NASCAR is back, and the Daytona 500 race is wrapped up! But how can we move ahead without remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.? It’s been 24 years since he passed away, but no matter if it becomes 50 years…he will always be remembered whenever we run a 500 race. The year 2001 was supposed to be more than what happened. It was supposed to be a lot more for Sr. He was determined to break Richard Petty’s championship record. And, ESPN’s Marty Smith remembers it clear as day how Dale Sr. looked confident at the start of the season of his 8th title. But then the tragedy unfolded!

And just like that, February 18th, 2001 became the darkest day in the history of NASCAR. We often discuss how that changed the course of driver safety in the sport. Head and neck restraints were introduced, or the roof hatch escape system was brought in. Also, the SAFER barrier came on the track…the list goes on. But that’s all the positives that came out after that day. However, we often forget what it did to the NASCAR community. Especially the drivers who were involved in the incident. Some still get the chills remembering that day!

Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s crash from the drivers’ point of view

Let’s try to go back to that day. Had everything gone smoothly, the race would have gone down in the history books. Picture the final lap…Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s Michael Waltrip is leading the team to its victory. He’s being chased by his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. in P2. And watching all this unfold is the Intimidator himself from P3! The photo finish would have been epic with the three of them in one frame. And we can only imagine how proud the Intimidator must be feeling at that moment. It’s either his son who would win NASCAR’s biggest race. Or his gamble of sticking with Michael Waltrip even after a winless streak of 462 would pay off.

But before he could see either of these happen, Sterling Marlin spun him. At first, the #3 car was headed for the infield grass but suddenly turned and dived straight into the wall! Ken Schrader was just behind and crashed into him. Schrader was the last person Dale Sr. saw before dying. He may have had peace seeing a friend in his final moments (the Schraders and the Earnhardt family were close). But Schrader can’t say the same. After the crash…he was the one who went to check up on Sr. But the moment he peeked in…he saw the lifeless body of NASCAR’s greatest driver.

Mustering courage, he had said, “What I saw in the car that day, that will stay with you. I saw a friend in trouble. I didn’t know for certain [he was dead], but I would have bet. That sticks with you.” It was a moment that still gives Schraders the chills. No one wants to have a front-row seat to their friend’s death.

But Schrader wasn’t the one who got the worst of it. It was Marlin! He was branded Dale Sr.’s killer and even got a ton of death threats. It’s no secret that Dale Sr. was the heart of the sport and fans loved him to death. So, in their eyes, Marlin took him away from them. And not many know that Marlin had to take Dale Earnhardt Jr‘s help to get out of this. Junior in a press conference asked fans to leave Marlin alone!

It’s honestly unimaginable what Dale Jr. must have felt back then! Junior was doing all he could to pass Waltrip. He probably had no idea what had happened in his rear-view mirror. And finally, after he rushed to the care center, he knew his father was gone. And such a moment leaves an impact on anyone’s mind, let alone that of a son.

And speaking of a son, Waltrip was no less to Senior! And Waltrip was so overwhelmed by the win that, at the moment, he did not realize what had unfolded. He was deliberately kept away from the news at the moment. But when he was finally told by his wife…he was shattered. In an old interview, sobbing, he had said, “I started wondering how I was supposed to feel in that moment and I haven’t stopped wondering since.” 

And it must have been tough for him. Probably after the checkered flag…his first thought must have been that he made Dale Sr. proud. And that he would now get to celebrate with the man who believed in him when no one else did! But sadly he did not get his time with him. And Waltrip wasn’t the only one who had a deep impact because of that moment.

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Tony Stewart on seeing Dale Sr. lying dead

Stewart was not having a good day either. He made a P24 start, but Stewart, being Stewart, climbed to P3. But then Ward Burton got into him and Stewart was airborne. He barrel-rolled almost through the entire field and even landed on the hood of Bobby Labonte for a moment who was running 23. Eventually, Stewart landed upright with both his front tires missing, the fender missing, and his car was up in flames.

It is tough to imagine that Tony Stewart’s crash was one of the worst ones in the history of Daytona. Stewart barely remembering the incident had said, “All I remember…We were three wide coming off a turn two. I was the car on the very bottom. I think Robbie Gordon was next to me and Ward Burton was outside of him or vice versa. But whoever the outside guy was hit the wall they came off hit the guy next to him that guy hit me and it turned me to the right and the wall. And that’s the first thing I remembered after hitting the wall was the car being stopped and kind of coming to and not really knowing what’s going on.”

Finally, Labonte had to fill him in on the details. “And Bobby is staring at me through the window, going, Are you all right? I’m like, Yeah, I’m fine. He goes, You know, if we have to cut the top off, we can cut the top off. And I’m like, No, I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to hurt the car. He goes, I don’t think you need to worry about that. I had no idea what had just happened and what the status was. But I said what happened, and he goes…you landed on top of me. I was running third, he was running 23rd, and I landed on top of him. But I had no idea,” Stewart added.

So Stewart was taken to the care center. And then, after all the routine checkups, he was shifted to a different room. And accidentally the nurse took him into the room where Earnhardt Sr. was lying. Recalling that moment, he had said, “I was only in there a second. But I knew when I saw Dale that it wasn’t good.” That’s when Stewart realized he wasn’t the one having a bad day.

Visually, Stewart’s crash looked scarier than Earnhardt’s, but that wasn’t the case. When Stewart’s car bounced, it kind of absorbed the shock and dialed the energy down. But when the Intimidator crashed, all the shock went straight to his head, causing the skull fracture. It was so sudden that it’s still hard to wrap your head around it.

Goosebumps, right? Folks, what are some of your memories from that time? What did you feel hearing the news? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.