ICYMI: How Dale Earnhardt’s Death Changed NASCAR Forever (Re-Air)

Twenty years ago, when Earnhardt died in an accident on the final lap of Daytona in 2001, the tragedy prompted a change in NASCAR that many thought was long overdue. The sport took up safety standards and equipment designed to prevent the type of injury that killed Earnhardt. There may not be a bigger example of how far the sport has come than 2020’s Daytona 500, when Ryan Newman’s car flipped and landed upside down in a fiery collision during the final lap. Many first believed that Newman had died, but he walked out of the hospital two days later, largely due to the additional safety measures put in place in the wake of Earnhardt’s death. ESPN’s Ryan McGee shares how Earnhardt’s death changed NASCAR forever, also told in the ESPN film “Intimidator.”