In just two days, the ESPN movie "3" will be televised and it seems like just a few days ago I heard that this movie was being made. It seems like just months ago we all witnessed Michael Waltrip win his first Daytona 500 followed soon after by the paralyzing sorrow that NASCAR had lost its fiercest competitor. Under my desk I still have a copy of the Daytona Beach News-Journal with the opening page headline "Black Sunday – Racing Legend Dale Earnhardt dies after Daytona 500 wreck."  To this day, I've never even unfolded the paper or read the story. Perhaps I thought if I didn't read it, it wouldn't be true. My parents brought it back home with them from Daytona and haven't returned since. 
 
Over the past couple of weeks, I've been slowly preparing myself to watch the upcoming movie, and it hasn't been easy. This week alone there has been Earnhardt footage on ESPN; old races and a show that was called "The Making of 3" or something to that effect. I saw absolutely nothing in regards to the actual filming or making of this flick, although there were some great stories shared by many which ultimately lead to myself having some pretty soggy vision a few times. I'm quite sure I'm not alone.
 
I've asked myself several times over the course of a few months, "how do you make a MOVIE about someone who was bigger than life, a legend and a star in his own right?" Fans of Earnhardt and fans of NASCAR were a part of the real life movie called Dale Earnhardt.  We watched it all first hand. No director, no actors, no script. How in the hell could you possibly recreate the magic of Dale Earnhardt in a movie that's over before your microwave popcorn stops popping, when his fans still bleed black Goodwrench blood if you slightly scratch their skin?
 
I hope I am wrong, but perhaps I've already made up my mind that the movie won't do the history or the passion justice. I will watch. I can't guarantee I'll be comfortable, but I'll watch.
 
Cut.
 
Lori Munro
Lori's War Wagon – 200mph cartoons
http://www.war-wagon.com