On Feb. 18, 2001, Dale Earnhardt Sr. died at the age of 49 while racing in the Daytona 500.
He was driving his famous black No. 3 Chevrolet and vying for third place when he collided with another car and then crashed into a wall. He was in the last lap when the crash happened.
After being cut from his car, Earnhardt, whose tough, aggressive driving style earned him the nickname “The Intimidator,” was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead of head injuries.
Many Americans remembered Earnhardt on Monday when Ryan Newman was involved in a ghastly crash on the final lap of the Daytona 500 that hospitalized him with non-life threatening injuries.
