Whicker: Dale Earnhardt’s death devastated NASCAR and, ultimately, improved it

Race car fans aren’t just there for the rubble, not any more than hockey fans are there for the fights.
But it is easier, these days, to gawk at a guy like Ryan Newman, going grille-first into the wall at Daytona in February, then wearing Casey Lajoie’s airborne car on his hood, then lighting up the track with his sparks as he rides on his roof.
Your gut told you that Newman was in serious trouble. The data told you that he really wasn’t.
He and Lajoie were ribbing each other,