NASCAR Cup

Text of statement from Teresa Earnhardt

Teresa Earnhardt's statement Presented at Las Vegas Motor Speedway March 4, 2001 Thank you for joining us here today on such short notice. I want to acknowledge several people in the audience including NASCAR President Mike Helton, and Dale ...

Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Teresa Earnhardt's statement

Presented at Las Vegas Motor Speedway March 4, 2001

Thank you for joining us here today on such short notice. I want to acknowledge several people in the audience including NASCAR President Mike Helton, and Dale Earnhardt Incorporated drivers Steve Park and Michael Waltrip. Seated next to me, of course, is Dale Earnhardt Jr. On behalf of him, and my other children Kerry, Kelley and Taylor, I have something very important to say - not just to the NASCAR family and its millions of supporters, but to every family in America.

It was just two weeks ago today that my husband died doing what he loved. We all miss him terribly and can never fully express how grateful we are to everyone who has shown us their support during this especially difficult and emotional time. The outpouring of affection for Dale and our family has been overwhelming. Since that day, we have received thousands of letters, phone calls and e-mails from all around the world offering sympathy and support.

Thank you so much.

However, I am here to tell you that the trauma we have suffered has only grown since that tragic day two weeks ago. In fact, I have not even had time to caringly unpack Dale's suitcases from Daytona, let alone have time to grieve for him. The main reason is because we have been caught up in an unexpected whirlwind as a result of efforts to gain access to the autopsy photographs of Dale.

We can't believe, and are saddened that anyone would invade our privacy during this time of grief. I want to let you know that if access to the photos is allowed, others will demand them too. And make no mistake, sooner or later the photos will end up unprotected and published...and most certainly on the Internet.

We are thankful to the Florida court, which has denied access to these private photos for the time being. We hope it will order that these images remain where they belong - in the medical examiner's confidential records. Ensuring that the media or others can not violate Dale's dignity and our family's privacy will make the healing process possibly less painful.

But there's a larger issue here. As our family has learned, the laws differ from state-to-state concerning accessibility to autopsy photos. The deceased have a right to their dignity and loved ones have a right to be free from exploitation. Allowing access to these photos will only cause more distress and emotional harm. I'm sure every family in America can understand this.

Even people in the public eye have a right to privacy. This right is more important than the desire to exploit a tragic situation - especially when no public good is being served. There is nothing to be gained by the release of these images from Dale's autopsy.

Releasing the pictures will serve only to violate the privacy of our family and the integrity of Dale's legacy. Our family knows that what is happening to us is wrong and we don't want any other family in America to go through what we're going through.

This is the first time I've spoken in public since we've lost Dale. Honestly, I'm not very comfortable being here. It's too soon. But this issue is of vital importance - not just to my family - but to anyone ever faced with being exploited after losing a loved one.

I am grateful to be among friends, and hopeful that my difficult decision to come here today will make a difference.

I ask anyone, who feels as strongly as we do, to let your voices be heard. Over the next few days, please contact the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives and the President of the Florida Senate, both of whom are in Tallahassee, and will hopefully be taking up this issue shortly.

Ask them to protect the privacy of citizens by preventing the publication of autopsy photos. Then do the same in your own state. Please also contact Florida Governor Jeb Bush and then contact your own governor. Finally, we encourage you to let the Orlando Sentinel know how you feel about this unfortunate situation.

Hopefully, something positive will come from our efforts... for Dale's sake. He was a wonderful husband, father, son, and brother, as well as a national role model for so many. That's the way he should be remembered. Please help us by speaking out.

We need you right now.

Thank you for your support.

Contact Information

Governor Jeb Bush email: fl_governor@myflorida.com</A> The Capitol Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001 Telephone: 850/488-4441 Fax: 850/487-0801

John M. McKay Office of the Senate President Suite 409 The Capitol 404 South Monroe St. Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100 phone(850)487-5229 or (850)487-5078 email: mckay.john.web@leg.state.fl.us</A>

Tom Feeney Speaker of the House Room 420 The Capitol 402 South Monroe St. Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300 phone(850)488-1450 email: feeney.tom@leg.state.fl.us</A>

-DEI

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Las Vegas Dodge Friday notes and quotes

Next article BUSCH: Texas spring schedule of events

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Why NASCAR's Zane Smith fine for Carson Hocevar contact was consistent

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Talladega II

12 min

Why NASCAR's Zane Smith fine for Carson Hocevar contact was consistent

Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup 23 min

Jimmie Johnson on the NASCAR business world: "It's a war"

David Alonso lashes out at Dani Holgado: "When you’re not a good person, there’s nothing you can do"

Moto2

MOT2 Moto2

Phillip Island

23 min

David Alonso lashes out at Dani Holgado: "When you’re not a good person, there’s nothing you can do"

Super Formula Leader Kaku Ohta targets North American move across IndyCar and IMSA for 2027

IndyCar

Indy IndyCar 24 min

Super Formula Leader Kaku Ohta targets North American move across IndyCar and IMSA for 2027

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts