There Are Calls For FOX Employee To Be Fired Over Dale Earnhardt Decision

Originally posted on The Spun | By Matt Hladik | Last updated Feb 16, 2025 5:36 PM ET

FOX found a way to anger many NASCAR fans with a decision involving late racing legend Dale Earnhardt on Sunday.

As part of its pre-race coverage of the Daytona 500, FOX aired a video celebrating its 25 years of airing "The Great American Race." The first year then network broadcast from Daytona was 2001, the year Earnhardt was tragically killed at 49 in a three-car crash on the final lap. Earnhardt's death is a major part of FOX's Daytona 500 story, and we're guessing that's why the network included footage of Earnhardt's wreck in its commemorative video.

It's a decision they likely should have thought through further. They could have honored Earnhardt without showing the final moment of his life.

Some fans want an apology from the network, while others have gone beyond that and are asking for heads to roll.

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEB 4, 2001 - Dale Earnhardt checks out the view from the newly completed Earnhardt Grandstand during winter testing, two weeks before the Daytona 500, at Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL, in this file photo from February 2001. (Photo by Brian Cleary/Getty Images)Brian Cleary/Getty Images

"Whoever put this package together with a fatal crash included and whoever approved that package for broadcast should lose their job. Unbelievable," one person said.

"The fact they had the audacity to add Dale Earnhardt's crash into the promotion is just outrageous to me," a second person added.

"Horrible decision, come on fox. No need to see the crash," a third person chimed in.

"Whoever made and approved this video, needs fired immediately," a fourth person said.

"Who approved this and why do they still have a job with the network?" a fifth person added.

We'll see if FOX addresses this controversy tonight or tomorrow.

Earnhardt died on Feb. 18, 2001. Last week, his son Dale Jr., one of NASCAR's all-time greats in his own right, explained that he never feared or hated Daytona International Speedway, even though it's where his father lost his life.

“When he passed away, I had to make a decision,” Earnhardt Jr. told reporters. “I had a career in front of me, I was coming back multiple times and I had to figure out a way to be okay with it. I knew it wasn’t the track that took him. And I knew that wherever he is, he still felt the same about Daytona. And so, I’ve embraced it. Him losing his life in this property brought this property closer to me.

“Now that doesn’t work the same for other people in tragedy, but for me, knowing I had to keep coming here, I made some peace with it and embraced the track and love it. Add on top of that, I love the history of the sport and add on top of the fact that this is the cornerstone or foundation of the sport…I was gonna say at some point during this press conference that we should celebrate this track and this race.”

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: