Dale Earnhardt Sr. Dies In NASCAR Race

415 Words2 Pages

Dale Earnhardt Sr. Dies in NASCAR Race Dale Earnhardt Sr. once said, “You can’t let one bad moment spoil a bunch of good ones.” Dale Earnhardt Sr. had a lot of good moments during his NASCAR career. February 18th, 2001 is the most important date in history because Dale Earnhardt Sr. passed away while finishing his last lap at the Daytona 500 NASCAR race. A lot of people were heart broken by the devastating news, especially the people in the stands who witnessed the crash. Earnhardt was only 49 years old when he passed away.
Earnhardt accomplished a lot during his NASCAR history. “Earnhardt was one of the greatest drivers in auto racing history. He was a seven-time Winston Cup champion and had won the Daytona 500 race in 1998. With a total …show more content…

He was trying to make way for his son to pass through, hoping he would win the race. Sadly, Earnhardt was hit by another car and lost control of his car. He ran into the wall and died instantly. Earnhardt’s son did not end up passing the finish line as he got out of his car and went to check on his dad. An autopsy performed after the accident determined that he suffered from head trauma and his neck had snapped.
This accident was not Earnhardt’s first one. He “had crashed before in Daytona in 1997, after he flipped his vehicle. He managed to survive that crash with no severe injuries” (Libaw, 2001, p. 2). The Lowes Motor Speedway put in a type of foam on the walls after Earnhardt died, to try to avoid other fatal accidents like this from happening.
The passing of Earnhardt was a lot for his fans and family to process. Earnhardt was known for being “a thoughtful friend off the track” and he was nicknamed “The Intimidator” (Libaw, 2001, p.1). It was also hard for NASCAR president, Mike Helton to tell everyone that Earnhardt did not survive the crash. Earnhardt’s whole family was big on auto racing and did not give up on the idea of racing after his death.
To conclude, the most important date in history is February 18th because in 2001, Dale Earnhardt Sr. passed away while going to complete his last lap in the Daytona 500 NASCAR