This is Part III of a four-part series on the life, death and safety legacy of Dale Earnhardt, 20 years after his fatal crash at the 2001 Daytona 500. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe. - Proverbs 18
THE BIBLE VERSE was taped to the instrument panel of Dale Earnhardt s Chevy Monte Carlo when it veered into the Turn 4 wall at the end of the 2001 Daytona 500. It had been there when his crew secured his window net on pit road and he rolled away to take the green flag. And it was still there three hours later, when, in the infield grass at the bottom of that turn, Ken Schrader took that same window net down to talk with his old friend about their wrecked race cars, only to find the seven-time champion slumped over in his seat and the cockpit covered in blood.
AP Was There: Earnhardt killed in 2001 Daytona 500 crash
By The Associated PressFebruary 11, 2021 GMT
The death of Dale Earnhardt from a crash during the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 is considered the darkest day in the history of NASCAR. The 20th anniversary of his death is coming up on Feb. 18 and the stock car racing community is noting that his legacy includes dramatic improvements in the safety of motorsports. As part of its coverage, The Associated Press is republishing its primary Daytona 500 story from Feb. 18, 2001:
AP Motorsports Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) Dale Earnhardt, the greatest stock car star of his era, was killed in a crash on the last turn of the last lap of Sunday’s Daytona 500 as he tried to protect Michael Waltrip’s victory.
One of the biggest names in the world of stock car racing is that of National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). Headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida, the massive organization is responsible for sanctioning over 1,500 races at over 100 tracks in 48 US states as well as in Canada, Mexico, and Europe every year, making it one of the most popular racing organizations in the world. Drivers at NASCAR events have gone on to become celebrities in the world of racing, and one would fully expect that these are fully seasoned professionals who have worked their way up the ranks in one of the fastest, most dangerous events there is. Yet on occasion there have been some oddities within the world of NASCAR, with one of these certainly being the time an unknown racer managed to slip into one of the organization’s biggest races, only to disappear without a trace or identity.
Meet The Fake NASCAR Driver That Competed In The 1982 Winston 500
Drivers have been racing under fake names since the start of racing began. Some of them were rich aristocrats that needed to protect their identity from a disapproving family. Some of them didn’t want to hurt mom’s feelings. Some of them were women trying to get away with racing under an ambiguous name. But I can only think of one of them that didn’t actually really exist: L. W. Wright.
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The Tennessean, a Nashville newspaper, to promote a new entrant named L. W. Wright.
The announcement read as follows: