Dale Earnhardt Jr remembers the mix of emotions he felt when he visited Daytona International Speedway for the first time following his father’s tragic death at the same venue.
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt Sr was killed in a three-car crash on the final lap of the Daytona 500 in 2001, marking one of the most devastating moments in the series’ history.
Just a few months later, Earnhardt Jr returned to the track with friends as he prepared for NASCAR’s second visit of the year to the Florida-based circuit.
“We’re jamming out to music. It’s the middle of the afternoon, sun’s out. It’s a beautiful day,” Earnhardt Jr said on Amazon Prime’s new series Earnhardt.
“I got it in my head, I was like, ‘Hey, I want to go see if we can go inside the track’ because I couldn’t drive past that track and go into town and hang out just knowing what had happened there.”
After entering the track, Earnhardt Jr he made his way to Turn 4, the corner where his father’s car slammed head-first into the wall.
“I don’t know exactly where his car came to rest, but I kind of came to that general area and I just got out,” he said. “I wanted to see how I would feel. Would I get emotional? Would it be too much? Would it feel too heavy? Would I have a problem with it? I didn’t know.”
Despite the painful memories, Earnhardt Jr emphasised that he didn’t want to harbour resentment toward the track.
“I just had this feeling that I shouldn’t be mad at it,” he said. “I shouldn’t dread going to Daytona.
“I almost hesitate to say this because it isn’t going to make any sense to anybody, but there was this really strange feeling of freedom, and I felt guilty even about feeling that way at all.
“I felt so guilty. I’m still in the very beginning of my, hopefully, a long career, and so I kind of decided then and there that I wasn’t gonna hold anything against the track. And if anything, Daytona was maybe even more special because it’s where dad had passed away.”
Earnhardt Jr went on to win the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July – less than five months after his father’s death- driving for the same team his parents had built.
