Dale Earnhardt Jr. Recalls Shocking Final Moment With Dad Dale Sr. After Race Tragedy

Dale Earnhardt Sr. and his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., were both racing in the Daytona 500 on February 18, 2001, when Dale Sr. was involved in a wreck that would take his life. On the final lap, the race legend hit fellow driver Ken Schrader before crashing into the outside wall head-on at high speed.

Dale Sr. was rushed to a nearby Florida hospital and pronounced dead on arrival. He was 49 years old. In the new Prime Video docuseries, Earnhardt, Dale Jr. relived his harrowing last moments with his larger-than-life father.

“I’m hustling through halls, you know, looking in every room. And I look over and there’s dad on a table, seemed like eight or 10 doctors surrounded that table, and they’re all working,” Dale Jr. remembered about when he got to the hospital after the race.

He continued, “Finally, somebody grabbed me and told me that dad was gone or dad passed away or dad didn’t make it, and I could go back into this room. And so I go back into the room, and there’s no doctors. There’s just dad.”

Dale Sr.’s second wife, Teresa Earnhardt, was in the room with his body. Despite this being the final time he would see his father, Dale Jr. preferred to keep his distance.

“Teresa was standing over dad, and she is just so sad,” an emotional Dale Jr. said. “Sad as you can imagine somebody in that moment being losing their spouse. I didn’t want to go any closer. I stood at the door and, again, dad’s 15 feet away. I didn’t want to remember him that way, so I just left.”

The 76-time NASCAR race winner died on impact. The North Carolina native’s official cause of death was later confirmed to be a basilar skull fracture. Since Dale Sr.’s death, safety measures have been implemented in NASCAR. No driver has died in the Cup Series since Dale Sr.’s 2001 passing.

Earnhardt, Streaming Now, Prime Video