The motor sports year has to get better after such a sad start.

The death of popular driver Bobby Hamilton on Sunday was tragic. And the critical condition of Benny Parsons makes for a 1-2 punch that's not the way to start a new year.

Also, NASCAR president Mike Helton is grieving the loss his mother, Kathryn, who died Sunday.

There is no good age to die. Passing at 80 or 90 is more easily rationalized and accepted, though no loss is any less heartbreaking.

But 49 is way too young.

That was the age of Hamilton, a good driver, good family man and good team owner. He came off as being serious at the track, but that's because he was a competitor.

When he won a Cup race in 1996 at Phoenix International Raceway, his smile nearly surpassed the one on team owner Richard Petty's face. But no one can out-smile The King. It was a great day for the Petty team and Hamilton. The team hadn't won a Cup race since 1983 when Petty was driving the famed No. 43.

Hamilton gave Petty another win the next year, then added Cup victories for other teams in 1998 and 2001.

He found a full-time home in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2003. That's where several of his peers have gone after the world of Nextel Cup began shifting to a youth movement.

He won the truck series title in 2004 with four victories.

The Nashville, Tenn., native never strayed far from home and operated his truck team from the area until his death.

He was a feisty driver and is the only owner-driver to win a truck championship.

He competed in last year's first four races after being diagnosed with head and neck cancer in February.

The barrel-chested Hamilton fought valiantly but couldn't whip cancer.

His death has cast a pall over the first week of NASCAR testing at Daytona International Speedway.

Doctors told Parsons, 65, late last season that his cancer was in remission. Sadly, the treatment needed to terminate the disease left him with one functioning lung, which hasn't made up for the loss of the other. He probably needs a miracle to pull through. The 1973 Winston Cup champion remains in intensive care at a North Carolina hospital.

We're in an era when NASCAR greats from the modern era, which dates to the 1970s, are in their twilight years. Those whose lives were measured by hundredths of a second during their careers are now racing against time.

Instead of fans being urged to salute "farewell" tours for drivers who far too often unretire, we should focus on showing appreciation for racing greats before it's too late.

• FAMILY FEUD -- Can't the Earnhardts get along?

First, Teresa Earnhardt, widow of Dale Earnhardt Sr. and owner of Dale Earnhardt Inc., snipes at stepson Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a Wall Street Journal article by implying the second generation driver spends too much time being a celebrity.

And this was after he rallied to finish fifth in points last season.

Dale Jr., the most popular American driver in motor sports, fired back this week during testing at Daytona.

He is in the last year of a contract with DEI, the organization his father founded. It appears what Earnhardt wants most is part ownership of the team.

And why not? He's the team. He's the franchise. And he's his father's son.

Teresa is given credit for building the business and marketing aspects of her late husband's career.

But why wasn't part of DEI willed to Dale Jr. and his sister, Kelley Earnhardt Elledge? Elledge is the executive director of the younger Earnhardt's JR Motorsports operation, which includes a NASCAR Busch Series team.

"Teresa is my stepmother. I have a mother at home I have a very good relationship with," Dale Jr. told ESPN.com this week. "Mine and Teresa's relationship has always been very black and white, very strict and in your face.

"It's gotten no worse the last couple of years or last couple of months. The way I felt about her then is the way I feel about her now."

Blood should be thicker than love, and Dale Jr. should own part of the team that is his father's legacy.

Jeff Wolf's motor sports column is published Friday. He can be reached at 383-0247 or jwolf@reviewjournal.com.