Dale Earnhardt is to NASCAR what Ayrton Senna was to F1. In a tragic twist of fate, Dale Earnhardt won at Talladega on the day Ayrton Senna passed away at Imola and dedicated his win to Ayrton.
It's actually quite interesting the similarities in impact injuries and resonance through their respective sports that the deaths of Senna and Earnhardt had. Both were multiple times champion, both were known for a hard/aggressive driving style, both wore the black hat at times, both died during a race, and both died from Basilar Skull Fractures, and finally both deaths kick started a safety revolution in their respective sports. Crazy.
@@prochrgedLT1 Ehh, Senna died from taking a piece of suspension to the head, did he not? From the Senna Wiki page... "The right-front wheel and suspension are believed to have been sent back into the cockpit, striking Senna on the right side of his helmet, forcing his head back against the headrest. A piece of upright attached to the wheel had partially penetrated his helmet and made a large indentation in his forehead. In addition, it appeared that a jagged piece of the upright assembly had penetrated the helmet visor just above his right eye. Senna sustained fatal skull fractures, brain injuries, and a ruptured temporal artery, a major blood vessel supplying the face and scalp. According to Fiandri, any one of these three injuries would likely have killed him" Quit using buzzwords and phrases to simply explain complex incidents that you don't fully understand...
@codymoe4986 Senna died from a skull fracture sustained by Blunt Force trauma, (the suspension as you stated), and Earnhardt died from Blunt Force trauma. Both had Basilar Skull fractures. You're not wrong in your citing the specific item that caused the trauma, and neither am I for stating that both events of traumatic head injuries were fatal for both drivers.
“Dale Earnhardt ‘The Day’” is a very good documentary of that final fateful day. If you’re interested in seeing more of Dale I recommend checking that out.
I actually like that one better. Shows more footage, and is more sentimental. I mistakenly thought that's what she was watching. Thought it was odd that the extra footage of that day wasn't in this video.
Dale was so relatable in that he would be racing friday to sunday, Monday morning he would be back at home driving a tractor working on his farm feeding his animals.
Darrell Waltrip's commentary is so sad knowing what happened. He goes from being so happy yelling, "Go Mikey!" cheering on his little brother, who won the race. But, he also stops and says, "I hope Dale's ok." That audio gets me every time.
The "bump and run" takes skill. A lot of it. It's not just "knocking someone out of the way," it's bumping them just enough that they have to "chase the car" but not enough to wreck them. It's not dirty at all. It's legit racecraft.
I was at the Daytona 500 where flipped over. That crowd went crazy when he drove back around. Also, the tire he blew on the last lap is in a museum. Just a few feet from the car that he won the Daytona 500 in. A disabled little girl gave him a good luck penny. He glued it to the dashboard and it is still there.
I was 6 and a Jeff Gordon that day and I remember watching my dad and asking "dad you think he'll be okay?" My dad responded: " no son he's bound to have broke something." The next we saw the announcement "Dale Earnhardt has passed away." Dale's passing and 9/11 are two days I will forever remember in my life.
That July 2001 race is my favorite race of all time because I know I would not have the mental strength that Dale Earnhardt Junior had going past the same spot where your father met his own death five months ago 160 times would be impossible for me And also that the two cars that finished the Daytona 500 first and second were reversed and still finished first and second this time Michael pushed Junior to the win and as soon as I saw the end of that race again, I started crying just like I did what I saw the first time
My mom and I were in a hotel room in St. Louis and I was watching the race and screaming my head off. Mom was clueless about racing but she smiled when Junior won. That race and Rossi winning at Laguna Seca with the pass in the corkscrew are the two greatest races I've ever seen. Mom passed from cancer mine months later.
NASCAR fans are always inclusive to those who want to learn our sport and show a genuine interest, no matter how you got into it. Ive always had a qualm with other F1 fans for talking down to newer fans, and NASCAR in general, especially when their guys try to come over and get pushed around and the drivers say this is a different beast of racing. The cars in nascar are built to take a beating they aren't driving airplanes forced to the ground. They are engineered to race completely different, here we like to draft and bump and rub, and tempers flare.
@@Hellvis29 and how is that? Compared to the F1 car that is essentially a grounded airplane in terms of aero and tech, even the Next Gen car is a stone age bruiser. Next Gen takes a beating but doles it out on the driver as well ill concede that. But where am i wrong? I have never seen a NASCAR fan talk down to an F1 fan, i have seen F1 fans talk down to NASCAR fans, saying "Yall drive in a circle taking left turns that isnt racing. So please tell me where i was wrong.
i'd say the biggest reason why people are unhappy with f1 fans currently is because of how toxic the community has become. Almost everyone hates each other nowdays and no driver can ever have their accomplishments appreciated because "my driver's better" its honestly sad how much the fanbase has fallen from being simple racing fans to basically a celebrity contest for drivers.
@@penapvp2230 it used to be like that in NASCAR and can be that way still with certain drivers, but I've never seen ppl talk down or be outright jerks if they are a fan of an unliked or rivaled driver, even if your a fan of a different team and car model. Sure trash talk happens but at least at my track in Darlington we still have a good time together. Got to learn to peel the fandom of a driver team or maker and look at the fan of the sport you also enjoy.
What's hilarious is F1 guys don't do great when they go to NASCAR yet NASCAR guys at least can hold their own when they go to F1. Hell, Carl Edwards beat Michael Schumacher on a short indoor road course like race when both were driving identical cars. The commentators were just like the people you described. They kept claiming Schumacher must've made a mistake. They simply couldn't fathom or admit that one of those "hick American NASCAR people" could've simply been a better driver that day than Schumacher, who himself admitted that Carl had simply just beat him.
the sad part is the guy who invented the HANS device that tethers the drivers helmet so their head cant jerk forward, had been trying to convince drivers to use the safety device. Dale was the biggest non believer in the device. he told the inventor that you will never get me to wear your noose! Dale didnt like the idea of having the device around his neck. due to dales death, the hans device became mandatory
theres an amazing documentary about Dale called "Dale Earnhardt - The day". its broken into 4 or 5 - 20 min segments. its super emotional but incredibly important and inspiring. its hard to believe its real..... it changed everything. also shows a much softer side of dale as he aged.
I love Bill Elliot's accent. A shining example of stereotypes existing for a reason and not merely being made up caricatures to insult groups of people.
I'm pretty sure I was at that 1979 Daytona 500. My grandparents were car dealers in my hometown of New Smyrna Beach, and had "season tickets" of a sort for all the races there for decades. Some of my earliest memories are of being wrapped in blankets and hearing the cars go round at the 500, Firecracker 400, and ARCA races. Despite my grandparents having choice seats at the start/finish line, their kids, and all our extended families had to get our own seats. One cool thing back in the '80s was that kids in Boy and Girl Scouts got the occasional free tickets for the ARCA races before Daytona. Ironhead was one of my favorite drivers back in the day. Thanks for the fun flashback!
Been a fan of NASCAR since 1993 when Jeff Gordon came onto the scene and still a fan to this day. I remember watching a lot of Dale Earnhardt's victories and defeats. That day that we lost Dale Earnhardt was the saddest day ever and I cried along with you like it was the same day that it happened. Glad you enjoyed this documentary of Dale. I wasn't a fan of him, but me personally respected his talent and miss seeing him on the track.
Nice video! There’s actually a lot more to the story than what he included. It’s much deeper. Dale Jr in his own words struggled his whole life to get his fathers attention and he got it by racing, all for it to be ripped away from him. He would go on to become the most popular NASCAR driver of all time and is now in the NASCAR hall of fame and is probably the most influential person in NASCAR today. Michael waltrip the blue #15 car was Dale Earnhardts best friend aside from Richard Childress, and he won the Daytona 500 that day and has never recovered. To this day he says he should go to therapy because of it. Steve park the yellow #1 was Dale Earnhardts driver for Dale Earnhardt inc, he also lived with Dale for a long time. Sterling marlin the silver #40 was the car that made contact with Dale causing him to spin into the wall and die. He has never recovered from the events. He received death threats in the following months after the death of Dale and to this day struggles battling Parkinson’s. His family says he frequently rewatches the last 20 laps or so of the 2001 Daytona 500 as the death of Dale Earnhardt weighs on his conscience as he was the car to accidentally make contact with Dale sending him into the wall. All this info can be found on Dale Jrs podcast where he has drivers and crew members from throughout NASCAR history on his podcast to tell old stories
I watched that crash as a baby, my mother knew Dale was dead cause after every crash his arm came out the window showing everyone he was ok, that arm never came out everyone knew no man will ever touch the black number 3 Chevy RAISE HELL PRAISE DALE
to add on when tempers flare and wrecks happen, NASCAR can step in but usually wont cause the field polices each other, very rarely is there a need for an FIA type of penalty
To highlight how popular NASCAR was in the 80s, early 90s I was not really a fan but new all these names. Earnhardt, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Bill Elliot, Ernie Irvin, Darrell Waltrip, Richard Petty, Sterling Marlin, Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, Mark Martin, Bobbie LaBontie and others.
Im so glad you enjoyed this. I distinctly remember the day earnhardt died. I was a kid, we had a phone with a cord on it, and my uncle called to tell us what happenend before it was on the news. That was the quietest i ever remember my house.
its always awesome to see somebody learn about dale earnhardt and just nascar in general for the first time and yea that ending made me cry too that video is incredible
As someone who grew up in the late 90s and early 2000s as an Earnhardt and Earnhardt Jr fan, this was really touching. Its so nice to see people who don’t even watch NASCAR understand and appreciate how special the Earnhardt family is to lifelong fans
So many moments in this video can bring joy and the pain of the loss we all felt. It's truly heartwarming to see your genuine reaction and to cry as we did all those years ago. Outstanding young lady, Outstanding!
My mom and I were huge Dale Earnhardt fans when I was a kid. I remember sitting in front of the TV with my 1/24 scale diecast of his black 3 and mimic his movements on the track with my model car. I remember watching his final win live, and also his last race live. The first week after he died, I carried that toy car with me everywhere. I still have it. It’s in my lap as I write this. In January 2018, my mom, who I always watched the races with, passed away very suddenly. That Daytona 500 in 2018 was really hard. But seeing the number 3 win the Daytona 500, 20 years after Dale did was so special for me. And on the coffee table in front of the tv, was a picture of my mom, and that Dale Earnhardt diecast.
I remember exactly where I was when I found out about Dale's crash. I grew up on NASCAR. Ever since I can remember, I would watch it with my dad. We had gone to the gym during the 500 because my dad had been working during the start of the race, so we recorded it and were going to watch it after the gym. We were very careful about avoiding ever seeing anything about the race until we watched. And while we were there, the news passed on one of the TVs and my dad happened to see it. We were all so devastated. To this day, it's one of the worst bouts of emotion I've ever seen out of my dad.
NASCAR lost attendance for two reasons, the cars are spec cars and the playoff system. Motorsports fans are gearheads and love the competition in the garage as much as the competition on the track. And motorsports championships are endurance races and the playoff system removed that component.
Great reaction! I just found your channel and enjoying your content. Keep up the good work! Daytona in 2001 was really crazy and its been described before in another comment, but it was like witnessing the death of Senna in F1. Both drivers careers and deaths had so many parallels with each other. I was there in Daytona in 2001 for the Daytona 500 and the Pepsi 400. My mom works for Chevrolet and has for years so I am very fortunate we always get tickets and/or race suites. What really stands out in my mind was the Ambulance carrying Dale's body was driving so incredibly slowly after the accident and his exhumation from the car in turn 4. We all thought he was just badly injured and went home to Jacksonville (about an hour North of Daytona International Speedway). When we got home and turned on the TV, the graphic followed shortly thereafter with his picture with 1950-2001 underneath. We were shocked to say the least. Learning years later that an ambulance traveling that slowly usually signified 2 events, a broken back or death, that image is still burned into my skull. I was never a Dale Earnhardt fan. I liked Jeff Gordon and his "rivalry" with Earnhardt was so fun to watch. Like a changing of the guard in NASCAR, the old hand vs the new young guy in town. Unbeknownst to most of us, the pair were really good friends and played this rivalry for fan service. After a few months, and July 4th weekend came rolling around. The Florida summers are AWFUL. Hot, sticky humidity, afternoon rain showers that you can set your clocks by and the sauna feeling that follows a rain storms completion. Everyone at the Pepsi 400 was looking for a cooler place to be until the green flag. Fast forward to the finish and there wasn't a dry eye in the stands. People who left their seats early were rushing back as Dale Jr. won on that night. It was a gigantic, poetic, healing moment for the sport after the events in February. Now over 20 years since then, I can remember it like it was yesterday in my 40 year old brain.
This brings back so many memories. Dale Earnhardt was the greatest and my favorite driver of all time. I was 9 years old then he died, I remember watching the race on TV and I remember the crash, I cried for a week straight. Watching this video brought all those tears back.
way later in dale jr's carrier he got passed a lot of cars in a couple laps to win daytona, and the way his car was going, it really looked like someone was pushing it! A lot of people said his father helped him that day!
He was my favorite driver. I watch for another 2 or 3 years after but never got into it like I did when I was rooting for Dale. I haven't watched a race in 20 years.
I watched the 2001 Daytona 500 live; after the race there was a 2 hour blackout on the networks that kept everyone in the dark. We speculated that Dale was seriously injured or died based on chatter from people who were there. When the official announcement was made it was a combination of shock and utter disappointment, a lot of fans tuned out of NASCAR after that happened.
"OMG I'm crying" same thing millions of us grown men were doing that day too...whether you loved or hated Dale, you respected him and couldn't imagine NASCAR without him, and suddenly in what looked like a typical harmless crash, we were forced to imagine it...and its never been the same. Dale's appeal wasnt just because of how good he drove, he was one of us, not some famous unrelatable person, but someone like us, a blue collar type of guy who just happened to be a NASCAR driver. Dropped out of school in 8th grade to go racing, and turned into one of the most successful businessmen. Was the first in NASCAR to trademark his own name. RIP Dale, we still miss you.
I wrote a short story about the 79 Daytona 500 finish in 3rd grade. As a boy I was a Richard Petty fan but grew to love Dale Earnhardt’s driving style and personality. I knew hew was gone as soon as he hit the wall. I still tear up watching these videos. He changed NASCAR forever. R.I.P. Dale. #3 #Intimidator
I never watched NASCAR, but even I knew about him and loved him and his black number 3 Chevy car as a little kid. I remember when the news of his passing hit. I was 9 years old. I couldn't believe it, after seeing the clip of the crash on the news. Because it looked like such an insignificant crash. I wish I had the opportunity to watch during that era. But I wouldn't have wanted to see that tragedy.. I would've loved to see his team's victories in the following weeks, and his son's victory in the following Daytona race. It's bittersweet and poetic. I remember Dale Earnhardt made a little cameo in one of my favorite movies as a kid called "Basesketball". From the creators of South Park.
If you though it was wild that he came from 18th to first in a 5 lap run to the finish to win his final race , think about this he passed all those cars in just 3 laps, and ran the last 2 laps in the front
I remember where I was that day. Instead of watching the race, I went to Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN. I was shocked when I got home and was watching the news and this was the lead story.
I think the biggest difference between the Halo in F1 and the Restrictor Plate is that the Restrictor Plate drastically altered the style of racing at the tracks where they were implemented at... and it is ultimately this style that led to Earnhardt's death. The change that is more comparable to the implementation of the Halo to NASCAR was the requirement to use the Hans device following his death, which also could have saved Earnhardt's life.
As for the biggest problem that led to the problems that NASCAR experienced.. it is because they became Generic. They replaced unique tracks with cookie cutter 1.5 mile tri-ovals that had similar racing styles. This is likely because one track owner company became dominant in NASCAR. This is why NASCAR, in recent years, has gone back to introducing things like more road courses, dirt races, and going back to some of the older tracks that don't fit into the 1.5 mile tri-oval.
@@PaulsWanderings Yeah but it wasn't until after his death that NASCAR Mandated it. It was something that wasn't popular with all drivers, similar to the HALO on the F1 cars, that didn't become a mandate until after severe incidents involving drivers, some with fatal results. NASCAR mandating the HANS device was a direct result of Earnhardt's death due to the type and mode of the injury being the exact type of injury that the HANS was designed to prevent.
@@ghostfox8550 After Earnhardt died NASCAR dragged it's feet and did not make the HANS device mandatory until eight months later when Blaise Alexander was killed in an ARCA race.
I remember watching that final race and thinking, "Golly, that's a big wreck" during the huge accident. Then, you see the Dale wreck. It seemed so innocuous. Not fired or violent. There was no flipping or rolling. It just didn't feel possible that somebody died in that wreck versus all of the catastrophic ones wed seen before it. It was so hard to imagine losing someone so prolific in the sport.
I was 8, on my first trip with my dad(who had been a big Dale fan for years and been going to the 500 for almost a decade). It was 1998 I was so excited for the trip, to be with my dad, my first live race, 2 weeks off school, and to cap it off with a Dale Earnhardt victory sitting in the 38th row of Petty tower. It couldn’t have been more perfect. I made my return trip in 2001 excited to see Dale and Dale Jr race for the 500. I always imagined they were like me and my dad. My dad was 49 I was 11 and it just felt like we were the same as them. I remember the drive down from Texas, we stopped at a city called Pensacola for the night. On our way to get dinner we got lost. As my dad went to turn left we were involved in a head on collision with a jeep. Fortunately for us the jeep was lifted and our 92 Buick roadmaster was squat to the ground the jeep instead of full impact drove over the top of the hood on the damaging the right side all the way over to the left. We were both unharmed and continued our journey in a rental car. We were back in Daytona sitting in the 38th row of petty tower once again(my dad had yearly tickets to the race) watching and cheering the 200 laps go by. Everyone was standing come the final lap and as we watched Michael waltrip win and Dale jr finish second. we saw the wreckage of Dale high up between turns 3 and 4 and thought nothing of it as we had seen Dale Sr survive worse. We left fairly quickly after the finish as we wanted to beat traffic. As we got out onto the highway we had the radio going for news about the race and Dales wreck and injuries. We heard he had been taken straight to the hospital an hour later we heard the announcement he had passed away in the ambulance. It was the hardest moment that him and I ever shared. It took us a few days to realize that Dales wreck was eerily similar to our own. Damage from right to left, head on, and coincidentally right in front of a hospital. We were shook to our cores. Later that year my dad was involved in another accident that put him in the hospital for 4 months. Again head on into the back of a truck, damage mostly starting from the right and continuing to the left as my dad tried to swerve to avoid contact. 2001 was a hard time for us is all I can say. Probably the most dramatic in detail memory I will ever have.
A great invention that was around before 2000 that really helped cars from taking flight when they would spin was roof flaps invented by car owner and engineer Jack Roush. They are basically panels on the roof (and eventually hood, and other areas) that don't do anything unless your car gets turned around. Then the flaps will lift as you're going backwards/sideways to disrupt the airflow and give negative lift to help keep the car on the ground.
Also, watch Michael Waltrip's Blink of an Eye documentary on winning his first NASCAR race ever, the Daytona 500 in 2001 and loosing one of his best friends & boss at the same time. The documentary is on youtube and broken into multiple parts.
I recently discovered that Sterling Marlin the driver of that number 40 car to this day rewatch is the last 10 laps of that very race. About once per month he reaches the letters 10 laps of that race. He wanders each time what he could have done differently. He plays himself for the accident they killed arguably one of the best drivers in the sport.
I grew up watching NASCAR. I personally never watched it, but my dad did. I remember my dad recorded that race... And then accidentally recorded over it for a Mary Kate and Ashley movie for my sister and I. It didn't record over the crash though, but it still made me sad that it happened. My dad's favorite racers were Jeff Gordon, Dale Sr and Jr. I don't know that my dad watches NASCAR anymore, but somehow my 8 year old stumbled upon the sport, and now I'm buying him all the NASCAR authentic😂 I recently bought him a Dale Sr winners circle from Talladega... Yes, I let him play with it, yes it was still in original packaging from the year, yes it was the race before Dale's death... Yes, I plan to get another one for my dad.
Not sure when this video was made, but they left another cool event out. Exactly 20 years after Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500 in 1998, Austin Dillon, while also racing for Childress Racing, and also in the number 3, won the Daytona 500 in 2018. And in a salute to Dale he did a slide into the infield like Dale did when he won. And in the interview right after he won, he said the win was dedicated to Dale and all the Dale Earnhardt fans.
Ill subscribe only because you did this video on me and my family's favorite driver, we went to all Talladega and Atlanta races and all cried the day the 3 died
I have been a Nascar fan since 95 at 7 year's old Dale Earnhardt was more than just my favorite racer he was my childhood idol i remember the day he died like it was yesterday i was devastated i still miss alot
The 2001 Daytona 500 was the first race I watched from start to finish. I was 8 years old and pulling for Dale to win, I didn't know that was his son and his friend in front of him. All I wanted was for him to win. When he passed I couldn't watch NASCAR for years. I finally sat down and watched a race in 2007. I can't remember what race it was but that was when I started pulling for Dale .Jr. I haven't watched a race since he retired.
A few months after Dale's death, Blaise Alexander died the exact same way after getting bumped by Kerry Earnhardt in an ARCA race. Dale chose not to use the Hans device, though most other drivers were using them. It was optional and Dale was an older driver... His death did not force use of the Hans device. Blaise's death caused it becoming mandatory safety equipment. He was barely in his 20s, Dale had been racing longer than Blaise had been alive.
Dale also wore an open faced helmet when most wore a modern full faced one. Dale was the bridge from the 50’s & 60’s stock car days to modern times. Dale was a gladiator who believed you shouldn’t be behind the wheel if you couldn’t handle the speed.
Dale was my guy growing up... I was 19 when he passed, and man that was one brutal week for me. I was in BMW stealership training school at the time... Literally had to fight back tears all week in class. It REALLY sucked. :(
Nascar: The rise of American speed is one of the best documentaries on the history on Nascar. It takes you all the way from its inception to modern stock car racing. Its really a good watch if you are interested in the history of the sport.
Holy cow, Dale's first Daytona was on February 18, 1979 and he died at the Daytona 500 on February 18, 2001. I didn't realize that. I remember doing a dance of joy when Earnhardt won the '98 Daytona 500. The thing about the crash that killed Dale was that it looked like nothing but when you think that he went from about 200 mph to 0 in a matter of a few seconds it had to cause serious damage.
I grew up in Concord NC just south of Kannapolis NC. Dale Earnhardt was as close to a god on earth in that town as you will ever find. Kerry Dale Jr's stepbrother lived two streets over from us and had a full BMX track built next to his house that we all used to go ride on. Or in my case run on and play with GI Joes and tonka trucks when it wasn't being used by the bigger kids.
NASCAR died the day after Daytona 2001, that's the day I learned Dale died :(😢. It was always the Earnhardt show for me, if Dale crashed I changed the channel. It's tragic that Michael Waldrip and Jr. Finished 1-2 in that same race. It just wasn't the same after.
I am a huge automobile fan and loved Dale Earnhardt. I drive Chevrolets because of him. I have a Corvette with a little number three on the bumper in honor of him. Long live The Intimidator. 🇺🇸 #3
Dale Earnhardt and Ayrton Senna were my racing heroes. I lost them both and it's never really been the same to me. I've been to around 150 Nascar races in my 52 years and I still miss seeing Dale behind the wheel of the #3. RIP Ayrton and Dale
I’ve been a fan since 2006, I was born too late to see Earnhardt, I patched into Jimmie johnson, the thrid seven time champ and I wish I got to see petty and Earnhardt race, seeing the footage nowadays just doesn’t feel like it would if it were live
In my opinion Dale's death, rest his soul, and the storybook that played out in the months following his death, was just too perfect. If you told someone this story without showing them all that proof that it really happened, they'd believe it was fiction drummed up by some Hollywood producer. NASCAR could never possibly top itself, no sport could ever top that, it was the greatest sports story ever told and it always will be. Fans just walked away because that was it, they would never experience anything that comes close to that ever again.
While it was tragic some good came out of this tragedy. After this crash Nascar made the HANS device a mandatory piece of equipment. The HANS device or Head And Neck restraint device prevents the drivers head from whipping forward and causing the injury that killed dale. Until that crash it was optional and many drivers refused to wear it saying it wasnt "manly"
As one of the people who quit watching NASCAR, this guy is wrong in why I quit. It wasn't because it got safer, it was all the gimmicks for me. I still watch stock car racing, just at the local track level. It was roughly 2008-9ish when I quit watching. I realized I was just bitching about it all the time, and almost exclusively about the decisions at the top, so just dropped it entirely. Haven't regretted that at all. Btw, not sure there are any good videos on it, but off track stories about Earnhardt are incredible. You can see some stories sprinkled throughout Dale Earnhardt Jr's channel, just not sure there are any compilations.
After Dale Earnhardt's death, I stopped watching NASCAR Races for a while. Then when Danica Patrick started in NASCAR, I followed her until she left. Haven't watched any NASCAR races since. I've watched a few Indianapolis 500 races.A few years ago on the way back home from Disney World with my sister and brother-in-law we stopped at Daytona Speedway museum and took a guided tour of the track. We happened to stop at the location of Dale Earnhardt's tragic accident. This was a few years before his death.
You should check out Dale Earnhardts biggest rival Jeff Gordon. Continuation of Earnhardt tragedy in 2001 his rival Jeff Gordon won the championship. When Gordon tied Earnhardt wins in 2007 he paid a tribute to him carrying the number 3 flag around the track during his celebration. Plus the decline of nascar is probably because of the chase format and every one that Earnhardt raced against retiring.
People ask me why I like NASCA. They say it’s just a bunch of cars driving around in circles. They are so wrong. There are new stories told each race. There is drama and emotion. There is history. There are so many personalities whether it be from the driver, crew, or owners. There are emotions and with all of that there is certainly excitement. Great reaction to a sport I love.
I remember watching Junior win at Daytona live and was so emotional. Even my aunt and uncle who didn't watch NASCAR were getting teary eyed. It was such a good moment. What will always stick with me was 35:05, you see one of Dale Sr.'s pit crew members "Chocolate" Myers running out there and that's where I always get emotional. I disagree with the original video though. Mismanagement regarding their primary rural southern fanbase, the convoluted changes to scoring that created dominance that sucked out excitement, and especially the lack of interesting characters. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, you had good ol' boy drivers like Bill Elliott, guys who maybe bent the spirit of racing like Earnhardt, guys trying different ways of doing things like Mark Martin, and "outsider" usurpers like Jeff Gordon. There's no character anymore
F1 has the halo the nascar has the Earnhardt Bar(saved a lot of lives) a bar that Dale put in his car after it took a tumble to help prevent the cockpit from caving in. And is now a staple of the cars structural roll cage.
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Dale Earnhardt is to NASCAR what Ayrton Senna was to F1. In a tragic twist of fate, Dale Earnhardt won at Talladega on the day Ayrton Senna passed away at Imola and dedicated his win to Ayrton.
Richard Petty would be Fangio, Earnhardt would be Schumacher and Jimmie Johnson would be Lewis Hamilton.
It's actually quite interesting the similarities in impact injuries and resonance through their respective sports that the deaths of Senna and Earnhardt had. Both were multiple times champion, both were known for a hard/aggressive driving style, both wore the black hat at times, both died during a race, and both died from Basilar Skull Fractures, and finally both deaths kick started a safety revolution in their respective sports. Crazy.
@prochrgedLT1 damn mate i never made those connections. Good eye youre right, and theyre both in gods hands now being taken care of 🙏
@@prochrgedLT1 Ehh, Senna died from taking a piece of suspension to the head, did he not? From the Senna Wiki page...
"The right-front wheel and suspension are believed to have been sent back into the cockpit, striking Senna on the right side of his helmet, forcing his head back against the headrest. A piece of upright attached to the wheel had partially penetrated his helmet and made a large indentation in his forehead. In addition, it appeared that a jagged piece of the upright assembly had penetrated the helmet visor just above his right eye. Senna sustained fatal skull fractures, brain injuries, and a ruptured temporal artery, a major blood vessel supplying the face and scalp. According to Fiandri, any one of these three injuries would likely have killed him"
Quit using buzzwords and phrases to simply explain complex incidents that you don't fully understand...
@codymoe4986 Senna died from a skull fracture sustained by Blunt Force trauma, (the suspension as you stated), and Earnhardt died from Blunt Force trauma. Both had Basilar Skull fractures. You're not wrong in your citing the specific item that caused the trauma, and neither am I for stating that both events of traumatic head injuries were fatal for both drivers.
“Every man on every crew has come to the edge of pit lane” yup, Here I am crying again just like I did that day 26 years ago.
That absolutely gave me chills again now.
You and me both brother.
I cried like a baby when he died. Only time I cried like that over a person I never have met. He was the man.
i remember where i was when he died.......
Same
“Dale Earnhardt ‘The Day’” is a very good documentary of that final fateful day. If you’re interested in seeing more of Dale I recommend checking that out.
I actually like that one better. Shows more footage, and is more sentimental.
I mistakenly thought that's what she was watching. Thought it was odd that the extra footage of that day wasn't in this video.
3 the Dale Earnhardt story is another good one
Dale was so relatable in that he would be racing friday to sunday, Monday morning he would be back at home driving a tractor working on his farm feeding his animals.
Darrell Waltrip's commentary is so sad knowing what happened. He goes from being so happy yelling, "Go Mikey!" cheering on his little brother, who won the race. But, he also stops and says, "I hope Dale's ok." That audio gets me every time.
Raise hell, PRAISE DALE!! I was at the track that day nascar died. He was the man.
23 years later my heart still hurts for the passing of Dale Earnhardt. I'll never forget those feelings watching that race and later hearing the news.
The "bump and run" takes skill. A lot of it. It's not just "knocking someone out of the way," it's bumping them just enough that they have to "chase the car" but not enough to wreck them. It's not dirty at all. It's legit racecraft.
I was at the Daytona 500 where flipped over. That crowd went crazy when he drove back around. Also, the tire he blew on the last lap is in a museum. Just a few feet from the car that he won the Daytona 500 in. A disabled little girl gave him a good luck penny. He glued it to the dashboard and it is still there.
I was 6 and a Jeff Gordon that day and I remember watching my dad and asking "dad you think he'll be okay?" My dad responded: " no son he's bound to have broke something." The next we saw the announcement "Dale Earnhardt has passed away." Dale's passing and 9/11 are two days I will forever remember in my life.
I was 10 and also a Gordon fan. When I talk about 2001 to younger people I always include this and 9/11. Lol
I was a dale fan he was far cooler and better than jeff
That July 2001 race is my favorite race of all time because I know I would not have the mental strength that Dale Earnhardt Junior had going past the same spot where your father met his own death five months ago 160 times would be impossible for me And also that the two cars that finished the Daytona 500 first and second were reversed and still finished first and second this time Michael pushed Junior to the win and as soon as I saw the end of that race again, I started crying just like I did what I saw the first time
My mom and I were in a hotel room in St. Louis and I was watching the race and screaming my head off. Mom was clueless about racing but she smiled when Junior won. That race and Rossi winning at Laguna Seca with the pass in the corkscrew are the two greatest races I've ever seen. Mom passed from cancer mine months later.
NASCAR fans are always inclusive to those who want to learn our sport and show a genuine interest, no matter how you got into it. Ive always had a qualm with other F1 fans for talking down to newer fans, and NASCAR in general, especially when their guys try to come over and get pushed around and the drivers say this is a different beast of racing. The cars in nascar are built to take a beating they aren't driving airplanes forced to the ground. They are engineered to race completely different, here we like to draft and bump and rub, and tempers flare.
And you still get it wrong.
@@Hellvis29 and how is that? Compared to the F1 car that is essentially a grounded airplane in terms of aero and tech, even the Next Gen car is a stone age bruiser. Next Gen takes a beating but doles it out on the driver as well ill concede that. But where am i wrong? I have never seen a NASCAR fan talk down to an F1 fan, i have seen F1 fans talk down to NASCAR fans, saying "Yall drive in a circle taking left turns that isnt racing. So please tell me where i was wrong.
i'd say the biggest reason why people are unhappy with f1 fans currently is because of how toxic the community has become. Almost everyone hates each other nowdays and no driver can ever have their accomplishments appreciated because "my driver's better" its honestly sad how much the fanbase has fallen from being simple racing fans to basically a celebrity contest for drivers.
@@penapvp2230 it used to be like that in NASCAR and can be that way still with certain drivers, but I've never seen ppl talk down or be outright jerks if they are a fan of an unliked or rivaled driver, even if your a fan of a different team and car model. Sure trash talk happens but at least at my track in Darlington we still have a good time together. Got to learn to peel the fandom of a driver team or maker and look at the fan of the sport you also enjoy.
What's hilarious is F1 guys don't do great when they go to NASCAR yet NASCAR guys at least can hold their own when they go to F1. Hell, Carl Edwards beat Michael Schumacher on a short indoor road course like race when both were driving identical cars. The commentators were just like the people you described. They kept claiming Schumacher must've made a mistake. They simply couldn't fathom or admit that one of those "hick American NASCAR people" could've simply been a better driver that day than Schumacher, who himself admitted that Carl had simply just beat him.
Watch the art of revenge one, from the same guy that did this video
the sad part is the guy who invented the HANS device that tethers the drivers helmet so their head cant jerk forward, had been trying to convince drivers to use the safety device. Dale was the biggest non believer in the device. he told the inventor that you will never get me to wear your noose! Dale didnt like the idea of having the device around his neck. due to dales death, the hans device became mandatory
NASCAR made the HANS device mandatory after Blaise Alexander's tragic death following a crash at Lowes Motor Speedway in an ARCA race later that year
theres an amazing documentary about Dale called "Dale Earnhardt - The day". its broken into 4 or 5 - 20 min segments. its super emotional but incredibly important and inspiring. its hard to believe its real..... it changed everything. also shows a much softer side of dale as he aged.
I love Bill Elliot's accent. A shining example of stereotypes existing for a reason and not merely being made up caricatures to insult groups of people.
I'm pretty sure I was at that 1979 Daytona 500. My grandparents were car dealers in my hometown of New Smyrna Beach, and had "season tickets" of a sort for all the races there for decades. Some of my earliest memories are of being wrapped in blankets and hearing the cars go round at the 500, Firecracker 400, and ARCA races. Despite my grandparents having choice seats at the start/finish line, their kids, and all our extended families had to get our own seats. One cool thing back in the '80s was that kids in Boy and Girl Scouts got the occasional free tickets for the ARCA races before Daytona. Ironhead was one of my favorite drivers back in the day. Thanks for the fun flashback!
Been a fan of NASCAR since 1993 when Jeff Gordon came onto the scene and still a fan to this day. I remember watching a lot of Dale Earnhardt's victories and defeats. That day that we lost Dale Earnhardt was the saddest day ever and I cried along with you like it was the same day that it happened. Glad you enjoyed this documentary of Dale. I wasn't a fan of him, but me personally respected his talent and miss seeing him on the track.
Nice video!
There’s actually a lot more to the story than what he included. It’s much deeper.
Dale Jr in his own words struggled his whole life to get his fathers attention and he got it by racing, all for it to be ripped away from him. He would go on to become the most popular NASCAR driver of all time and is now in the NASCAR hall of fame and is probably the most influential person in NASCAR today.
Michael waltrip the blue #15 car was Dale Earnhardts best friend aside from Richard Childress, and he won the Daytona 500 that day and has never recovered. To this day he says he should go to therapy because of it.
Steve park the yellow #1 was Dale Earnhardts driver for Dale Earnhardt inc, he also lived with Dale for a long time.
Sterling marlin the silver #40 was the car that made contact with Dale causing him to spin into the wall and die. He has never recovered from the events. He received death threats in the following months after the death of Dale and to this day struggles battling Parkinson’s. His family says he frequently rewatches the last 20 laps or so of the 2001 Daytona 500 as the death of Dale Earnhardt weighs on his conscience as he was the car to accidentally make contact with Dale sending him into the wall. All this info can be found on Dale Jrs podcast where he has drivers and crew members from throughout NASCAR history on his podcast to tell old stories
I watched that crash as a baby, my mother knew Dale was dead cause after every crash his arm came out the window showing everyone he was ok, that arm never came out everyone knew no man will ever touch the black number 3 Chevy RAISE HELL PRAISE DALE
The funny thing is after Bill Elliot pulled his name of the ballot. Dale Earnhardt Jr went on to win it until Bills son Chase started racing.
to add on when tempers flare and wrecks happen, NASCAR can step in but usually wont cause the field polices each other, very rarely is there a need for an FIA type of penalty
For anyone that's interested Emplemon makes incredible videos about all types of subjects not just racing. He is one of the best on youtube.
To highlight how popular NASCAR was in the 80s, early 90s I was not really a fan but new all these names. Earnhardt, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Bill Elliot, Ernie Irvin, Darrell Waltrip, Richard Petty, Sterling Marlin, Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, Mark Martin, Bobbie LaBontie and others.
Im so glad you enjoyed this. I distinctly remember the day earnhardt died. I was a kid, we had a phone with a cord on it, and my uncle called to tell us what happenend before it was on the news. That was the quietest i ever remember my house.
its always awesome to see somebody learn about dale earnhardt and just nascar in general for the first time and yea that ending made me cry too that video is incredible
As someone who grew up in the late 90s and early 2000s as an Earnhardt and Earnhardt Jr fan, this was really touching. Its so nice to see people who don’t even watch NASCAR understand and appreciate how special the Earnhardt family is to lifelong fans
🤗
So many moments in this video can bring joy and the pain of the loss we all felt. It's truly heartwarming to see your genuine reaction and to cry as we did all those years ago. Outstanding young lady, Outstanding!
I watched Dale's first Daytona 500 win live and it still grabs my heart to this day!
My mom and I were huge Dale Earnhardt fans when I was a kid. I remember sitting in front of the TV with my 1/24 scale diecast of his black 3 and mimic his movements on the track with my model car. I remember watching his final win live, and also his last race live. The first week after he died, I carried that toy car with me everywhere. I still have it. It’s in my lap as I write this. In January 2018, my mom, who I always watched the races with, passed away very suddenly. That Daytona 500 in 2018 was really hard. But seeing the number 3 win the Daytona 500, 20 years after Dale did was so special for me. And on the coffee table in front of the tv, was a picture of my mom, and that Dale Earnhardt diecast.
Truly phenomenal reactions all of your nascar reactions are just perfect!! React to The Day: Dale Earnhardt next?
I remember exactly where I was when I found out about Dale's crash. I grew up on NASCAR. Ever since I can remember, I would watch it with my dad. We had gone to the gym during the 500 because my dad had been working during the start of the race, so we recorded it and were going to watch it after the gym. We were very careful about avoiding ever seeing anything about the race until we watched. And while we were there, the news passed on one of the TVs and my dad happened to see it. We were all so devastated. To this day, it's one of the worst bouts of emotion I've ever seen out of my dad.
NASCAR lost attendance for two reasons, the cars are spec cars and the playoff system.
Motorsports fans are gearheads and love the competition in the garage as much as the competition on the track.
And motorsports championships are endurance races and the playoff system removed that component.
Great reaction! I just found your channel and enjoying your content. Keep up the good work!
Daytona in 2001 was really crazy and its been described before in another comment, but it was like witnessing the death of Senna in F1. Both drivers careers and deaths had so many parallels with each other. I was there in Daytona in 2001 for the Daytona 500 and the Pepsi 400. My mom works for Chevrolet and has for years so I am very fortunate we always get tickets and/or race suites. What really stands out in my mind was the Ambulance carrying Dale's body was driving so incredibly slowly after the accident and his exhumation from the car in turn 4. We all thought he was just badly injured and went home to Jacksonville (about an hour North of Daytona International Speedway). When we got home and turned on the TV, the graphic followed shortly thereafter with his picture with 1950-2001 underneath. We were shocked to say the least.
Learning years later that an ambulance traveling that slowly usually signified 2 events, a broken back or death, that image is still burned into my skull.
I was never a Dale Earnhardt fan. I liked Jeff Gordon and his "rivalry" with Earnhardt was so fun to watch. Like a changing of the guard in NASCAR, the old hand vs the new young guy in town. Unbeknownst to most of us, the pair were really good friends and played this rivalry for fan service.
After a few months, and July 4th weekend came rolling around. The Florida summers are AWFUL. Hot, sticky humidity, afternoon rain showers that you can set your clocks by and the sauna feeling that follows a rain storms completion. Everyone at the Pepsi 400 was looking for a cooler place to be until the green flag. Fast forward to the finish and there wasn't a dry eye in the stands. People who left their seats early were rushing back as Dale Jr. won on that night. It was a gigantic, poetic, healing moment for the sport after the events in February. Now over 20 years since then, I can remember it like it was yesterday in my 40 year old brain.
This brings back so many memories. Dale Earnhardt was the greatest and my favorite driver of all time. I was 9 years old then he died, I remember watching the race on TV and I remember the crash, I cried for a week straight. Watching this video brought all those tears back.
way later in dale jr's carrier he got passed a lot of cars in a couple laps to win daytona, and the way his car was going, it really looked like someone was pushing it! A lot of people said his father helped him that day!
He was my favorite driver. I watch for another 2 or 3 years after but never got into it like I did when I was rooting for Dale. I haven't watched a race in 20 years.
I watched the 2001 Daytona 500 live; after the race there was a 2 hour blackout on the networks that kept everyone in the dark. We speculated that Dale was seriously injured or died based on chatter from people who were there. When the official announcement was made it was a combination of shock and utter disappointment, a lot of fans tuned out of NASCAR after that happened.
"OMG I'm crying"
same thing millions of us grown men were doing that day too...whether you loved or hated Dale, you respected him and couldn't imagine NASCAR without him, and suddenly in what looked like a typical harmless crash, we were forced to imagine it...and its never been the same.
Dale's appeal wasnt just because of how good he drove, he was one of us, not some famous unrelatable person, but someone like us, a blue collar type of guy who just happened to be a NASCAR driver. Dropped out of school in 8th grade to go racing, and turned into one of the most successful businessmen. Was the first in NASCAR to trademark his own name.
RIP Dale, we still miss you.
Best way to explain Nascar from F1 is F1 is a fine country club Nascar is a frat party lol
I wrote a short story about the 79 Daytona 500 finish in 3rd grade. As a boy I was a Richard Petty fan but grew to love Dale Earnhardt’s driving style and personality. I knew hew was gone as soon as he hit the wall. I still tear up watching these videos. He changed NASCAR forever. R.I.P. Dale. #3
#Intimidator
I never watched NASCAR, but even I knew about him and loved him and his black number 3 Chevy car as a little kid. I remember when the news of his passing hit. I was 9 years old. I couldn't believe it, after seeing the clip of the crash on the news. Because it looked like such an insignificant crash.
I wish I had the opportunity to watch during that era. But I wouldn't have wanted to see that tragedy.. I would've loved to see his team's victories in the following weeks, and his son's victory in the following Daytona race. It's bittersweet and poetic.
I remember Dale Earnhardt made a little cameo in one of my favorite movies as a kid called "Basesketball". From the creators of South Park.
If you though it was wild that he came from 18th to first in a 5 lap run to the finish to win his final race , think about this he passed all those cars in just 3 laps, and ran the last 2 laps in the front
I remember where I was that day. Instead of watching the race, I went to Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg, TN. I was shocked when I got home and was watching the news and this was the lead story.
I think the biggest difference between the Halo in F1 and the Restrictor Plate is that the Restrictor Plate drastically altered the style of racing at the tracks where they were implemented at... and it is ultimately this style that led to Earnhardt's death. The change that is more comparable to the implementation of the Halo to NASCAR was the requirement to use the Hans device following his death, which also could have saved Earnhardt's life.
As for the biggest problem that led to the problems that NASCAR experienced.. it is because they became Generic. They replaced unique tracks with cookie cutter 1.5 mile tri-ovals that had similar racing styles. This is likely because one track owner company became dominant in NASCAR. This is why NASCAR, in recent years, has gone back to introducing things like more road courses, dirt races, and going back to some of the older tracks that don't fit into the 1.5 mile tri-oval.
The HANS was around for a few years before Dale died but he didn't like it and didn't wear it.
@@PaulsWanderings Yeah but it wasn't until after his death that NASCAR Mandated it. It was something that wasn't popular with all drivers, similar to the HALO on the F1 cars, that didn't become a mandate until after severe incidents involving drivers, some with fatal results. NASCAR mandating the HANS device was a direct result of Earnhardt's death due to the type and mode of the injury being the exact type of injury that the HANS was designed to prevent.
@@ghostfox8550 After Earnhardt died NASCAR dragged it's feet and did not make the HANS device mandatory until eight months later when Blaise Alexander was killed in an ARCA race.
The reason I left was because Dale Earnhardt was my driver and I've never replaced him 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
I remember watching that final race and thinking, "Golly, that's a big wreck" during the huge accident. Then, you see the Dale wreck. It seemed so innocuous. Not fired or violent. There was no flipping or rolling. It just didn't feel possible that somebody died in that wreck versus all of the catastrophic ones wed seen before it. It was so hard to imagine losing someone so prolific in the sport.
Little did they know a year later the next season the third seven time champion would come to the sport and his name was Jimmie Johnson
That said, EmpLemon does point out in his essay that Johnson's record-tying 7 championships coincided with the drop in NASCAR's popularity.
I was 8, on my first trip with my dad(who had been a big Dale fan for years and been going to the 500 for almost a decade). It was 1998 I was so excited for the trip, to be with my dad, my first live race, 2 weeks off school, and to cap it off with a Dale Earnhardt victory sitting in the 38th row of Petty tower. It couldn’t have been more perfect. I made my return trip in 2001 excited to see Dale and Dale Jr race for the 500. I always imagined they were like me and my dad. My dad was 49 I was 11 and it just felt like we were the same as them. I remember the drive down from Texas, we stopped at a city called Pensacola for the night. On our way to get dinner we got lost. As my dad went to turn left we were involved in a head on collision with a jeep. Fortunately for us the jeep was lifted and our 92 Buick roadmaster was squat to the ground the jeep instead of full impact drove over the top of the hood on the damaging the right side all the way over to the left. We were both unharmed and continued our journey in a rental car. We were back in Daytona sitting in the 38th row of petty tower once again(my dad had yearly tickets to the race) watching and cheering the 200 laps go by. Everyone was standing come the final lap and as we watched Michael waltrip win and Dale jr finish second. we saw the wreckage of Dale high up between turns 3 and 4 and thought nothing of it as we had seen Dale Sr survive worse. We left fairly quickly after the finish as we wanted to beat traffic. As we got out onto the highway we had the radio going for news about the race and Dales wreck and injuries. We heard he had been taken straight to the hospital an hour later we heard the announcement he had passed away in the ambulance. It was the hardest moment that him and I ever shared. It took us a few days to realize that Dales wreck was eerily similar to our own. Damage from right to left, head on, and coincidentally right in front of a hospital. We were shook to our cores. Later that year my dad was involved in another accident that put him in the hospital for 4 months. Again head on into the back of a truck, damage mostly starting from the right and continuing to the left as my dad tried to swerve to avoid contact. 2001 was a hard time for us is all I can say. Probably the most dramatic in detail memory I will ever have.
A great invention that was around before 2000 that really helped cars from taking flight when they would spin was roof flaps invented by car owner and engineer Jack Roush. They are basically panels on the roof (and eventually hood, and other areas) that don't do anything unless your car gets turned around. Then the flaps will lift as you're going backwards/sideways to disrupt the airflow and give negative lift to help keep the car on the ground.
Also, watch Michael Waltrip's Blink of an Eye documentary on winning his first NASCAR race ever, the Daytona 500 in 2001 and loosing one of his best friends & boss at the same time. The documentary is on youtube and broken into multiple parts.
I recently discovered that Sterling Marlin the driver of that number 40 car to this day rewatch is the last 10 laps of that very race. About once per month he reaches the letters 10 laps of that race. He wanders each time what he could have done differently. He plays himself for the accident they killed arguably one of the best drivers in the sport.
I grew up watching NASCAR. I personally never watched it, but my dad did. I remember my dad recorded that race... And then accidentally recorded over it for a Mary Kate and Ashley movie for my sister and I. It didn't record over the crash though, but it still made me sad that it happened.
My dad's favorite racers were Jeff Gordon, Dale Sr and Jr. I don't know that my dad watches NASCAR anymore, but somehow my 8 year old stumbled upon the sport, and now I'm buying him all the NASCAR authentic😂 I recently bought him a Dale Sr winners circle from Talladega... Yes, I let him play with it, yes it was still in original packaging from the year, yes it was the race before Dale's death... Yes, I plan to get another one for my dad.
Dale was the nicest guy.....until race time. At that point.....all bets were off! Love and miss that man. 💯❤️
Not sure when this video was made, but they left another cool event out. Exactly 20 years after Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500 in 1998, Austin Dillon, while also racing for Childress Racing, and also in the number 3, won the Daytona 500 in 2018. And in a salute to Dale he did a slide into the infield like Dale did when he won. And in the interview right after he won, he said the win was dedicated to Dale and all the Dale Earnhardt fans.
Ill subscribe only because you did this video on me and my family's favorite driver, we went to all Talladega and Atlanta races and all cried the day the 3 died
I have been a Nascar fan since 95 at 7 year's old Dale Earnhardt was more than just my favorite racer he was my childhood idol i remember the day he died like it was yesterday i was devastated i still miss alot
The 2001 Daytona 500 was the first race I watched from start to finish. I was 8 years old and pulling for Dale to win, I didn't know that was his son and his friend in front of him. All I wanted was for him to win. When he passed I couldn't watch NASCAR for years. I finally sat down and watched a race in 2007. I can't remember what race it was but that was when I started pulling for Dale .Jr. I haven't watched a race since he retired.
A few months after Dale's death, Blaise Alexander died the exact same way after getting bumped by Kerry Earnhardt in an ARCA race.
Dale chose not to use the Hans device, though most other drivers were using them. It was optional and Dale was an older driver... His death did not force use of the Hans device.
Blaise's death caused it becoming mandatory safety equipment. He was barely in his 20s, Dale had been racing longer than Blaise had been alive.
Dale also wore an open faced helmet when most wore a modern full faced one. Dale was the bridge from the 50’s & 60’s stock car days to modern times. Dale was a gladiator who believed you shouldn’t be behind the wheel if you couldn’t handle the speed.
Dale Earnhardt his last race is so emotional you have to cry it was so tragic for everyone watching the race that was there and on TV
Dale was my guy growing up... I was 19 when he passed, and man that was one brutal week for me. I was in BMW stealership training school at the time... Literally had to fight back tears all week in class. It REALLY sucked. :(
Nascar: The rise of American speed is one of the best documentaries on the history on Nascar. It takes you all the way from its inception to modern stock car racing. Its really a good watch if you are interested in the history of the sport.
Holy cow, Dale's first Daytona was on February 18, 1979 and he died at the Daytona 500 on February 18, 2001. I didn't realize that. I remember doing a dance of joy when Earnhardt won the '98 Daytona 500. The thing about the crash that killed Dale was that it looked like nothing but when you think that he went from about 200 mph to 0 in a matter of a few seconds it had to cause serious damage.
We NASCAR fans don't care how you come to the sport. We're glad you're here. Welcome!
In the Bobby Allison wreck note that the car passed directly under the flagmen's stand.
He could see the air......legend
I grew up in Concord NC just south of Kannapolis NC. Dale Earnhardt was as close to a god on earth in that town as you will ever find. Kerry Dale Jr's stepbrother lived two streets over from us and had a full BMX track built next to his house that we all used to go ride on. Or in my case run on and play with GI Joes and tonka trucks when it wasn't being used by the bigger kids.
NASCAR died the day after Daytona 2001, that's the day I learned Dale died :(😢. It was always the Earnhardt show for me, if Dale crashed I changed the channel. It's tragic that Michael Waldrip and Jr. Finished 1-2 in that same race. It just wasn't the same after.
I am a huge automobile fan and loved Dale Earnhardt. I drive Chevrolets because of him. I have a Corvette with a little number three on the bumper in honor of him. Long live The Intimidator. 🇺🇸 #3
“Blink of an eye” Dale Earnhardt Story through another drivers eyes
Dale Earnhardt Sr was my favorite NASCAR driver ever
Dale Earnhardt and Ayrton Senna were my racing heroes. I lost them both and it's never really been the same to me. I've been to around 150 Nascar races in my 52 years and I still miss seeing Dale behind the wheel of the #3. RIP Ayrton and Dale
Thank you I watch Dale Earnhardt since 1979 all the way up to his death 2001
Raise hell, praise Dale.
Thanks for reacting.
I’ve been a fan since 2006, I was born too late to see Earnhardt, I patched into Jimmie johnson, the thrid seven time champ and I wish I got to see petty and Earnhardt race, seeing the footage nowadays just doesn’t feel like it would if it were live
In my opinion Dale's death, rest his soul, and the storybook that played out in the months following his death, was just too perfect. If you told someone this story without showing them all that proof that it really happened, they'd believe it was fiction drummed up by some Hollywood producer. NASCAR could never possibly top itself, no sport could ever top that, it was the greatest sports story ever told and it always will be. Fans just walked away because that was it, they would never experience anything that comes close to that ever again.
The Man, The Myth, The Legend.
I still cry, he was my favorite driver.
On lap 3 of the next 3 races after Dale's passing There was a caution. Also the following Datona 500 the next year lap 3 was run under caution.
That February in 2001 was the last Nascar race I ever watched. I tried to watch but as a Earnhardt fan I couldn't watch anymore
The good news is that because of his death SO many changes were made to safety that there hasnt been a driver death in the NASCAR Cup series since.
While it was tragic some good came out of this tragedy. After this crash Nascar made the HANS device a mandatory piece of equipment. The HANS device or Head And Neck restraint device prevents the drivers head from whipping forward and causing the injury that killed dale. Until that crash it was optional and many drivers refused to wear it saying it wasnt "manly"
As one of the people who quit watching NASCAR, this guy is wrong in why I quit. It wasn't because it got safer, it was all the gimmicks for me. I still watch stock car racing, just at the local track level.
It was roughly 2008-9ish when I quit watching. I realized I was just bitching about it all the time, and almost exclusively about the decisions at the top, so just dropped it entirely. Haven't regretted that at all.
Btw, not sure there are any good videos on it, but off track stories about Earnhardt are incredible. You can see some stories sprinkled throughout Dale Earnhardt Jr's channel, just not sure there are any compilations.
The sport is bigger now than ever
After Dale Earnhardt's death, I stopped watching NASCAR Races for a while. Then when Danica Patrick started in NASCAR, I followed her until she left. Haven't watched any NASCAR races since. I've watched a few Indianapolis 500 races.A few years ago on the way back home from Disney World with my sister and brother-in-law we stopped at Daytona Speedway museum and took a guided tour of the track. We happened to stop at the location of Dale Earnhardt's tragic accident. This was a few years before his death.
Dale is like ayrton senna….. that would have been a race….. two amazing multi champions who hates to lose.
I am a Dale Earnhardt fan. That race at Daytona was the last race I ever watched. Nascar was just never the same.
I will never forget where I was and what I was doing when the news of Dale passing away.
Mike Helton's announcement to this day makes me cry.... watch the movie "Blink of an Eye" about Michael Waltrip
You should check out Dale Earnhardts biggest rival Jeff Gordon. Continuation of Earnhardt tragedy in 2001 his rival Jeff Gordon won the championship. When Gordon tied Earnhardt wins in 2007 he paid a tribute to him carrying the number 3 flag around the track during his celebration. Plus the decline of nascar is probably because of the chase format and every one that Earnhardt raced against retiring.
We love you, Dale!
I don't know when this video was made, but other than during covid, NASCAR CUP races have never been empty.
People ask me why I like NASCA. They say it’s just a bunch of cars driving around in circles. They are so wrong. There are new stories told each race. There is drama and emotion. There is history. There are so many personalities whether it be from the driver, crew, or owners. There are emotions and with all of that there is certainly excitement. Great reaction to a sport I love.
I was there at the 2000 Winston 500, he put on a show that no-one has been able to do since
I remember watching Junior win at Daytona live and was so emotional. Even my aunt and uncle who didn't watch NASCAR were getting teary eyed. It was such a good moment. What will always stick with me was 35:05, you see one of Dale Sr.'s pit crew members "Chocolate" Myers running out there and that's where I always get emotional.
I disagree with the original video though. Mismanagement regarding their primary rural southern fanbase, the convoluted changes to scoring that created dominance that sucked out excitement, and especially the lack of interesting characters. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, you had good ol' boy drivers like Bill Elliott, guys who maybe bent the spirit of racing like Earnhardt, guys trying different ways of doing things like Mark Martin, and "outsider" usurpers like Jeff Gordon. There's no character anymore
Dale Jr was also voted most popular driver year after year
"Raise HELL Praise DALE!"
The day Nascar died. What a legend. He was the best.
F1 has the halo the nascar has the Earnhardt Bar(saved a lot of lives) a bar that Dale put in his car after it took a tumble to help prevent the cockpit from caving in. And is now a staple of the cars structural roll cage.