After being clipped from behind by
another racer, Dale Earnhardt Sr's #3 car, spun out of
control and crashed into a concrete wall. It was the
final lap of the Daytona 500 and the final race for
Earnhardt. He died from head injuries just minutes
after the crash.
But
it's pretty tough to intimidate a concrete wall. It's not
like NASCAR 2001 on your
Playstation,
where you can plough through a wall, do 6 spectacular flips
and then still continue driving. The real NASCAR circuit has
drivers going so fast and racing so tightly that even some
of the best safety equipment isn't enough.
Earnhardt, who was from
North Carolina, started racing cars in local events when he
was just 14. He entered the NASCAR circuit when he was 24
and would go on to become one of North America's most
popular racecar drivers. He passed his love for speed on to
his son, Dale Jr, who entered the NASCAR tour during the
2000 season - winning two races as a rookie. Dale Jr. was
just a few yards ahead of his Dad when the crash happened on
February 18th, 2001.
It's the thrill and adrenaline from all that
speed that makes car racing so exciting. If you've ever
ridden a go-cart (which usually doesn't go much faster than
30 miles an hour), you know how much fun the rush of the
racetrack can be. But Earnhardt's
crash is also a reminder that the need for speed is also
what makes race car driving one of the most dangerous and
even deadliest sports.
