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Sunday, February 18
Michael Waltrip wins Daytona 500
ESPN.com news services
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Dale Earnhardt, the greatest stock
car star of his era, was killed in a crash on the last turn of the
last lap of Sunday's Daytona 500 as he tried to protect teammate
Michael Waltrip's victory.
The 49-year-old driver had to be cut from his battered car and
was rushed to Halifax Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead
of head injuries.
|  | | Michael Waltrip raises his hands triumphantly in Victory Lane after winning the Daytona 500. |
"He had what I felt were life-ending type injuries at the time
of impact and nothing could be done for him," said Dr. Steve
Bohannon, an emergency physician at the hospital who also works for
Daytona International Speedway.
Earnhardt, considered a master of superspeedway racing, was
locked in a battle for third place as his newest driver, Waltrip,
and his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., headed toward the finish line for
what should have been the most triumphant moment in the brief
history of Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
The accident happened a half-mile from the finish of the NASCAR
season-opener.
Earnhardt, running fourth in his famed black No. 3 Chevrolet,
grazed Sterling Marlin's car while fighting for position. He
crashed into the concrete wall at the fourth turn going about 180
mph, and was smacked hard by Ken Schrader's car.
"I guess someone got into Dale because Dale got into me and
then we went up," Schrader said. "We hit pretty hard and Dale hit
harder."
The scene was grim as safety workers removed Earnhardt from the
car, and the accident removed all the luster from a glittering race
that kept the record crowd of 195,000 spectators on their feet most
of the afternoon.
Many of them were well on their way home when NASCAR president
Mike Helton made the announcement, about 90 minutes after the race
ended.
"This is understandably the hardest announcement I've ever had
to make," Helton said. "We've lost Dale Earnhardt."
Fans in and around the sprawling speedway wept after hearing the
news.
The death of Earnhardt left NASCAR reeling in the wake of a 2000
season in which three of its young stars were killed in separate
accidents.
Adam Petty, the fourth generation of stock car racing's most
famous family, and Kenny Irwin died in crashes two months apart at
New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Tony Roper was killed later in the
year in a crash during a truck race at Texas Motor Speedway. All
three died of the same type of head injuries that apparently killed
Earnhardt.
Following those deaths, safety had become a front-burner issue
for the sport, with an ongoing debate over possible rule changes
and the use of new safety equipment.
The death completely overshadowed the victory by Waltrip, his
first in 15 years and 463 Winston Cup races.
At first, Waltrip, the younger brother of retired three-time
champion Darrell Waltrip, was jubilant, scrambling from his car in
Victory Lane and shouting in a raspy voice: "This is the Daytona
500, and I won it! I won the Daytona 500! I can't believe it!"
But he was somber as it became apparent that his new boss was
badly injured.
"The only reason I won this race is Dale Earnhardt," Waltrip
said.
The race, with two- and three-wide driving and constantly
changing positions, was also interrupted by a 21-car crash that
sent Tony Stewart's car flying through the air. He, too, was taken
to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion.
Waltrip took the lead 16 laps from the end of the 200-lap race
at Daytona International Speedway and stayed in front, with
Earnhardt Jr. and the elder Earnhardt protecting his flank.
"I thought it might be too bold or bragging to say we could win
it in our first race as a team," Waltrip said. "But I thought we
could.
"I could never have won without Dale Jr.," he added. "I could
never have won without the belief of Dale Sr."
Thanks to the aerodynamic package that NASCAR came up with to
promote better racing after last year's yawner at Daytona, the 43rd
version of the stock car Super Bowl produced 49 lead changes among
14 drivers. Last year, there were just nine lead changes and
virtually no real racing.
The first race with the new superspeedway aero package, last
October at Talladega Superspeedway, was just as breathtaking. It
had 49 lead changes and race-long action, but the drivers somehow
avoided what seemed inevitable – a big crash.
Not this time.
On lap 174, Stewart went flying and cars were crashing and
spinning all over the back straightaway. When it was over, eight of
last year's top 10 in the final points, including champion Bobby
Labonte and three-time and defending Daytona winner Dale Jarrett,
were knocked out of the race or had severe car damage.
"There was no getting through it. It was like a wall of cars,"
said Jeff Gordon, a two-time Daytona winner.
Not everyone was happy with the tight, tense racing.
"Not a lot of fun," said Jarrett, whose Ford never got into
contention. "It just wasn't a good day. That's no fun for me at
all. I mean, you're totally at the mercy of someone else when you
get three-wide. That's not racing."
Rusty Wallace, also involved in the big crash, finished the race
with a jagged piece of sheet metal sticking from the side of his
car. He wound up third, followed by Ricky Rudd and pole-winner Bill
Elliott in the highest finishing Dodge.
This was the official return of the automaker to NASCAR's top
series after a 16-year absence. It appeared one of the new Dodge
Intrepids might win the race with Burton and Marlin dominating at
times.
Burton's race ended with the car on a flatbed truck after the
wreck, while a punctured tire nearly ended Marlin's chances. The
multi-crash accident actually helped Marlin move back into
contention, but he faded at the end and wound up giving new NASCAR
team owner Chip Ganassi a seventh-place finish.
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