This Sunday will mark 25 years since NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt tragically lost his life on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
Earnhardt was running in third in the race behind his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Michael Waltrip (all of whom raced for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated) as the proud father and team owner tried to secure a 1-2-3 finish.
However, Earnhardt went loose on his left rear tire after being clipped by driver Sterling Marlin and was spun up straight into the wall off Turn 4.
The impact was enough to kill him instantly, marking the death of the 49-year-old legend of the sport.
In an interview with OutKick, the doctor who responded to the wreck revealed what he saw when he first reached Earnhardt at the bottom of the race track.
‘It’s a terrible thing to see somebody die,’ said Dr. Steve Bohannon. ‘I was just focused on taking care of my patient, it didn’t matter who they were. We went into the trauma bay, and, you know, I knew he wasn’t going to make it back.’
The doctor who responded to Dale Earnhardt’s fatal wreck is reliving the tragedy 25 years later
Earnhardt’s crash in the 2001 Daytona 500 was the last time a driver died on-track
Dr Steve Bohannon (right) opened up about that fateful day in February of 2001
Bohannon had just been hired as the ‘Medical Director of Emergency Medical Services’ at Daytona International Speedway – a position he would hold for a decade.
‘I had just started in that position,’ recalled the now-retired 68-year-old medical professional.
‘And I mean, s**t hit the fan. So yeah, I was new to that.’
Bohannon was raced over from his position on Turn 2 and new almost instantly that Earnhardt had passed.
‘I think everybody knew at the scene,’ he said. ‘Everybody knew that he had passed away at impact. I knew all the medics, and they shook their heads when they saw me walk up.
‘I went in and checked his pulse, and saw the blood coming from the ears and from the airway, and knew it was a basal skull fracture and that he had no sense of life.’
He added, ‘When the car stops, the body keeps moving. And when your body quits moving, your brain keeps moving and decelerates inside your skull, and the forces are tremendous.’
Bohannon said doctors still ‘gave him the benefit’ and attempted to bring him back to life. Earnhardt was loaded into an ambulance and rushed to Halifax Health Medical Center.
He claims that doctors at the hospital ‘worked on him for at least 30 minutes’ before pronouncing him dead.
Bohannon revealed that Dale’s wife, Teresa, was in the room when he was pronounced dead
Then, NASCAR president Mike Helton announced to the world the tragedy of his death
Dale’s wife, Teresa Earnhardt, was let into the trauma room after previously being held back by security.
‘She just let us do our jobs, and watched,’ Bohannon recalled. ‘I felt like it was important – I’ve always felt like it was important – for the family to see that everything is being done for their loved one.’
After pronouncing him dead, Bohannon informed NASCAR president Mike Helton of the tragedy – leaving it up to him to announce to the world, ‘We’ve lost Dale Earnhardt.’
In the aftermath of the wreck, NASCAR implemented multiple safety precautions. This included the mandating of HANS devices in cars to protect the heads and necks of drivers.
Tracks around the country also installed so-called SAFER Barriers to lessen the impact of crashes.
The impact has resulted in NASCAR being free from the death of a driver in the Cup Series’ since Earnhardt’s tragic passing.
