On the afternoon of February 18, 2001, American stock car racing driver and team owner Dale Earnhardt was involved in a final-lap collision in the 2001 Daytona 500, in which he crashed into a retaining wall after making contact with Sterling Marlin and Ken Schrader.

He was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center a short time later; the cause of death was a basilar skull fracture, which was determined to have killed him instantly.

Earnhardt was the fourth NASCAR driver killed by a basilar skull fracture during an eight-month span, following Adam Petty in May 2000, Kenny Irwin Jr. in July 2000, and Tony Roper in October 2000.

Earnhardt's death, seen on a live television broadcast with more than 17 million viewers,[3] was highly publicized and resulted in various safety improvements in NASCAR auto racing.

[4] After Earnhardt's death, NASCAR began an intensive focus on safety—mandating the use of head-and-neck restraints, installing SAFER barriers at oval tracks, setting rigorous new inspection rules for seats and seat-belts,[2] and developing a roof-hatch escape system and the Car of Tomorrow—which eventually led to the development of a next-generation race car built with extra driver safety in mind.

"[7] In response to criticism such as Earnhardt's, NASCAR developed a new aerodynamic package for the cars competing in Winston Cup Series races at Daytona and Talladega.

[8] The 2001 Daytona 500 was the first 500-mile (800 km) race run at the track with this package, which was designed to keep cars bunched up close together and to allow more frequent passing at high speed.

[9] In the weeks before the Daytona 500, Earnhardt elected not to attend the annual fan and media preview event, drawing vocal criticism from fellow driver Jimmy Spencer.

On February 3 and 4, 2001, for the first time in his career, Earnhardt participated in the Rolex 24 endurance race at Daytona, the event which kicks off Speedweeks at the track.

Those involved in the crash were Jason Leffler, Steve Park (another of Earnhardt's drivers), both Rusty (who would rally back to finish third) and Kenny Wallace, Jeff Gordon (the eventual Winston Cup champion for 2001) and Robby Gordon, both Bobby (the defending Winston Cup Champion) and Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Elliott Sadler, Jeff Burton and Ward Burton (who had led the most laps in the race so far with 53), Jerry Nadeau, John Andretti, Buckshot Jones, Dale Jarrett (the defending Daytona 500 winner), and Andy Houston.

Stewart then flipped over twice, hooking to Bobby Labonte's hood, and stood on his front wheels before coasting to a stop in the infield, while Burton's car turned sideways and collected most of the field behind him.

Earnhardt, Ron Hornaday Jr., Ricky Rudd, Ken Schrader, and Mike Wallace were five of the few drivers who escaped the crash scene.

As Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were about to complete the race, both of the wrecked cars went down the steep banking and slid into the infield grass near the exit of turn 4.

[22] Per NASCAR rules, any driver involved in a crash and unable to drive back to the pits or who must be extricated from their car must report to the infield hospital.

The official cause of Earnhardt's death was given by the Volusia County medical examiner's office as blunt force trauma to his head among other injuries due to the incident.

Keselowski, who was 10 years old when Senna died in a crash on Lap 7 of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy, said, "For me personally it (Senna's death) reminded me a lot of when Dale Earnhardt died in the sense of the kind of general mood and atmosphere within my own family's household.

"[31] Team owner Richard Childress made a public pledge that a black car with a GM Goodwrench sponsorship would no longer use the number 3, honoring the color scheme and sponsor that Earnhardt had driven with since 1988.

For the race at Atlanta, a new GM Goodwrench Service Plus paint-scheme was introduced, along with angled red stripes and a thin blue pinstripe resembling the AC Delco-sponsored Chevrolets driven in the Busch Series.

Dr. Steve Bohannon, NASCAR's medical expert, said he thought the faulty belt had allowed Earnhardt's chin to strike the steering wheel, causing the fatal basilar skull fracture.

[36] Bill Simpson, the company's founder, maintained that the belt had failed because it had been installed in an unapproved fashion in order to increase Earnhardt's comfort, an allegation that had been supported by some who were familiar with the situation.

After a short court battle, it was mutually agreed to appoint Dr. Barry Myers, an expert on crash injuries at Duke University, to independently study Earnhardt's death.

On April 10, 2001, Myers published his report rejecting NASCAR's explanation, finding that Earnhardt's death was the result of his inadequately restrained head and neck snapping forward, independent of the broken seat belt (rendering the question of improper installation moot).

Dr. Steve Olvey, who had been the medical director of CART for 22 years (and who, presided over the 1999 Marlboro 500 where Greg Moore was killed), and Wayne State University crash expert John Melvin also agreed with Myers' report.

In response to the speculation about the broken lap belt in Earnhardt's car, many teams migrated from traditional five to six-point safety harnesses.

[49] In addition to head and neck restraints, NASCAR began requiring the use of SAFER barriers at race tracks in which its top touring series compete.

[43] All of the safety improvements from the CoT remain in the Gen 6 design[51] (which have been credited to have saved Ryan Newman after he suffered a last-lap crash at the 2020 running of the event).

The unusual act of notifying NASCAR and Teresa Earnhardt was made prior to releasing the records sought by members of the public and media.

[53] On February 28, March 13, and March 16, 2001, the Orlando Sentinel; Michael Uribe, founder of WebsiteCity.com; and Campus Communications, Inc., publisher of the University of Florida's student newspaper The Independent Florida Alligator filed motions to intervene into the Earnhardt v. Volusia litigation in order to uphold their rights to inspect and copy public records held by the Volusia County Medical Examiner to include the photographs and videotape of Dale Earnhardt's autopsy examination.

Will eventually ruled against Uribe and CCI's original public records requests and constitutional arguments to inspect and copy the medical examiner files pertaining to Earnhardt, to include autopsy photographs.

Judge Will's ruling set forth in motion an extensive legal battle later fought in the appellate courts by both Uribe and CCI seeking to deem the denial of their public records request unconstitutional under Florida State and Federal laws.