Plenty of dad to be found in Kerry Earnhardt

MONROE – Kerry Earnhardt excused himself, took a step back, covered his mouth and unleashed a series of Mayo Clinic coughs.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m tryin’ to get rid of a cold.”

An embarrassed grin spread under his mustache.

And then it hit.

The smile. The brown hair. The eyes. The voice, even muffled by post-nasal drip.

You thought you’d never hear it, see it, live it again.

Seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt lives in his eldest son, Kerry, 34, one of those competing in tonight’s Coors Light 200.

On the outside, Kerry Earnhardt is every bit The Intimidator, the great stock-car champion killed in the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

It struck the observer from the moment they were introduced, so much so that he couldn’t help but babble about how he missed Kerry Earnhardt’s father, that he became a race fan because of him, that he wept the day his father died.

Then he told Kerry Earnhardt that he felt so ridiculous spilling his guts to him, that he couldn’t imagine the grief the son felt and likely feels to this day.

Tears formed in the eyes of the observer. His voice cracked. He wanted to leave. Moron, he thought to himself.

“No,” Kerry Earnhardt said, that smile appearing again. “I really appreciate it. Thank you. It’s pretty unbelievable how huge he was.”

Then you see Kerry Earnhardt for what he is. His own man with his own career. His own life. His own dreams. His own struggles.

Kerry Dale Earnhardt is the oldest of Dale Earnhardt’s four children, the child from the first of his father’s three marriages.

Dale Earnhardt and Latane Brown divorced when Kerry Earnhardt was a year old. From the time Kerry was 5 until he was 16, he did not see his father. Brown later married a man named Jack Key, who adopted Kerry and admirably took the role as Kerry’s father. They hunted and played golf. Key was one of Kerry’s crew members when Kerry first raced late models.

“He raised me to be the way I am,” Kerry said. “He supported me in my first late-model car and he’s been behind me ever since.”

As did his biological father, Kerry Earnhardt dropped out of school, got married and had two sons, Bobby and Jeffrey, who now are teen-agers. He would later divorce and marry his current wife, Rene.

But because he married and started a family at an early age, Kerry Earnhardt had responsibilities that took him away from racing. To support his family, he pumped gas and worked at Pizza Hut.

Yes, he raced occasionally at various tracks in his native North Carolina, but family obligations prevented him from fully committing to the sport. While his half-brother, Dale Jr., experienced a quick boost in his career under his father’s direction at Dale Earnhardt Inc., Kerry worked the odd jobs and raced only when he could. He wrecked more than his share of cars.

“I never knew what my life was going to be,” Kerry said. “I started a family early. I didn’t know if I’d be racing or working on a race team or what. But then I met my wife, Rene, and it gave me the opportunity to focus on racing. My family’s got everything they need – a stable home. But it made me the person I am today.”

A believer that everything happens for a reason, Kerry Earnhardt tried to make the best of his early-life circumstances. He especially enjoyed his work in a car dealership.

“People would come to the dealership to get their cars worked on,” he said. “I enjoyed working with people. I always felt like I was helping somebody. That’s the way I like to be, to be able to help people.”

At the same time, he and Dale Sr., became close. Understanding that his biological father was building his career as one of stock-car racing’s greatest drivers, Kerry Earnhardt never considered the lengthy interval between visits to end the relationship.

“It was like we never left off,” he said. “When we got back together, it was just like the typical relationship. We had a lot of fun together. We worked on cars together. We just had a good time with it. Being on the road as much as he was, it made it kind of difficult, but we enjoyed the time we had together.”

Unlike his father, however, Kerry Earnhardt has struggled in his career. The last challenge came last season, when he and FitzBradshaw Racing’s Busch Series team parted company.

Earnhardt later signed with Richard Childress Racing on a part-time basis, a contract that calls for him to run seven Nextel Cup Races in 2004. To complement his time with RCR, Childress and Earnhardt called Bill McAnally, longtime NASCAR West Series car owner, who was glad to take Earnhardt on.

Tonight’s Coors Light 200 will be Earnhardt’s first with Bill McAnally Racing.

“We’ve had a long-running relationship with the Childress organization,” McAnally said. “Kerry wanted to get more seat time. We’re thrilled to have him.”

The move, Kerry hopes, should help him latch on full-time with a Nextel Cup team.

“It’s a learning ground,” Earnhardt said. “I’m getting a lot of experience in the Nextel Cup series, trying to gain a lot of respect from other drivers, go racing with them and getting them used to racing around me. We’ve done that so far. A lot of drivers drafted with us at Talladega and worked with us at Daytona. We’re just trying to gain some respect there to where everybody’s comfortable.”