**Another Day / With Tragedy**
My Condolences go out to the Family of
Dale Earnhardt who Died doing what he Loved at
The Daytona International Speedway.
A Great Driver, Father, Fisherman, and Winston Cup Champion. YOU WILL BE MISSED!
Your Number 3 will never be forgotten and Thank you what you have done to the Sport! Dale JR. Please Continue the Tradition that your father started!
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
February 18, 2001
8:28 PM EST (0128 GMT)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, 49, was fatally injured Sunday in a multi-car accident on the final lap of the 43rd Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
The announcement was made at 7 p.m. ET by NASCAR President Mike Helton.
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"NASCAR has lost its greatest driver," said NASCAR Chairman of the Board Bill France, who himself is recovering from life threatening illnesses, "and I personally have lost a great friend."
His wife Teresa was at his side at the time of death. Dr. Steve Bohannon, emergency trauma surgeon who was on one of the ambulances that responded, said, "My speculation would be head injuries, basically to the base of the skull."
Earnhardt, who won the 1998 Daytona 500, was unconscious when he was cut from his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet after the accident between Turns 3 and 4 of the 2.5-mile speedway as a tangled pack of cars raced to the checkered flag. He was immediately transported to Halifax, less than one-mile from the speedway.
"I don’t know what to say. This is incredible, just incredible. I think everybody is just in shock right now.
"I didn’t see much of what happened up there (in the fourth turn). After the race was over, I heard things didn’t look very good but, man, Earnhardt. You figure he’ll bounce right back," said Jeremy Mayfield, driver of the No. 12 Penske Ford. Your first thought is, hey, he’ll probably come back next week at Rockingham and beat us all.
"My heart goes out to Theresa and Dale, Jr., Kerry and Kelly, and to Taylor Nicole."
Earnhardt was pronounced dead while his driver, Michael Waltrip, was being interviewed in the Daytona press box after his first career victory in 463 starts.
In the accident, Ken Schrader's No. 36 Pontiac was pinned against the outside wall by Earnhardt's out-of-control No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, which came from a lower lane on the 31-degree banked turn.
"I don't know what happened -- all of a sudden we were all crashing," said Schrader, who was unhurt in the accident. "I guess someone got into Dale because Dale got into me and then we went up. We hit pretty hard and Dale hit harder."
Schrader tried to visit Earnhardt's car after the accident ended, but quickly left the area.
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"I didn't get to talk to Dale," Schrader said of his escape. "I went over there and then they (safety workers) got there real quick, so I got the hell out of the way. I'm fine. I'm fine -- I'm just thinking about Dale and those guys."
"The only reason why I won this race was Dale Earnhardt," said Waltrip, who was unaware of the news while he was being interviewed. "I wondered why he wasn't in Victory Lane until I found out he was hurt."
Earnhardt was the career victories leader at Daytona. His 34th career victory here came in the 2000 opening round of the True Value International Race of Champions.
Tony Stewart, who was injured in a separate accident, was also transported directly to Halifax Sunday afternoon. Stewart was injured when his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac was one of no less than 19 cars that were involved in an accident on the 2.5-mile trioval's backstretch. The race was red-flagged at that point with 25 laps remaining.
Stewart was listed as "alert and conscious" when transported. A CT scan of his head and neck and a x-ray of his left shoulder were negative, a speedway statement revealed at 6 p.m. ET. He suffered a concussion in the accident, in which his car flipped several times and was ultimately struck -- in the bottom while flipping -- by his teammate Bobby Labonte.
Earnhardt's son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., 26, who finished second to Waltrip in the race, immediately left the speedway following the race to join his father.
*this section is copyrighted by Nascar.com and it wasn't altered in anyway, I'm a Nascar fan and this is my public way of writing my feelings about the Dale.
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Earnhardt Dies After Daytona Wreck
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Even people who knew nothing about racing knew Dale Earnhardt's craggy, mustachioed face and his reputation as a driver never afraid to bang fenders or shake his fist at a rival.
Despite those traits and his rough appearance- or maybe because of them - Earnhardt was a key figure in the explosive growth of NASCAR during the past 20 years from a regional sport into a mainstream America powerhouse.
That's what made his death in Sunday's Daytona 500 so shocking.
"This is incredible, just incredible," driver Jeremy Mayfield said. "You figure he'll bounce right back. Your first thought is, 'Hey, he'll probably come back next week at Rockingham and beat us all."'
As word of the fatal, last-lap wreck spread, fans cried and the big flag in the middle of Daytona International Speedway's vast infield waved forlornly at half-staff.
The death of Earnhardt - still a championship contender at 49 - was the biggest blow to auto racing since the 1994 crash that killed Formula One star Ayrton Senna.
On the day NASCAR began a new era with the return of Dodge after a 16-year absence and the beginning of a six-year, $2.8 billion TV contract, it's biggest draw was suddenly gone.
Earnhardt was the first driver killed in the Daytona 500, which began in 1959. Six drivers have died of injuries from wrecks during practice or qualifying races for the 500.
Neil Bonnett, one of Earnhardt's best friends, was killed in 1994. Rodney Orr died in a wreck three days later, also in practice, and was the last Winston Cup driver killed at the track until Earnhardt's crash.
Earnhardt died perhaps because of an uncharacteristic decision to let his son and the newest driver on his own team fight it out for the victory while he protected their flank.
Earnhardt crashed on the last turn of the last lap vying for third place at the front of a tight five-car pack. In front of him, Michael Waltrip held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. for what should have been the biggest moment in the short history of Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Earnhardt had to be cut from his battered car and was taken to Halifax Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead of head injuries.
Safety personnel tried furiously to save him, three EMS workers leaning into the car, working on Earnhardt, and two firefighters ripping off the roof to get him out.
"He had what I felt were life-ending type injuries at the time of impact and nothing could be done for him," said Dr. Steve Bohannon, an emergency physician at the hospital who also works for the speedway.
The crash began when the back left corner of Earnhardt's famed black No. 3 Chevrolet bumped with Sterling Marlin's Dodge.
Earnhardt's car fishtailed slightly and briefly slid to its left, down toward the infield, before suddenly swinging back to the right and cutting across traffic at a sharp angle. He hit the wall headfirst and Ken Schrader's yellow Pontiac crashed into the passenger side of his car.
With Earnhardt's Chevy already smoking and shredding at the front, Schrader's car stayed lodged into its side, forming a T. The cars careened again off the wall, plowing into the final turn and sliding to a stop.
Both cars ended up in smoking heaps on the infield grass.
"I guess someone got into Dale because Dale got into me and then we went up," the uninjured Schrader said. "We hit pretty hard and Dale hit harder."
The accident removed all the luster from a glittering race that kept the record crowd of 195,000 spectators on their feet most of the afternoon.
Nearly two hours after the race, NASCAR president Mike Helton, his voice breaking with emotion, walked into the infield media center with the unbelievable news.
"This is undoubtedly one of the toughest announcements I have ever personally had to make. We've lost Dale Earnhardt," Helton said.
Earnhardt was a seven-time Winston Cup champion, and his 76 victories were the most among active drivers. He continued to race for longtime friend and boss Richard Childress while starting his own team, which expanded to three cars with the addition of Waltrip this year. His other drivers were Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Park.
The elder Earnhardt's death was a particularly devastating blow for NASCAR after a 2000 season in which three of its young stars were killed in separate accidents.
Adam Petty, the fourth generation of stock car racing's most famous family, and Kenny Irwin died in crashes two months apart at New Hampshire International Speedway. Tony Roper was killed later in October in a crash during a truck race at Texas Motor Speedway. All three died of the same type of head injuries that apparently killed Earnhardt.
Since those deaths, safety has become a major issue, with a debate over possible rules changes and the use of new safety equipment.
Earnhardt wore an old-fashioned open-faced helmet and shunned some of NASCAR's other basic safety innovations. He didn't like the restrictor plates NASCAR used to slow speeds at its fastest tracks, where he was a master. He also refused to wear a Head And Neck Safety (HANS) brace that recently has been touted as a way to help prevent serious head injuries.
Bohannon said Earnhardt probably died of head injuries, particularly to the base of the skull.
"I know the full-face helmet wouldn't have made a difference," Bohannon said. "I don't know if the HANS device would have helped. I suspect not."
The crash, however, didn't look that serious at first. Most of the fans' attention at the time was on the fight for the checkered flag between Waltrip and Earnhardt Jr.
With two- and three-wide racing and constantly changing positions, there was a far more dangerous-looking wreck 26 laps earlier. The 19-car accident sent Tony Stewart's Pontiac flying through the air and over the roof of another car. Stewart also was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for a concussion.
Earnhardt's death completely overshadowed the victory by Waltrip, his first in 15 years and 463 races on Winston Cup circuit.
At first, Waltrip, the younger brother of retired three-time champion Darrell Waltrip, was jubilant, scrambling from his car in Victory Lane and shouting in a raspy voice: "This is the Daytona 500, and I won it! I won the Daytona 500! I can't believe it!"
But he was somber as it became apparent that his new boss, who gave him a chance to race with the best equipment of his career, was badly injured.
"The only reason I won this race is Dale Earnhardt," Waltrip said.
Waltrip took the lead 16 laps from the end of the 200-lap race and stayed in front.
Thanks to the aerodynamic package that NASCAR came up with to promote better racing after last year's yawner at Daytona, the 43rd version of the stock car Super Bowl produced 49 lead changes among 14 drivers. Last year, there were just nine lead changes and virtually no real racing.
The excitement was back this year - so was the danger. And now the sport has been left without one of its greats.
Once again this section is copyrighted by Excite.com
There are a few Nascar Drivers like Davey Alison #28 Texaco, Adam Petty #45 Sprint, and Kenny Irwin #42 Bellsouth. My Prayers will always be with you!
If your interested to send a card Please mail it to:
The Earnhardt Family
C/O DALE EARNHARDT INCORPORATED
1675 CODDLE CREEK HWY,
MOORESVILLE, NC 28115
or
The Earnhardt Family
C/O RCR Enterprises
236 Industrial Drive
Welcome , NC 27374
