Race Summary
Bill Elliott led the field to the green flag, but he only led one lap before Sterling Marlin passed him for the lead. Jeff Purvis hit the wall between turns 3 and 4 on lap 49, bringing out the race's first caution. This was followed by a green flag period that lasted 105 laps. Ward Burton led most of these laps. On Lap 85, Dale Earnhardt and rookie Kurt Busch made door to door contact coming out of turn four battling for 5th place. Earnhardt promptly gave Busch the bird at 185 mph or - as described by Mike Joy - Earnhardt was simply saying: "Kurt, you're number one".
The second caution came on lap 157, when Kurt Busch hit the Turn 3 wall trying to pass Joe Nemechek, and then slid across the track, through the infield and into pit lane. On lap 167, Steve Park took the lead, but he was passed by teammate Michael Waltrip on the next lap.
On lap 173, as the lead pack was coming out of turn 2 onto the back straightaway, Robby Gordon and Ward Burton, the latter of which led the most laps in the race, collided. In the process, Tony Stewart was collected, turned against the wall, and was pushed airborne over Robby Gordon. Stewart's car then flipped over twice, while being battered by other cars behind him, and then Stewart momentarily stood on his hood before coasting to a stop in the infield. Although some drivers, like Earnhardt, Sr. and Ken Schrader, were able to make it around the wrecking cars, eighteen cars were eliminated in spectacular fashion. Bobby Labonte's engine caught fire, and Mark Martin collided first with the outside wall, then was hit by at least two other cars, destroying the rear end of his car. Martin managed to limp his car back to pit road, where he abandoned it. The race was red-flagged to allow for an extensive cleanup.
The race restarted on lap 180, with Michael Waltrip still out in front. Sterling Marlin led the next three laps before Waltrip took the lead again. As the white flag waved at the start of the final lap, both Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Sr. were behind Waltrip, with Junior in front of his father. With less than two laps remaining, Darrell Waltrip in the booth commented that "Sterling has beat the front end off of that old Dodge trying to get around Dale ".
Heading into Turn 3 on the last lap, Earnhardt held third and was running in the middle lane of traffic. Marlin was behind him and running the bottom lane, while Rusty Wallace's navy blue #2 Miller Lite Ford was directly behind Earnhardt and Ken Schrader was above Earnhardt riding the high lane in his yellow #36 M&M's Pontiac.
On Turn 4, Marlin came into contact with the left rear on Earnhardt's vehicle. Earnhardt slid off the track's steep banking, onto the flat apron. Trying to correct at speed, he turned sharply up the track toward the outside retaining wall. Although it briefly looked as though Earnhardt was going to avoid hitting the wall, his car went right into Schrader's path. Schrader rammed into Earnhardt just behind the passenger door, causing Earnhardt's car to snap, rapidly changing the angle of his car toward the wall. When Schrader made contact, Earnhardt hit the wall nose-first at an estimated speed of 155 to 160 mph and was pushed down the track by Schrader. Earnhardt's and Schrader's cars then slid off the track's asphalt banking toward the infield grass just inside of turn four.
Seconds later, Michael Waltrip raced toward the checkered flag to claim his first victory, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finishing second. Rusty Wallace finished third while Sterling Marlin came across seventh, and Earnhardt and Schrader were credited with twelfth and thirteenth places despite not finishing the race. After crossing the finish line, Earnhardt, Jr. got out of his car and rushed to his father. Earnhardt had to be extricated from the vehicle and was rushed by ambulance to Halifax Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 5:16 PM Eastern Standard Time, reportedly surrounded by his wife Teresa Earnhardt, his team owner/friend Richard Childress, and Earnhardt, Jr. The official announcement of Earnhardt's death was made at about 7 PM by NASCAR president Mike Helton. Earnhardt's death largely overshadowed Michael Waltrip's first Winston Cup victory, as well as Tony Stewart's flip in the lap 173 crash.
Read more about this topic: 2001 Daytona 500
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