Janice Goodfriend (left), Peggy Alewine, Nicole Darnell and Barry Sammons hold candles in honor of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt at a memorial service at Silver Eagle Speedway in Grovetown. Fans shared mixed emotions on the racer. JIM BLAYLOCK/ STAFF

While lighting candles in remembrance of the man they knew as a hero, Augusta's racing fans shared mixed emotions Fridaynight.

The memorial service at Silver Eagle Speedway was for the man they called The Intimidator - No. 3, Dale Earnhardt.

``I'm going to keep him in my heart,'' said Keith Cook of Augusta, who attended the service at the Gordon Highway racetrack near Grovetown. Mr. Cook brought his wife, Lisa, and son Dale - named after Mr. Earnhardt.

``... He was my hero,'' Mr. Cook said. ``It's like losing a family member.''

The memorial service was sponsored by Silver Eagle Speedway and radio station WEKL-FM. Fans lit candles in silence, but cheering followedpoem and scripture readings in honor of Mr. Earnhardt, who died Sunday in a crash at the Daytona 500.

``He was a racers' racer,'' said George Bryan, owner of Silver Eagle, over a microphone in front of the packed grandstands with hundreds of fans. ``And I think all of us who have been around racing are better off from knowing him, what he stood for and what he brought to our sport.''

The night also included Earnhardt fans standing in line to sign a memorial book to be sent to the Earnhardt family. Surrounding the book were several potted plants and flowers that had been brought from fans to be later used for an Earnhardt memorial garden at the track.

Besides fans who knew Mr. Earnhardt by way of television, there were others in attendance who knew him personally, including Aiken resident Stephen Earnhardt Tolbert, a second cousin to Mr. Earnhardt.

``I know it's hard for you,'' he told the crowd. ``...but all these tears and sorrow and sadness isn't what Dale would want.''

Then, there was Fred Harper, a NASCAR driver during the 1950s and '60s who said he remembered racing against Mr. Earnhardt's father, Ralph, in Augusta at the Augusta International Speedway, which has long since closed.

``His father was good, real good,'' he said. ``Dale learned a lot from him.''

And although the event closed with a prayer and a final waving of a checkered flag, most agreed that the name Earnhardt would never die.

``He's still racing up there in heaven right now,'' said fan Billie Jean Crawford.

Reach:Preston Sparks at (706) 868-1222, Ext. 110.