Editing Dale Earnhardt (section)

==Death==
{{main|Death of Dale Earnhardt}}

[[File:2001DaleSrCrash.jpg|thumb|right|The final-lap crash that killed Earnhardt. He and [[Ken Schrader]] (No. 36) have just made contact with each other.]]
During the [[2001 Daytona 500|Daytona 500]] at [[Daytona International Speedway]] on February 18, 2001, Earnhardt was killed in a three-car crash on the final lap of the race. He collided with [[Ken Schrader]] after making small contact with [[Sterling Marlin]] and hit the outside wall head-on. He had been blocking Schrader on the outside and Marlin on the inside at the time of the crash. Earnhardt's 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 Waltrip's teammate and Earnhardt's son [[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]] finishing second.<ref name="rpm">{{cite news|url=http://static.espn.go.com/rpm/wc/2001/0218/1093772.html|title=Earnhardt dies instantly of head injuries|work=ESPN.com|publisher=ESPN Internet Ventures|agency=Associated Press|date=February 18, 2001|access-date=June 17, 2015|archive-date=March 25, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325192711/http://static.espn.go.com/rpm/wc/2001/0218/1093772.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/021901/spr_5436772.html|title=Earnhardt killed|date=February 19, 2001|work=Jacksonville.com|publisher=The Florida Times Union|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010320143221/https://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/021901/spr_5436772.html|archive-date=2001-03-20|access-date=January 25, 2013}}</ref> Earnhardt was pronounced dead at the [[Halifax Health|Halifax Medical Center]] at 5:16&nbsp;pm [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern Standard Time]] (22:16 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]]); he was 49 years old. [[NASCAR]] president [[Mike Helton]] confirmed Earnhardt's death in a statement to the press.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nascar.com/2001/NEWS/02/18/earnhardt_stewart/index.html |title=Earnhardt dies following Daytona 500 accident |first=Dave |last=Rodman |publisher=Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. |date=February 19, 2001 |work=[[NASCAR.com]] |access-date=September 6, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010219102746/http://www.nascar.com/2001/NEWS/02/18/earnhardt_stewart/index.html |archive-date=February 19, 2001 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> An autopsy conducted on February 19, 2001, concluded that Earnhardt sustained a fatal [[basilar skull fracture]].<ref name="EarnhardtInjuries">{{cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/motorsports/nascar_plus/news/2001/03/26/fish_autopsyreport/|title=CNNSI.com: Earnhardt autopsy report answers, leaves questions|website=cnn.com|access-date=June 15, 2015|archive-date=May 5, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505012105/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/motorsports/nascar_plus/news/2001/03/26/fish_autopsyreport/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Four days later, on February 22, public funeral services for Earnhardt were held at the [[Calvary Church (Charlotte)|Calvary Church]] in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]].<ref name="OSFuneral">{{Cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2001/02/22/earnhardt-family-has-a-funeral-in-secret/|title=Earnhardt Family Has A Funeral In Secret|date=February 22, 2001|last=McKay|first=Rich|work=Orlando Sentinel|access-date=November 7, 2015|archive-date=November 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118130553/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2001-02-22/news/0102220373_1_earnhardt-calvary-memorial-service|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYTimesFuneral">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/21/sports/earnhardt-s-funeral-is-tomorrow.html|title=Earnhardt's Funeral is Tomorrow|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=February 21, 2001|access-date=September 27, 2012|archive-date=November 15, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115075122/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/21/sports/earnhardt-s-funeral-is-tomorrow.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="LATimesFuneral">{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-22-sp-28715-story.html|title=Earnhardt Buried as Pastor Recalls Their Final Prayer|agency=Associated Press|work=Los Angeles Times|date=February 22, 2001|access-date=November 17, 2015|archive-date=November 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118172827/http://articles.latimes.com/2001/feb/22/sports/sp-28715|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Aftermath ===
Several press conferences were held in the days following Earnhardt's death. After driver Sterling Marlin and his relatives received hate mail and death threats from angry fans, Waltrip and Earnhardt Jr. absolved him of any responsibility.

The [[Daytona Beach Police Department]] and NASCAR opened two investigations about the crash; nearly every detail of the crash was made public. The allegations of seatbelt failure resulted in [[Bill Simpson (racing driver)|Bill Simpson]]'s resignation from the company bearing his name, which manufactured the seatbelts used in Earnhardt's car and nearly every other NASCAR driver's car.<ref name="Hinton">''Daytona: From the Birth of Speed to the Death of the Man in Black''. Hinton, Ed. Warner Books, 2001. {{ISBN|0-446-52677-0}}.</ref> In October 2001, NASCAR mandated drivers from its three national series to use the [[HANS device]], which Earnhardt had refused to wear after finding it restrictive and uncomfortable.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Aumann|first1=Mark|title=HANS device acceptance slow until fateful crash|url=http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2012/09/11/ups-hans-device.html|website=nascar.com|access-date=January 28, 2015|archive-date=February 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150224191033/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2012/09/11/ups-hans-device.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Team owner Richard Childress made a public pledge that the number 3 would never again adorn the side of a black race car with a GM Goodwrench sponsorship, and the car was re-numbered as the #29. Childress's second-year Busch Series driver [[Kevin Harvick]] was named as Earnhardt's replacement, beginning with the [[2001 Dura Lube 400]] at [[North Carolina Speedway]]. Special pennants bearing the No. 3 were distributed to everyone at the track to honor Earnhardt, and the Childress team wore blank uniforms out of respect, something which disappeared quickly and was soon replaced by the previous GM Goodwrench Service Plus uniforms.

Harvick's car always displayed the Earnhardt stylized number 3 on the "B" posts (metal portion on each side of the car to the rear of the front windows) above the number 29 until the end of 2013, when he departed for [[Stewart-Haas Racing]]. The number 3 returned for the [[2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series|2014 season]], this time not sponsored by GM Goodwrench (which was rebranded [[GM Certified Service]] in 2011), driven by Childress's grandson [[Austin Dillon]].<!-- <ref name=BR>{{cite news |title=Transcend – The Intimidator |work=Bleacher Report Media Lab |quote=He was a living legend by 2001, when he raced in the Daytona 500 and shared the track with his son, Dale Jr. |url=http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/transcend/#the-intimidator |access-date=27 March 2017 |archive-date=January 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170119094458/http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/transcend/#the-intimidator |url-status=live }}</ref> --> 

Fans began honoring Earnhardt by holding three fingers aloft on the third lap of every race, a black screen of No. 3 in the beginning of ''[[NASCAR Thunder 2002]]'' before the [[EA Sports]] logo, and the television coverage of ''[[NASCAR on Fox]]'' and ''[[NASCAR on NBC]]'' went silent for each third lap from Rockingham to the following year's race there in honor of Earnhardt, unless on-track incidents brought out the caution flag on the third lap. Three weeks after Earnhardt's death, Harvick, driving a car that had been prepared for Earnhardt, scored his first career Cup win at Atlanta. On the final lap of the [[2001 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500]], he beat [[Jeff Gordon]] by .006 seconds (the margin being 0.004 of a second closer than Earnhardt had won over [[Bobby Labonte]] at the same race a year ago) in an identical photo finish, and the images of Earnhardt's longtime gas man [[Danny "Chocolate" Myers]] crying after the victory, Harvick's tire-smoking burnout on the front stretch with three fingers held aloft outside the driver's window. Harvick would win another race at the inaugural event at Chicagoland en route to a ninth-place finish in the final points and won Rookie of the Year honors along with the 2001 NASCAR Busch Series Championship.

[[Dale Earnhardt, Inc.]] won five races in the 2001 season, beginning with [[Steve Park]]'s victory in the race at Rockingham just one week after Earnhardt's death. Earnhardt Jr. and Waltrip finished first and second in the series' return to Daytona in July for the [[2001 Pepsi 400|Pepsi 400]], a reverse of the finish in the Daytona 500. Earnhardt Jr. also won the fall races at Dover (first post 9/11 race) and Talladega and came to an eighth-place points finish.

Earnhardt's remains were interred at his estate in Mooresville, North Carolina after a private funeral service on February 21, 2001.<ref name="OSFuneral"/><ref name="LATimesFuneral"/>