Death of Dale Earnhardt
| Memorable Sports Moments |
   |
| Invite Your Friends to Rate |
The death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. was a significant event in NASCAR history. A seven-time series champion and fan favorite, Earnhardt is still today considered one of the best drivers of all time, and his death in the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 was a great tragedy for the sport. He was the fourth driver killed since Adam Petty's death in May 2000, and although controversy over safety had been brewing for some time, Earnhardt's death and the overwhelming fan outcry was arguably the catalyst that eventually resulted in significant safety improvements.
Following the death and investigation, NASCAR began an intensive focus on safety that has seen the organization mandate the use of head-and-neck restraints (currently, only the HANS device is approved for competition), oversee the installation of SAFER barriers at all oval tracks, set rigorous new rules for seat-belt and seat inspection, develop a roof-hatch escape system, and develop a next-generation race car built with extra driver safety in mind, dubbed the Car of Tomorrow.
[edit] Circumstances of Earnhardt's death
Following the start of the Daytona 500, Earnhardt led several of the opening laps, and continued to be a front-runner throughout the race. During a pit stop, Earnhardt made contact with the #36 car of Ken Schrader in an incident that left both cars running without damage or loss of position. On lap 173, a large accident took place, involving 18 cars. Tony Stewart, who had beaten Earnhardt in the Budweiser Shootout, found his car tumbling wildly down the backstretch. As it tumbled, Earnhardt managed to weave his way through wrecked cars and come out unscathed. The race was stopped to facilitate cleanup of the track, and when the race resumed, it was Earnhardt and DEI drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Michael Waltrip in the top 3 positions. As the laps wound down, Waltrip was leading Earnhardt and Earnhardt, Jr.
Going into the final turn of the last lap, there was apparent contact between the back bumper of Earnhardt's car and the nose of Sterling Marlin's. Earnhardt’s car veered off the track's steep banking, onto the flat apron. It looked like for a moment Earnhardt would hang on to the car & possibly drive to a top 5 finish. But, the car turned sharply up the track, toward the outside wall, into the path of the #36 Pontiac driven by Ken Schrader. Earnhardt's #3 car crashed into the wall nose-first at an estimated 180 mph, killing him instantly. The left-rear wheel assembly broke off the car on impact. The hood pins severed and the hood flapped open, slamming against the windshield as the car slid slowly down the track.
While Michael Waltrip raced toward the checkered flag to claim his first victory, with Earnhardt, Jr. close behind, the cars of Earnhardt and Schrader slid off the track's asphalt banking toward the infield grass inside of turn four. After climbing from the wreck of his car, Schrader peered into Earnhardt's car, only to jump back and signal for EMTs. Hours later, at a NASCAR press conference, NASCAR President Mike Helton announced that Dale Earnhardt was dead. Helton's exact words were: "We've lost Dale Earnhardt".
