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Darlington II


A tribute to Ernie Irvan, NASCAR wallpaper, and the Southern 500.





Ernie Irvan Retires..........


We have all seen star quarterbacks retire from football due to a series of brain concussions that accumulate to the point that the next one will cause permanent damage. Boxers face the same dilemma, and some of them end up punch drunk. Ernie Irvan wants to lead a wholesome life with his family. Medical experts told him that one more whack to the head could possibly interfere with that. When you are in a borderline position for permanent brain damage, you have to make a decision. Some of the old time football players and boxers were not privy to such information. If they had been, maybe they would have retired like Ernie Irvan did.

Ernie's wholesome life took a serious blow in '97 at Michigan when his worst accident occurred, fracturing his skull and rendering him unconscious for more than two days. The vision in his right eye was impaired and he came back to the drivers seat wearing glasses. It was evident watching him race that he was at a disadvantage with the eye impairment. His right side vision earned him the nickname "Swervin Irvan." There are those who will aver that he caused at least a couple of wrecks from not being able to see what was going on to the right of him. Earnhardt and Jarrett both suffered wrecks from Ernie, and have been known to make guarded remarks concerning Ernie's vision.

You can say what you want about Ernie, but the fact remains, Ernie was a winner. That's a lot more than you can say about a lot of the other drivers that hold the coveted 43 plus seats in Winston Cup. In over 13 seasons, Ernie won 15 races. He had 68 top fives and 124 top tens in 313 starts. He was a competitive driver, to say the least. I still think Robert Yates made a mistake when he replaced him with Kenny Irwin, and now Irwin has fallen by the wayside with a career that's going nowhere after losing his ride.

Ernie Irvan's career is pretty well summed up in an article at NASCAR Online called Irvan's Career a Roller Coaster Ride . There are videos and audios, as well as links to other articles concerning Ernie's retirement and career. One of the greatest moments in his career was the win at Michigan after coming back from a near death wreck at that track, and another big one was his Daytona 500 win in '91.
The copyright of the article Darlington II in NASCAR is owned by Thomas M. Sampson. Permission to republish Darlington II in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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