HOW EARNHARDT’S DEATH CHANGED AMERICAN MOTORSPORT
February 18, 2001. Seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, the fearless ‘Intimidator’, was in his element at Daytona International Speedway. While his own DEI team’s cars ran 1-2 towards the finish line, and Daytona 500 glory, his famed #3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was playing rear-gunner to block any late runs from the chasing pack. As the cars tore through Turns 3 and 4 on that fateful final lap, Earnhardt maintained the strongarm tactics that encapsulated his persona… but his actions in those moments proved to be his last.
As he threw his final block, Earnhardt’s left-rear corner tagged Sterling Marlin’s right-front fender, getting the RCR Chevy loose. Earnhardt battled for control, his car clipping the apron, unsettling it yet further, and it began to spin clockwise, moving up the track and across the bows of the closely following Rusty Wallace and Ken Schrader. His right-rear corner was struck by Schrader’s left-front, which crucially accentuated the angle of Earnhardt’s car (between 53 and 55 degrees in relation to the wall) before it nosed hard into the unprotected concrete.
Although it appeared to be a ‘regular’ NASCAR crash,
