‘Worst Day of My Life’ – When Former Daytona Winner Went Through Rollercoaster of Emotions Mourning Dale Earnhardt’s Tragic Death

Twenty-four years ago, Michael Waltrip won the Daytona 500. But what should have been the best day of his life turned out to be his worst nightmare.

After all the years driving in NASCAR, Waltrip had finally won the much-coveted 2001 Daytona 500. But his joy soon vanished after receiving the heartbreaking news that his friend and mentor, Dale Earnhardt, had died in a crash on the track.

As Waltrip was busy claiming his first checkered flag, his team owner had collided in Turn 4 at Daytona International Speedway. Earnhardt first made contact with Sterling Marlin, followed by crashing into Ken Schrader, and finally ended up into the outside retaining wall. The impact was so intense that Earnhardt was gone in a second.

Time Has Not Eased the Pain of Losing Dale Earnhardt
While initially Waltrip was only told Earnhardt had crashed, he grew suspicious that the situation was much worse when the veteran driver didn’t show up even an hour later to hug him. It was only after completing the obligatory post-race press interviews that he was informed of Earnhardt’s tragic death.

When Waltrip was questioned by a Forbes reporter, he said, “There’s really no way to tell you what it was like. Nothing can compare. You think you’ve had the best day ever, then you start getting hints that something isn’t exactly right.

“It’s 30 or 40 minutes later, and you still haven’t seen your buddy. The guy who was a big reason why you won. You start to ask questions and wonder. And then, eventually, the news came to me that Dale had died. I don’t know how else to sum it up. It went from the best day to the worst day.”

Later on, in another media interview, Waltrip said: “I think everything happens for a reason. If I could change history or change life, the hug I would have gotten from Dale after the race that day would have been the best hug I’ve ever had in my life.”

Years later, Waltrip still said without hesitation that when someone brings up the 2001 Daytona 500, the first thing that came to his mind was Earnhardt’s tragic death.