A few years back I happened to be in Alabama. Talladega was just over a little from my destination, so I made time to visit the museum next to the speedway. It's well worth a visit if you're in the area.
This is what remains of a Chevrolet Lumina stock car driven by Neil Bonnett at Talladega in 1993. Neil had been out of action for a few years after a horrifying accident left him with head injuries. He recovered, went on to a second career as a beloved member of the team in the broadcast booth. But the fire was still there, so Richard Childress Racing put Neil in a car for a couple races in 1993. (Childress employed Neil's best friend, Dale Earnhardt, so it isn't hard to see how it happened.)
It was said when Bonnett took to the track in this car, after being away from racing for so long, his eyes welled up. It was where he wanted to be, and he was in his element, and all at a track he knew well that was close to home. Then this accident sent the car flying into the catch fence, tearing down part of it. It looked horrible. But Neil was soon out of the car, walking and talking, seemed to be just fine, and ended the day in the broadcast booth alongside his former television colleagues.
Neil Bonnett hoped to end his racing career on his own terms, and was going to drive a few races in 1994 with a different team. But he was killed in a single-car crash at Daytona the following February. Something went wrong and Neil was killed. There are those who say that after his best buddy Neil was killed, Dale Earnhardt never really got over the loss.
What's left of Neil's Talladega car is in the Talladega museum. It's mute testimony to the violence of a high-speed crash, and testimony to how these cars protected their occupants. As you can see, there's only a rope line between you and the wreckage, and it beckons you for a closer look.
There's a lot to see in the museum. Some exhibits are more interesting than others. Some exhibits are more intact than others. And some are unexpectedly moving, especially on afternoons when the visitors are few and the exhibit halls are quiet, as they were the day I visited.
This is what remains of a Chevrolet Lumina stock car driven by Neil Bonnett at Talladega in 1993. Neil had been out of action for a few years after a horrifying accident left him with head injuries. He recovered, went on to a second career as a beloved member of the team in the broadcast booth. But the fire was still there, so Richard Childress Racing put Neil in a car for a couple races in 1993. (Childress employed Neil's best friend, Dale Earnhardt, so it isn't hard to see how it happened.)
It was said when Bonnett took to the track in this car, after being away from racing for so long, his eyes welled up. It was where he wanted to be, and he was in his element, and all at a track he knew well that was close to home. Then this accident sent the car flying into the catch fence, tearing down part of it. It looked horrible. But Neil was soon out of the car, walking and talking, seemed to be just fine, and ended the day in the broadcast booth alongside his former television colleagues.
Neil Bonnett hoped to end his racing career on his own terms, and was going to drive a few races in 1994 with a different team. But he was killed in a single-car crash at Daytona the following February. Something went wrong and Neil was killed. There are those who say that after his best buddy Neil was killed, Dale Earnhardt never really got over the loss.
What's left of Neil's Talladega car is in the Talladega museum. It's mute testimony to the violence of a high-speed crash, and testimony to how these cars protected their occupants. As you can see, there's only a rope line between you and the wreckage, and it beckons you for a closer look.
Get close enough and you can almost stick your head in the driver's side window opening. It's an eerie feeling to look in there. You know nobody was hurt in there, but you also know that its driver was taken from us a few months later. It's almost like Neil's aura is still there, somehow.
Maybe you can understand why, when I looked in there, I whispered, "Hey there, Neil."
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