Skull with eyeballs decal12/15/2023 On that lap, a huge crash on the back straightaway eliminated 18 cars in a spectacular fashion. 8 Chevrolet driven by his son Dale Earnhardt Jr., running first and second in front of him. 15 Chevrolet driven by Michael Waltrip and the red No. On lap 173, Earnhardt's car was in seventh place, with two of his team's cars, the blue No. In the first three quarters of the race, there were only two caution flags: the first one on lap 49 when Jeff Purvis hit the wall exiting turn 4 and the other on lap 157 when rookie Kurt Busch hit the frontstretch wall while trying to pass Joe Nemechek and slid through the infield and onto pit road. He was a front-runner throughout the race, leading 17 laps. The morning of the race, Earnhardt appeared confident and relaxed. Earnhardt had won every Twin 125 event he competed in during the 1990s, and was poised to win again in 2001 when Sterling Marlin pulled off a slingshot pass going down the backstretch, taking the victory away from Earnhardt. Earnhardt was also denied victory in the Gatorade Twin 125 qualifying race. In the Budweiser Shootout, Earnhardt finished second to Tony Stewart. Ultimately, however, 2001 Speedweeks would be the first in many years that Earnhardt failed to win one race. (Earnhardt's son), Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins, finished fourth overall and second in class. Earnhardt and his teammates, Dale Earnhardt Jr. On February 3 and 4, 2001, for the first time in his career, Earnhardt participated in the Rolex 24 endurance race at Daytona, the event which kicks off Speedweeks at the track. In the weeks before the Daytona 500, Earnhardt elected not to attend the annual fan and media preview event, drawing vocal criticism from fellow driver Jimmy Spencer. The 2001 Daytona 500 was the first 500-mile (800 km) race run at the track with this package, which was designed to keep cars bunched up close together and to allow more frequent passing at high speed. In the initial running of this aerodynamic package at Talladega, Earnhardt passed 17 cars within four laps to win the fall 2000 Talladega race which proved to be his 76th and final career win. In response to criticism such as Earnhardt's, NASCAR developed a new aerodynamic package for the cars competing in Winston Cup Series races at Daytona and Talladega. This is a joke to have to race like this." We can't adjust and make our cars drive like we want. They took racing out of the hands of the drivers and the crews. In 2000, the year before Earnhardt died, NASCAR instituted additional restrictions to the springs and shocks used on the cars, causing Earnhardt to complain to the media, " took Nascar Winston Cup racing and made it some of the sorriest racing. NASCAR sanctions required the use of a carburetor restrictor plate for races held at that track as well as Talladega Superspeedway. Circumstances of Earnhardt's death Rules of competition Įarnhardt died while competing in the 2001 Daytona 500, a NASCAR-sanctioned automobile race at Daytona International Speedway. Since Earnhardt's death, no driver has died during competition in a race of NASCAR's three major series. Īfter Earnhardt's death, NASCAR began an intensive focus on safety-mandating the use of head-and-neck restraints, installing SAFER barriers at oval tracks, setting rigorous new inspection rules for seats and seat-belts, and developing a roof-hatch escape system and the Car of Tomorrow-which eventually led to the development of a next-generation race car built with extra driver safety in mind. Earnhardt's death, seen on a live television broadcast with more than 17 million viewers, was highly publicized and resulted in various safety improvements in NASCAR auto racing. in July 2000, and Tony Roper in October 2000. Earnhardt was the fourth NASCAR driver killed by a basilar skull fracture during an eight-month span, following Adam Petty in May 2000, Kenny Irwin Jr. His funeral was held four days later at the Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. At the time of the crash, he was 49 years old. Įarnhardt's death was officially pronounced at the nearby Halifax Medical Center at 5:16 p.m. He was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center a short time later. On the afternoon of February 18, 2001, American stock car racing driver and team owner Dale Earnhardt was killed instantly due to a basilar skull fracture in a final-lap collision in the 2001 Daytona 500, in which he crashed into a retaining wall after making contact with Sterling Marlin and Ken Schrader.
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