- Memories of Dale Earnhardt haven't faded.
- Even in its raw, immediate aftermath, you knew this would be a long-lasting shock.
- What we didn't know at the time was the safety revolution it would launch.
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of Dale Earnhardt, The Daytona Beach News-Journal is republishing some stories about Earnhardt from 2001.
Here is Ken Willis' column following the Daytona 500 of Feb. 18, 2001, the day of Earnhardt's death.
Where do you start in telling an unbelievable tale?
How do you explain that the Unbreakable Man has been ripped from life, as if he were actually mortal, when all along we thought we knew otherwise?
Where do you begin to explain that DaleEarnhardthas been killed doing the thing he did as well or better than anyone who ever strapped in?
Danger didn't even have a passing relationship with DaleEarnhardt, so someone enlighten us.
If you ever needed to explain why some people love this sport unconditionally, while others hate it with equal passion, this tells both stories.
More:From Kannapolis to Daytona, Dale Earnhardt was destined for greatness.
More:20 years ago, Eddie Cheever thought he was 'gonna get an ass-kicking'
Michael Waltrip, a delightful man who cheerfully-but-doggedly worked his way through a winless Winston Cup career, finally gets his moment of glory —and the greatest glory his sport serves, a Daytona 500 victory. As he pulls into a most-hollow Victory Lane, a half-mile away DaleEarnhardtis surrounded by hopeless rescue workers.
If there's one thing you never thought you'd hear, if you lived a million years, was that DaleEarnhardtwas dead.
No need trying to sell us on the fact he died doing what he loved, because there was little he enjoyed about the type of racing thrust upon him at Daytona. Here, a please-the-fans rules package provides tight racing at high speeds, along with the accompanying ragged nerves. But it also courts danger in a way not seen at other tracks.
Yes,Earnhardtloved this place, where he won more races (34) than any other two racers combined. He loved the history and aura of the Daytona 500, a race he chased and finally conquered in 1998 —his greatest single day in a career full of greatness.
He didn't, however, enjoy the way these rules took away his built-in talent advantage and equalized the playing field for all. But he could've never anticipated the toll it would eventually take.
Neither could we.
DaleEarnhardtkilled? Absolutely, without question, the most unbelievable thing I've ever heard.
More:The 2021 Daytona 500 featured a Lap 3 tribute to Dale Earnhardt
More:Before the 2001 Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt had a Bible verse in his car. Here's what it was.
Where do you begin with the ironies?
There's this: The fatal impact came within a couple hundred yards of whereEarnhardt's best friend, Neil Bonnett, was killed in 1994.
And this: Earlier in the race, a replica ofEarnhardt's black No. 3 Chevy was used as a prop for a Fox Network analyst, who removed sheet metal and detailed how a stock car's many safety features helped save serious injury in the massive backstretch pileup on Lap 174.
But above all, there's this: In his last act, the Intimidator —a pure, unflinching bad-ass with a win-at-all-costs reputation second to none —was helping someone else win the Daytona 500.Earnhardtwas planted in third place in the final laps, between the fastest driver on the track —fourth-place Sterling Marlin —and the two cars up front: Leader Waltrip and, in yet another gutting irony, chaser DaleEarnhardtJr.
The two men up front were drivingEarnhardt-owned cars, but they were alsoEarnhardt's son and a good friend. Circ*mstances like that never stoppedEarnhardtfrom a hell-bent-for-leather dash to the finish line, and if he'd gotten a good run coming off Turn 4, it might not have stopped him this time.
What would you give to know?
"No question, this is a difficult time," said NASCAR president Mike Helton.
No question.
Remembering Dale Earnhardt:An inside look at the Fox broadcast of the 2001 Daytona 500
Editorial:Dale Earnhardt's death inspired a safety revolution at NASCAR
Eventually, fingers will be pointed.
Should we blame this form of racing, in which restrictor plates and aerodynamic hardware combine to bunch the field in the name of entertainment and, therefore, ticket sales? Some will do that, and they have a point.
"We knew we were doing it for the fans, to try to put a better race on," Rusty Wallace said, prior to learning the horrible news.
"I'm sorry, but that's not racing," Dale Jarrett said, also unaware at the time. "It may be a great show out there, but from a driver's perspective that's not it."
Others will remind us that all three of last year's NASCAR deaths came at tracks with the standard rules —Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin at New Hampshire, Tony Roper at Texas.
Should we blame the reluctance of many drivers, includingEarnhardt, to fit themselves with the HANS device (Head and Neck Support), a rather new and increasingly popular piece of equipment?
The attending trauma specialist, Dr. Steve Bohannon, had no clue Sunday, but the extent ofEarnhardt's injuries led him to believe nothing could've saved him once he hit the wall at a high speed and horrid angle.
"He never showed any signs of life," said Bohannon.
How weird does that sound? No one has ever shown more life inside a race car than DaleEarnhardt. And in his final February in Daytona, he'd never looked so human. His fun-filled moonlighting in the 24 Hours At Daytona ended with his Corvette upstaged by a fellow General Motors-entered 'Vette. He was passed within sight of victory in last Sunday's Shootout, and again in this past Thursday's 125-mile qualifier.
Remembering Dale Earnhardt:Junior reflects on events of 2001 and what followed that Daytona 500
On Friday, he was run into the grass entering Turn 1 in the International Race of Champions, and displayed his other-worldly talent by saving the car and, perhaps, several other cars behind him.
Prior to Sunday, no one could recall a time whenEarnhardthad been cuffed around so much at Daytona —or anywhere else. How little that all means now.
At 7:41 Sunday night, the giant American flag in the heart of Daytona's infield was lowered to half staff. The slow parade of cars exiting Speedway property, always a slow and —from a seat high above —somber-looking affair, never seemed so depressing.
Fifty-three years ago, upon the death of another No. 3, Babe Ruth, Grantland Rice's goodbye poem—"Game Called" —included the following:
Game called by darkness —let the curtain fall
No more remembered thunder sweeps the field
When the Unbreakable Man goes down, the disbelief can be overwhelming. This one may never sink in.
— ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
