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dalemania! Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s appearance at Spotsylvania outdoors store draws thousands determined to grab glimpse of him Date published: 9/10/2004 By LAURA MOYER
Video of Earnhardt in Spotsylvania Most of the 4,000 or so NASCAR fans who gathered at a Spotsylvania County outdoors store yesterday afternoon knew they wouldn't actually get to meet Dale Earnhardt Jr. Most wouldn't shake his hand, or make a split second of eye contact, or breathe molecules from the very same square yard of air. But at least they would lay their eyes on him. For fans of Little E., the occasion merited calling in sick from work or taking the first skip day of the school year, then waiting all day under threatening clouds in the parking lot of the Gander Mountain store on State Route 3. Some lucky few hundred sported red VIP passes, won in store drawings and radio station giveaways. They'd get to walk up to a table, hand their hero something to sign, pay brief verbal homage and leave fulfilled. A couple thousand or so wore lesser green passes, worth a group photo opportunity. Those without any passes at all would have to be satisfied seeing their idol take the stage outside for a brief Q-and-A, and shouting, "Dale, I love you!" from the anonymity of the crowd. After a day of waiting--eating hot dogs and listening to the marathon efforts of the hard-working band Southern Rain--the crowd turned as one toward Route 3 and the sounds of sirens. When Junior comes into a NASCAR county like Spotsylvania, he merits a motorcade. The Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office sent the red Budweiser car to the front parking lot as a decoy, then whisked the man himself to the back of the store in his private Chevy Suburban. Little E. was not driving. The surprising thing was, in person, Dale Earnhardt Jr. looked exactly like a guy.
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