Tony Eury Sr., left, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Eury Jr. with the refurbished No. 72 Late Model car. Credit: Courtesy Dale Earnhardt Jr.

A Christmas story

'It looks just like it! I can't believe it! It looks just like it!'

The best gifts aren't the most expensive, the gaudiest or most elaborate, rather those given obvious thought, consideration and time by the giver.

This is a story of one such gift, presented, ironically, to a rosy man with a white beard by a jolly type known for a red suit and a red sleigh.

	MARTY SMITH •   E-mail Marty •   Opinion Archive •   Store: 'I Agree With Marty' tee

Two falls ago, a persistent rumor filtered across the Dale Earnhardt Inc., campus that the last racecar Tony Eury Sr. ever piloted had surfaced on Ebay. Initially it was a joke among DEI employees, but the more scuttlebutt Dale Earnhardt Jr. heard the more intrigued he became.

So he went looking for confirmation. And sure enough, one late evening in December 2003 Junior was drifting through Ebay oblivion and stumbled upon a rusty, forgotten dirt Late Model racecar. The accompanying photograph was grainy, but the car was nonetheless familiar.

Tom Piston, a Charlotte-area entrepreneur, had repossessed the car in the early '80s and stowed it away in a dusty corner of his auto body shop.

It hadn't moved since. Earnhardt had an inkling to change that.

After consulting with his cousin, Tony Eury Jr., about the possibility of restoring the old man's ride, Earnhardt pulled the trigger.

He bought the car for " a couple grand," then got to work making it priceless.

In that, he most certainly succeeded.

With rebuild help from Tony Jr., Martin Truex Jr., and his stepfather, Willie Jackson, among others, and invaluable parts location assistance from uncle Robert Gee Jr., Ken Schrader, Piston and Danny Richardson, Earnhardt spent the better part of two years rebuilding the baby blue and white No. 72.

In all, more than 30 sets of hands played a part in the restoration.

But it's not about those that built it. It's about those that built it showing Eury how much they love and respect him.

The extensive restoration of the No. 72 Late Model car included the weathered cockpit. Credit: Courtesy Dale Earnhardt Jr.

All numbering and lettering on the machine was hand-painted. Nary a decal was used. Earnhardt estimates the car is about 98 percent authentic. The seat, motor, transmission, rear end and front suspension are all original pieces.

Two years right under his nose, and Eury Sr. never had a clue.

So imagine Eury's confusion when Earnhardt hopped atop a table last week at the No. 8 shop in front of 200 DEI employees and began reading the names of the 32 folks that helped restore the machine.

When finished, he asked Tony Jr., to "bring it in," jumped off the table and walked Tony Sr. over to a better viewing position.

As the car rolled into view, Eury's face became flush with emotion.

"Damnit, man!" he said, astonished, wiping a tear from his eye as he embraced his nephew.

"He just walked circles around it for a while and kept saying, 'It looks just like it! I can't believe it! It looks just like it!' " Earnhardt said.

"He must have said it 20 times, over and over."

Later that evening at the DEI Christmas party, Eury again thanked Earnhardt.

"It was really special for him, something he deserved for a long time coming," Junior said. "Seeing him that happy is the best Christmas present I could get."

Now that's a NASCAR Christmas story if I've ever heard one.

Merry Christmas, everyone ...