Top 10 Stories of the Decade - #7 Dale Earnhardt Dies at Daytona

Our #7 Story of the Decade takes us to NASCAR and one of the most tragic stories of this or any other decade. Arguable the greatest racecar driver in the history of motorsports, Dale Earnhardt, was killed in the 2001 Daytona 500. Earnhardt's death was so stunning because of his legacy as the Intimidator, and his tragic accident changed NASCAR in more ways than one.

Going into the 2001 Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt was NASCAR's living legend. The Intimidator had won 7 NASCAR titles (tied with Richard Petty for 1st all-time), won 76 races, owned his own team, and had finally conquered the Daytona 500 a few years earlier in 1998. After a couple years of struggles, Earnhardt finished 2nd in the points in 2000 at age 49 and won 2 races. With his son Dale Jr. now racing in the Winston Cup Series, Dale Earnhardt was having the time of his life.

Earnhardt's success at restrictor plate tracks like Daytona carried over to his Dale Earnhardt Inc. teams of Michael Waltrip and Dale Jr. By the final lap, Waltrip, Dale Jr., and Dale Sr. were running 1,2,3. Then, Earnhardt made contact with Sterling Marlin beneath him in Turns 3 and 4 of the Final Lap. The famous black #3 then swerved up the race track into Ken Schrader and head-on into the wall. Waltrip and Dale Jr. went on to finish 1-2 for DEI and Waltrip picked up his first career win in NASCAR's biggest race.

But, something was wrong. Immediately there was concern when Schrader panically motioned for crews to help Earnhardt. The crash had seemed innocent enough, but something was wrong. By the end of the FOX telecast, all we knew was that Earnhardt would be taken to the hospital immediately. But still, this was the invincible Dale Earhhardt. 99% of NASCAR fans had to figure that he had taken a big knock, but would be back the week after. Then, NASCAR chief Mike Helton held a press conference...

And just like that, Dale Earnhardt was gone. It was so stunning because the impact of the accident had not seemed so bad. We had seen Earnhardt survive flipping upside down, and much more violent looking wrecks in the past. I'll always remember when I first heard the news. We were watching NBC when Ahmad Rashad came on, and then and there I knew Dale had died. It was a weird sixth sense moment, and such a sad day for any sports fan.

Racers die. It's a fact of motorsports. You hear the jokes that people watch racing for the wrecks. That's half true. We watch for the excitement of racing, for the wrecks, and to see our heroes defy death. Throughout the years though, many all-time great racers perished on the track, especially in earlier years: Fireball Roberts (1964), two-time World Champ Jim Clark (1968) in F1, two-time Indy 500 winner Bill Vukovich in 1955, and even the great F1 champ Ayrton Senna at San Marino in 1994. Indy has seen a total of 56 racers die in accidents. But, Earnhardt as a mythical figure was above every driver that came before him. Earnhardt died at the track that he had finally conquered after 20 years of frustration in the Great American Race. Dale Earnhardt... died... at Daytona. It was unfathomable. He was the one man who could stare death in the face and always come out on top, except he didn't.

Throughout the season, fans held up 3 fingers in tribute on the 3rd lap of every NASCAR race. Memorably, Kevin Harvick won in the 3rd race after Earnhardt's death in this unforgettable finish at Atlanta...

Earnhardt's #3, while not officially retired, has never been raced in NASCAR since his death. Even though he had made his reputation as the tough as nails Intimidator, he was universally loved in the latter stages of his career. As NASCAR moved into the new century, Earnhardt was the lasting mainstay to the days of Petty and Pearson. While the sport left its southern roots, Earnhardt was the one figure that embodied NASCAR's tradition. The outpouring of emotion after the death of the Intimidator is unmatched by almost any other popular figure in sport. Memorials were set up everywhere. This was even more the case when his son Dale Jr. won at Daytona in the first race since his father's death at the Pepsi 400.

Earnhardt's death was the 4th to strike NASCAR in a 9 month period. The lasting impact is seen in the incredible safety improvements since that fateful day. SAFER barriers and HANS devices have become a part of our common vocabulary. Just recently, the Car of Tomorrow was made with driver safety as the number one priority. NASCAR has not seen any deaths occur in its top 3 divisions since the 2001 Daytona 500. Safety has also vastly improved in open wheel racing where the HANS device also became mandatory.

But, why did it have to take the death of the most iconic figure in motorsports history to achieve such advances in safety? Why does it always take tragedy to inspire action? Yes, NASCAR has come a long way in the years since Dale Earnhardt's death, but it came at such a high price.

As far as the big picture of the sport of NASCAR though, the sport continued to rise in popularity throughout the earlier part of the decade. Young stars like Dale Jr., Harvick, Busch, and Johnson have stood alongside veterans like Gordon, Stewart, and others to carry NASCAR through the 2000s. Now, even Danica Patrick wants to give NASCAR a try.

NASCAR has hit the mainstream and even further expanded outside its southeastern roots with multiple races in places like California and Texas this decade. The Chase playoff system was introduced as well. But, the expansion of NASCAR into a nationwide sport has had its drawbacks. The historic Southern 500 fell by the wayside for most of this decade. However, in the last few years, NASCAR's popularity has slid. Start times have become wildly inconsistent and the sport has become commercial to the extreme. Drivers like Jimmie Johnson (named AP Athlete of the Year) have great skill, but fit the corporate cookie-cutter image of the majority of drivers on the circuit. In other words, there aren't any good old boys left. There isn't a Dale Earnhardt in NASCAR today.

Even though NASCAR is more popular and more safe than the years of #3's heyday, there is a missing element to the sport. It has become almost too mainstream. As a fan of NASCAR that goes back to the days of the Intimidator and North Wilkesboro, the raw element has evaporated. Some will say that the sport is too safe, but that's ludicrous. NASCAR is only missing a larger than life presence of a man who broke the mold. Eight years later, NASCAR is still missing a presence as big as Earnhardt's bumper in your rear-view mirror.