Dale Earnhardt: A Fearless NASCAR Driver

Dale Earnhardt “You’ve got to be closer to the edge than ever to win” (“Dale Earnhardt”). That means sometimes push yourself over the edge, and I don't mean driving either. Unless you're pushed to the limit goals will not be achieved. Earnhardt was a fearless NASCAR driver.”Anyone afraid of the cars going too fast should stay home” says Dale. He started out very young learning about the cars from his dad. He became one of the best NASCAR drivers in U.S. history. And Died at a fairly young age of 49. Dale Earnhardt was one of the most successful and influential NASCAR drivers in U.S history due to his achievements in racing, safety implications, and national awareness after his death (“Dale Earnhardt Quotes”). Dale did not start out driving …show more content…
Dale was about to compete in one of the biggest NASCAR races there is, the Daytona 500. In the beginning of the race Dale seemed a little nervous about the race. It could have been something with his car or it could have possibly been that his son Dale Jr. was competing in the same race. On the side of that Dale was also cocky about the new rules or limitations. NASCAR put restrictor plates on the carburetors to reduce the horsepower. Dale was not in favor of this new rule He said “ people who are afraid of their cars going to fast should stay home. Earnhardt led four times in 17 laps. Getting close to the end of the race Dale was in third place behind two cars from his own team. On the last turn of the last lap. Marlin’s dodge unsettled his car and made him slam into the bank at 170mph. Then pushed by another car pushing him at 150mph. Dale was reported dead due to lack of full safety equipment and cars load separating allowing him to move freely. He was not wearing a helmet or neck brace. NASCAR could no longer hold off on the safety issue. NASCAR had a huge downfall after Dales death. Viewership numbers dropped dramatically after the death. Tv ratings dropped a little over 10% for sprint cup races and fell 20% during NASCAR playoff run since last season …show more content…
After Dale's death NASCAR still postponed certain issues until another crash happened a year after. The new rules and regulations would not only change the viewer's prospective but the NASCAR drivers themselves. The day of the second crash NASCAR imeaditally talk to drivers and manfactures about making improvments for the cars and riding gear NASCAR then created a computer model to study similar crash situations. They believe that this could help manufactures improve the seat-belt strength and better installment to prevent similar crashes in the future. Many teams quickly moved to using six-point belts that asorb the forces of the crash more fluiently. On top of that drivers are required to wear full face helmets. Probably the best invention after Earnhardts death is the HANS device. The HANS device is a U shaped collar worn uderneath the harness belts. It pretty much prevents the riders head from being able to move freely. This was suppose to be a big and important thing before Earnhardts death. Hubbard/Downing Inc. who manufactured HANS took 35 orders for the device hours following Dales death (“Hallman, Randy”). Within a week 250 devices were ordered. NASCAR did not make the head and neck restraints maditory until the death of Blaze Alexander. He died October of 2001 not long after Dale. NASCAR drivers will not be able to compete in races without the following