Victory at last for Earnhardt at Daytona
On February 15 1998 after 20 years of trying racing great Dale Earnhardt Sr.finally wins his first Daytona 500 the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) season opener and an event dubbed the Super Bowl of stock car racing.Driving his black No.
3 Chevrolet Earnhardt recorded an average speed of 172.712 mph and took home a then-record more than 1 million in prize money.Following his victory crews from competing teams lined the pit road at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach Florida to congratulate Earnhardt who drove his car onto the grass and did several celebratory doughnuts or circles.Earnhardt whose tough aggressive driving style earned him the nickname The Intimidator was born on April 29 1951 in Kannapolis North Carolina.The son of a racecar driver the younger Earnhardt dropped out of high school to follow in his fathers footsteps.
He went on to become one of NASCARs most successful and respected drivers with 76 career victories including seven Winston Cup (now known as the Sprint Cup) Series championships a record he shares with Richard Petty.Despite his success as a driver victory at the Daytona 500a 200-lap 500-mile event first held in 1959eluded Earnhardt for years.At the 1997 Daytona 500 Earnhardts car flipped upside down on the backstretch however he managed to escape serious injury.His win in February 1998 represented Earnhardts sole Daytona victory.
Tragically on February 18 2001 Earnhardt died at the age of 49 during a crash at that years 43rd Daytona 500.After being cut from his car he was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead of head injuries.As it happened the race which cost Earnhardt his life was won by Michael Waltrip who was driving for the Dale Earnhardt Inc.
(DEI) racing team.Earnhardts son Dale Jr.also a DEI driver at the time took second place.
Three years later on February 15 2004 Dale Earnhardt Jr.won his first Daytona 500 with an average speed of 156.341 mph.
