Fighting for the lead in the 2001 Daytona 500, Michael Waltrip pulled ahead of Dale Earnhardt Sr., who started to fade.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. moved into second place and “The Intimidator” went against his reckless-abandon driving instincts. In third place, the elder Earnhardt recognized who paced the field. “Mikey,” an old friend and new employee vying for his first win in 462 Cup Series points races, and his son.
On the final lap, Earnhardt let off the gas pedal to fall back and block drivers like Sterling Marlin and Ken Schrader from challenging the leaders.
A fateful decision.
Dale Earnhardt's death at the 2001 Daytona 500 was a moment fans still remember with painful clarity. https://t.co/ctdx57FU0F
— Autoweek (@AutoweekUSA) February 6, 2023
NASCAR’s 2001 Daytona 500 Changed In A ‘Blink Of An Eye’
Along Turn 4, Marlin and Schrader’s machines collided with Earnhardt’s No. 3 Chevrolet, sending it into the retaining wall.
Meanwhile, Waltrip beat Junior across the finish line, capturing the race of his life.
He had no idea.
Back on the Daytona International Speedway track, Earnhardt succumbed instantly to his injuries, blackening Waltrip’s brightest professional moment.
In a “Blink of an Eye,” as the movie of the event is entitled.
The younger, less successful brother of three-time premier series champion Darrell Waltrip, “Mikey” befriended Earnhardt off the track, as he described to the Daily Beast.
“We started hanging out together, going on vacation together, fished, drank, laughed, and shared lives away from the track,” Waltrip said.
With his race team – DEI – entering its third season and coming off a three-win campaign, Earnhardt decided to expand the garage to three cars for 2001, hiring Waltrip to pilot the new team.
To Waltrip, Earnhardt was not only a friend but a mentor.
After Dale Earnhardt died on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, @KevinHarvick was called on to drive for RCR the following week at Rockingham.
Harvick shared his perspective on @NASCAR's return to the track, and what transpired at Atlanta two weeks later, with @DaleJr. #DJD pic.twitter.com/QIjKqgzjDy
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) December 3, 2021
Michael Waltrip: ‘Everything Happens For A Reason’
As he celebrated in Victory Lane, “Mikey” kept looking for his boss, but couldn’t spot him. All Waltrip knew was Earnhardt was involved in what appeared to be a run-of-the-mill Cup dust-up.
After finally shedding the stigma of a 462-race winless streak, a bigger emotion quickly engulfed Waltrip when he heard the news about an hour later: Guilt.
It continues to live with him – daily.
“I think everything happens for a reason,” Waltrip said, as reported by Autoweek. “If I could change history or change life, the hug I would have gotten from Dale after the race that day would have been the best hug I’ve ever had in my life.”
As NASCAR prepares to ignite its 75th-anniversary campaign with Sunday’s Daytona 500, the rising trend of over-aggressive driving seems to be raising the level of on-track vitriol.
After two decades of research and development, the Next Gen car is one of the legacies of Earnhardt dying from a skull fracture he sustained when his head snapped forward after striking the Turn 4 wall.
The new machines are durable. They are safer.
But, if drivers continue down their reckless path, something senseless could happen – again.
In a blink of an eye.
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