DE memorial at Daytona is a statue

[Roselady3]

No big secret what the Speedway is doing to honor Earnhardt
By ANDREW LYONS (andy.lyons@news-jrnl.com)
Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH -- Blue walls conceal workers as they scurry in front of Daytona International Speedway, building what is turning into the track's worst-kept secret.

Speedway officials are hush-hush on details of a future memorial but race fans say they've got the skinny.

"It's going to be a statue of Dale Earnhardt!" one race fan shouted to another Tuesday morning as they walked past.

Ever since Earnhardt's death in last February's Daytona 500, suspicion has circulated through the racing community the seven-time Winston Cup champion would be memorialized at the track.

Speedway officials confirmed this week a statue of Earnhardt will be unveiled sometime during Speed Weeks, which begins Feb. 2. They aren't saying much more.

"We would have liked to have kept it under wraps and had more of a surprise with it, but it's very hard to do that," said Glyn Johnston, director of communication at the Speedway.

Johnston confirmed the statue is being designed by John Lajba, the same sculptor who cast the bronze likeness of Bill and Anne France in 1994 that stands in front of Daytona USA.

And a public document reveals a morsel more of details. Last month, the Speedway paid the city of Daytona Beach $375 for a building permit for a sculpture. On it, the sculpture is valued at $60,000.

What the statue will look like and when it will be revealed remains a mystery.

"The fact is we're not ready to make those statements about it," Johnston said.

Earnhardt's own son couldn't offer any details.

"I haven't heard about it. Where's it going to be?" Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Monday during testing at the track.

When told about the plans, Earnhardt Jr. said his father would be proud.

"He would have made a big deal out of it," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I'm sure he would have gotten a little red in the face."

Similar efforts are under way to build an Earnhardt tribute and statue in his hometown of Kannapolis, N.C., near Charlotte.

Earnhardt's aggressive and fearless style of racing won him countless fans and scores of enemies. His fatal crash Feb. 18, 2001, on the last lap of the Daytona 500 brought the racing community to tears and resulted in NASCAR making significant changes to racing safety.

Marilyn Witzel, 64, might not have loved Earnhardt, but she respected him.

Peeking her head around the blue walls Tuesday to catch a glimpse of the construction, the Illinois native said the statue is the right thing to do.

"We always thought (Earnhardt) was kind of pushy," she said. "But this is where he met his demise. It's appropriate to have a statue here."

Staff Writer Bob Pockrass contributed to this report.