But I still say we do a good job of function taking precedence over form.
Heh. I’ve seen Harris in action. And sure enough, it’s a very difficult system to use. It’s amazing these pages look as good as they do.
Even more amazing is the small size of this paper. Average daily circulation for the News-Journal is 63,902, although I daresay they sell a few more copies than that during Speed Week.
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UPDATE
Sunday, the News-Journal inserted a special section on the massive repaving project at the raceway this past year.
The theme for the cover was very, very clever, I think:
“Surprise and delight.” This cover certainly did that.
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Find the News-Journal‘s online memorial stories about Dale Earnhardt here.
Today’s Daytona 500 race was won by Trevor Bayne, a 20-year-old kid making only his second-ever Sprint Cup start. Read the News-Journal‘s account here.
Go here to find the News-Journal‘s photo gallery of today’s race.
