(Dale Earnhardt) was John Wayne, only living the swagger for real and not in the movies.- Jim Pedley (Photo: LAT Photographic)

I remember talking to the sports desk back at the Star. I remember having to tell them just how big of deal it all was – newspaper editors didn’t really follow auto racing and still don’t. The guys on the other end of the line seemed more concerned with making deadline and going home that Sunday night than springing into action to report on a huge story.

“It’s like Michael Jordan dying,” I remember saying. “On the court, in Game Seven of the finals.”

I think the answer back was along the lines of a blasé; so, what time will you file the story?

By the time the story was filed, the folks at the paper had finally realized that this was indeed a big story. They have televisions in the sports department and ESPN is often on and if ESPN thought this was huge, then maybe this is big.

Whitlock was right. It was a long night. Followed by a lot of long days and airplane flights to places like Kannapolis and Charlotte and Las Vegas, where Teresa Earnhardt was scheduled to speak.

And there were a lot of the things which reporters hate the most; interviews with grieving friends, family and fans.

The negative impact of the event is both obvious and still being felt: The biggest star in the sport was dead

Earnhardt was so much more than just a successful driver.

He was for millions, a lifestyle. The Intimidator. The big dude in the black car and black driver’s suit who took nothing from nobody and then explained it with a wink. He was John Wayne, only living the swagger for real and not in the movies.

He was bigger than life among his peers. If you were a driver and he was walking up pit road your way after a race, you swallowed hard and kept your helmet on.

All that was obvious.

Not so obvious at the time was how his death would affect the sport short term and long. It affected both and that is what makes the death of Earnhardt the most important story of the decade.

In the short term, it brought out mainstream arguments about the brutality of the sport. It produced questions about; where to from here?

NASCAR got a very bitter bump in popularity after the death of Earnhardt. The curious felt obligated to tune in, true fans wanted last looks and answers. TV Guide and People magazine attended the Monday press conference at Daytona the day after the race.

But the face of the sport was gone. Who would become the new face? Jeff Gordon? Please.

And to a degree, that void has never been filled. Earnhardt’s son has become a commercial success; Jimmie Johnson has won four straight championships; Gordon has been a crossover fixture on daytime and late-night television; Jeff Burton speaks eloquently of his sport; Mark Martin has become a populist hero; Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch have driven cars with head-shaking skill; Juan Pablo Montoya has brought Formula One eyes to the sport; Joey Logano has proven teens can drive something other than mom’s minivan.

But that void created by the loss of Earnhardt simply has not been filled. Not even close.

And the merely curious, they have moved on.

On the positive side, massive safety changes have been introduced. Everything from soft walls (which probably would have saved Earnhardt) to the HANS device to Cars of Tomorrow has been implemented.

And make no mistake, those things are saving lives still. Perhaps the lives of Gordon, Johnson and Martin this year alone.

Racing story of the decade? Dale Earnhardt dying in a crash on the final turn of the final lap of the sport’s biggest event is the racing story of all time. Period and exclamation point.

Jim Pedleyis a veteran, award-winning sports journalist who has worked at, among other places, the Boston Globe, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Kansas City Star. Pedley spent more than 10 years covering auto racing for the Kansas City Star. Pedley can be reached at jpedley@racintoday.com

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel