He knew it was bound to happen…but he had no idea how soon his prediction would come true.
Today is the 25th anniversary of the death of the legendary Dale Earnhardt on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. But just 20 laps earlier, the seven time NASCAR Cup Series champion had issued a chilling warning about the safety of the cars they were racing.
NASCAR had already suffered three losses in the previous year, with all three drivers passing away from the same injury: A basilar skull fracture.
Adam Petty, the son of Kyle Petty and grandson of the legendary Richard Petty, had passed away after a crash during a practice session of the Busch Series Race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in May of 2000.
Kenny Irwin Jr. had suffered the same fate, at the same track, during a practice session for the Cup Series race that summer, with both of their accidents being blamed on a stuck throttle. But then in October of 2000, unfortunately the sport would suffer yet another loss after Tony Roper was killed during a Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Three deaths in three different series, all from the same injury. NASCAR had a safety problem, and everybody – including Earnhardt – knew it.
Fast forward to February 18, 2001 and lap 173 of the Daytona 500. As was often the case at superspeedways like Daytona and Talladega, a scary crash caught up 18 cars and sent the #20 car of Tony Stewart airborne before eventually landing on top of the oncoming car of Robbie Gordon. Stewart’s car then flipped multiple times before finally coming to rest in the infield.
The wreck looked horrific, and fans and drivers alike held their breath as they waited to see whether they had just witnessed yet another tragic death in the span of 8 months.
But miraculously, Stewart managed to walk away relatively unscathed, suffering only minor cuts and bruises. But while the race was red-flagged to clean up the track, Earnhardt keyed up his radio and made a haunting prediction to team owner Richard Childress.
As Earnhardt’s longtime friend and team owner would later recall:
“I remember him coming on there, and I can’t remember if it was as soon as the wreck happened or during the red flag, but he said, ‘Richard, if they don’t do something to these cars, it’s going to end up killing somebody.’”
@alectheflexerofficial Richard if they don’t do something with these cars Thier gonna hurt somebody. Dale Earnhardt told Richard Childress on the radio during the 2001 Daytona 500 NASCAR #nascar #daleearnhardt #2001daytona500 #daytona500 #daytonainternationalspeedway #richardchildress #radio #alectheflexer #theintimidator #storytime #winstoncup #winstoncupseries #nascarmemories #nascarstories #darrellwaltrip #michaelwaltrip #dalejr #tragic #earnhardt #dalesr #dalesr #3 #8 #15 #DEI #tonyeury #nascarcupseries ♬ original sound – Alectheflexer™️
Unfortunately, nobody had any idea how right he would be just 27 laps later.
With Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr. leading the way coming to the checkered flag, their team owner Earnhardt was in third place in his black #3 car. It was a strange scene, as the Intimidator appeared to be trying to block for his two drivers rather than win the race himself.
But a tap from Sterling Marlin sent Earnhardt’s car up the track and into the turn four wall.
We’ve probably all seen what happened after the wreck: Ken Schrader, who was also caught up in the wreck, walked over to Earnhardt’s car and began frantically signaling for medical attention as soon as he looked inside.
Schrader knew it was bad, and so did Dr. Steve Bohannon, the trauma doctor at the speedway that afternoon. During a recent interview with OutKick, Bohannon recalled seeing Earnhardt and knowing that he was gone immediately:
“I think everybody knew at the scene. Everybody knew that he had passed away at impact. I knew all the medics, and they shook their heads when they saw me walk up… When the car stops, the body keeps moving. And when your body quits moving, your brain keeps moving and decelerates inside your skull, and the forces are tremendous.”
The official cause of death? A basilar skull fracture, the fourth deadly accident from the same injury in less than a year.
Prior to the 2001 season, NASCAR had been recommending drivers wear a head and neck restraint device that would prevent the type of movement Bohannon was referring to during a crash. But unfortunately, drivers were slow to adopt the devices because, they claimed, they were uncomfortable and restricted their movement too much in the car. It was all about speed, and safety was an afterthought – even though Earnhardt knew that somebody was going to get killed.
Not long after the 2001 Daytona 500, NASCAR began mandating head and neck restraints, while also installing SAFER barriers at all of their racetracks. The so-called “soft walls” are meant to absorb the energy of impacts to reduce the hits on the driver.
Unfortunately it was all too late to save Earnhardt. But NASCAR hasn’t had a fatal crash since the 2001 Daytona 500, cementing Dale Earnhardt’s legacy far more than any of his race wins or championships.
