Death of Dale Earnhardt
The accident scene shortly after it began. Dale Earnhardt's car has collected Ken Schrader.
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| Time | 5:16 p.m. EST (21:16 UTC) |
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| Date | February 18, 2001 |
| Venue | Daytona International Speedway |
| Location | Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 29°11′08″N 81°04′09″W / 29.1855374°N 81.0692232°WCoordinates: 29°11′08″N 81°04′09″W / 29.1855374°N 81.0692232°W |
| Cause | Racing accident |
| Outcome | NASCAR began improving safety of the cars, which resulted in the Car of Tomorrow and SAFER barrier. |
| Deaths | 1 (Earnhardt) |
Dale Earnhardt was an American race car driver who gained worldwide fame as a driver for NASCAR, recording seven Winston Cup championship victories and 76 career wins, including the 1998 Daytona 500. He was killed instantly in a final-lap collision in the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2001, in which he crashed into the retaining wall after making contact with Ken Schrader. Earnhardt's death was officially pronounced at the nearby Halifax Medical Center at 5:16 p.m. EST (21:16 UTC). He was 49 years old. His funeral was held four days later at the Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Earnhardt's death was highly publicized and resulted in various safety improvements in NASCAR auto racing.
After Earnhardt's death, NASCAR began an intensive focus on safety that has seen the organization mandate the use of head-and-neck restraints, oversee the installation of SAFER barriers at oval tracks, set rigorous new inspection rules for seats and seat-belts, develop a roof-hatch escape system, and the Car of Tomorrow—which eventually led to the development of a next-generation race car built with extra driver safety in mind. Earnhardt was the fourth driver to die during NASCAR competition within a year, beginning with Adam Petty's accident in May 2000. Since Earnhardt's death, no Cup series driver has died during competition.
Earnhardt died while competing in the 2001 Daytona 500, a NASCAR-sanctioned automobile race at Daytona International Speedway. NASCAR sanctions required the use of a carburetor restrictor plate for races held at the track. In 2000, the year before Earnhardt died, NASCAR instituted additional restrictions to the springs and shocks used on the cars, causing Earnhardt to complain to the media, "The rules took NASCAR Winston Cup racing and made it some of the sorriest racing. They took racing out of the hands of the drivers and the crews. We can't adjust and make our cars drive like we want. They just killed the racing at Daytona. This is a joke to have to race like this."
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