Crash

Crash

During the Daytona 500 at Daytona Iinternational Speedway on February 18, 2001, Earnhardt was involved in a three-car accident on the final lap of the race, in which he collided with Ken Shrader after making small contact with Sterling Marlin and hit the outside wall head-on. Earnhardt and Schrader's cars both slid off the track's asphalt banking into the infield grass just inside of turn 4. Seconds later, his driver Michael Waltrip won the race, with his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished in second. Earnhardt's death was officially pronounced at the Halifax Medical Center at 5:16 PM. Nearly two hours later, NASCAR president Mike Helton announced Earnhardt's death. Earnhardt was 49 years old at the time of his death. An autopsy conducted on February 19, 2001 concluded that Earnhardt died from blunt force trauma to his head due to the accident. It also reported that Earnhardt had suffered a fatal basilar skull fracture. Days later, on February 22, public funeral services were held at the Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Nearly every detail of the crash was made public.