Remembering the Day That Dale Earnhardt Died

Nearly 20 years ago, Dale Earnhardt’s death on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 sent shockwaves through the professional auto racing community. Dale Sr. lost his life at the 43rd running of the "Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing" following a devastating collision on the outside wall at Daytona International Speedway. He was 49 years old.

Even after all these years, we still feel the impact of possibly the most tragic NASCAR wreck of all time.

Dale Earnhardt was calm and confident the morning of the 2001 Daytona 500. Though Senior led for 17 laps in his No. 3 Goodwrench car, the real battle that day was between Michael Waltrip’s No. 15 Chevrolet and Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 8 Chevrolet. Considering that both Waltrip and Dale Jr. were members of Dale Sr.’s racing team, Earnhardt raced an uncharacteristically defensive race, seemingly content in hanging onto third.

On lap 173, there was a massive wreck that took out 18 cars, and the race had to be red-flagged so that the cars could be removed and the debris could be cleaned up.

During the caution period, Earnhardt chillingly told Richard Childress, the owner of his No. 3 car, “Richard, if they don’t do something to these cars, it’s gonna end up killing somebody.”

The race restarted on lap 180, with Junior and Waltrip still duking it out for first. On the final lap coming into turn 4, Earnhardt made light contact with Sterling Marlin, causing him to slightly lose control. As he attempted to regain it, he collided with Ken Schrader and slammed head-on into the retaining wall at speeds of around 160 MPH.

Schrader escaped his race car with minor injuries. He then quickly went over to Earnhardt’s car to check on his friend. It wasn’t good.

Moments later, Michael Waltrip had won the 2001 Daytona 500. Sadly, his trip to Victory Lane would be shrouded in tragedy. Dale Earnhardt Sr. was pronounced dead at the Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida by Dr. Steve Bohannon at 5:16 PM Eastern Standard Time. The autopsy report showed that Earnhardt died instantly of blunt force trauma to his head as well as a basilar skull fracture.

On February 22, funeral services were held for Earnhardt at Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Soon after, both a police investigation and a NASCAR-sanctioned investigation were conducted to determine whether there were any preventable causes surrounding Earnhardt’s death. Bill Simpson, whose company Simpson Performance Products made the seatbelt that Dale Sr. wore during the race, resigned following speculation of serious safety flaws with the belt. NASCAR officials implemented rigorous safety improvements as a result, including mandating the head-restraining HANS device.

For more: AltDriver.com