A quarter-century following his passing, Earnhardt’s influence endures at Daytona.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — He remains present.
It has been 25 years since Dale Earnhardt passed away in the final turn of the last lap of the Daytona 500. Twenty-five years since he last placed that Ironhead grip on the back of someone’s neck. Twenty-five years since the Intimidator maneuvered his black Chevy around the Daytona International Speedway in a way so extraordinary that competitors claimed he could perceive the air. Twenty-five years since the Man in Black, One Tough Customer, the mustache, the Gargoyles, and the wink.
However, as one strolls around the racetrack that was already deeply associated with him long before it became the final place he would ever breathe that air… yes, he is indeed still present. Now, a full quarter of a century later, it is becoming increasingly believable that as long as racecars navigate this venue, Dale Earnhardt will always accompany them.
“I’m not one for ghost stories. I don’t really subscribe to that kind of stuff,” stated Tom Long from Little Rock, who traveled 1,000 miles to stand exactly where he was as he spoke on Sunday, waiting for the green flag. He had his phone extended through the chain link fence attempting to capture an image of Turn 4, the location where Earnhardt met his end. “But man, I look out there and I feel like he’s out there looking back at me.”
Most individuals are likely to be forgotten. City parks are adorned with statues of once-prominent figures whose bronze representations have become mere birdhouses. Numerous names grace the entrances of various buildings, from educational institutions to government offices, where no one inside those structures is aware of their contributions or the cost of that title placement.
On the Saturday before the Daytona 500, during a random midmorning hour devoid of any significant events on the racetrack, a dozen fans gathered around the statue of Earnhardt located not far from the exit of that same fourth turn. He is captured in time, holding the Harley J. Earl Trophy, the moment he finally triumphed in NASCAR’s premier race in 1998, after two decades of near misses, many of which still feel unreal.
“We got married that same weekend,” shared Nancy Green from Orlando, standing beside her husband, dressed in a checkered flag dress and a black bow adorned with a homemade button featuring Earnhardt’s recognizable slanted No. 3. “We tied the knot on Saturday and spent the first day of our honeymoon watching Dale win that race. We met him the following year and told him. He joked that he had known we were getting married the day before, so that was his gift to us.”
Their tribute to him, as they have done every year since February 18, 2001, is to place a red rose and one of Nancy’s buttons at the base of that statue, contributing to the small mountain of mementos that accumulated throughout this race weekend.
“Now we are going inside to cheer for another Earnhardt,” the Greens added. “We heard his grandson was here.”
He was indeed. Bobby Dale Earnhardt, 38 years old and the Intimidator’s eldest grandchild. There were other more renowned Earnhardts at the racetrack over the weekend. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was present, hosting shows for his podcasting venture. He was accompanied by his sister Kelly, co-owners of the No. 40 JR Motorsports Chevy, driven by Justin Allgaier.
However, their nephew was behind the wheel of his own Chevy. A black one, featuring a white, stylized No. 89, intentionally designed to resemble his grandfather’s ride. His Rise Motorsports vehicle participated in Saturday’s ARCA Menards Series event, but instead of GM Goodwrench and Coca-Cola, it displayed sponsor stickers from Smart Grid Integrations, Mooney Excavating, Yulee BBQ Sauce, Racing with Jesus, and a collection of stickers from sponsors who joined the team through a pre-Daytona online auction. The 25th anniversary of his grandfather’s passing made the special black paint scheme feel appropriate.
Less than 3️⃣ days til Daytona!
Honored to carry the 89 while remembering the legacy of the 3. Time to get to work. 💪
Huge shoutout to @j_cal_designs for absolutely crushing this edit 🔥👏@ARCA_Racing @DAYTONA @RiseRacing89
SmartGrid Integrations Inc.
Yulee BBQ Sauce… pic.twitter.com/OIK508cHBF
— Bobby Dale Earnhardt (@BobbyEarnhardt) February 12, 2026
In his Daytona International Speedway debut, he secured a ninth-place finish.
Bobby is the eldest son of Dale’s firstborn, Kerry, and the oldest of Earnhardt’s grandchildren. For years, he navigated the lower stock car ranks attempting to build upon his family’s legacy, but raising four children and supporting a wife proved costly. After a few starts in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (formerly the Xfinity Series), he set aside his helmet and concentrated on his construction job. Last fall, his wife encouraged him that if he had an opportunity to race again, he should seize it. Especially if it meant competing at Daytona.
Kerry did not have a relationship with his father during his childhood. It wasn’t until he drove to Earnhardt’s home as a teenager that he introduced himself. When Kerry became a parent, Dale was reaching the peak of his racing career and was again often absent. However, when Bobby was 10 years old, he was riding his bike when his grandfather, mowing the adjacent field, stopped, asked to borrow his grandson’s bike, and proceeded to ride it around the yard backward.
“He told me that he had to leave to go racing, but when he returned, if I had learned to ride my bike backward all the way around our house, he’d give me $10,” Bobby recalled on Friday night. “I spent the entire weekend practicing. The next time he came by, I demonstrated it, and he paid up.”
There wasn’t much more financial support to come from the family lineage.
“Most people know me simply as Bobby and not Bobby Dale, because yes, I take pride in my last name and my family, but carrying that name also brings a lot of challenges,” Earnhardt continued. “My family hasn’t provided me with any advantages. I handle everything myself and we cover all expenses. We have to do it the blue-collar way. And I appreciate that, because that’s how my grandfather operated.”
The last time Bobby saw his grandfather was the day before Dale departed for Daytona in 2001. Bobby was 13. They went hunting together. The boy bagged his first buck. The following week, he attended his grandfather’s funeral.
“When I first hit the track, honestly, it felt great. Faster than I anticipated. When I am out there, I feel like he is out there with me.”
On Sunday, Dale Earnhardt was omnipresent. He was tattooed on the thighs of three best friends from Central Florida, all younger than the 25 years that have elapsed, but all raised on the legendary stories of the Intimidator. “We got these last year the night before the race!” one of them proudly declared as he pulled up a leg of his shorts and pointed to the words inked beneath the black outline of Earnhardt’s unmistakable likeness.
“RAISE HELL! PRAISE DALE!”
This same phrase has evolved into an internet meme, utilized by many from that generation who never witnessed Earnhardt race. Last weekend, it was prominently displayed on t-shirts and hoodies throughout the Daytona grandstand. Those same words echoed through the infield like a rough-hewn morse code, resonating from the roofs of infield RVs, by individuals standing beneath black No. 3 flags stiffened by 25 mph winds.
“All you need to know about Dale Earnhardt is that he has been gone 25 years and yet he still outsells all of us when it comes to merchandise,” remarked Ryan Blaney, chuckling, as he pointed to a cluster of those flags. The 2023 Cup Series champion was 7 years old on February 18, 2001. His father Dave finished 42nd in that race, behind the wall long before Earnhardt’s fatal crash due to a blown engine. “But the true legacy of Dale Earnhardt is what he has done for us who race today, and for everyone who has raced since that day 25 years ago.”
And what did he mean by that?
“I mean that we are still alive. Heck, we rarely even get hurt very badly.”
Indeed, that is where Dale Earnhardt continues to exist, at Daytona and wherever stock cars are raced. In the additional roll bars. In racecar crush zones and fire-resistant door foam. In reinforced belts and harnesses. And certainly in head and neck restraints.
“I think we all grew up wanting to emulate Dale, wanting to execute all of these daring moves and push our cars to the limit like he did all the time,” said fellow seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who never raced on the same track as Earnhardt but met him after relocating to North Carolina from California and staying on the couch of Earnhardt’s Truck Series ace, Ron Hornaday. “But it’s because of his death that led to all of the safety innovations that are in our cars now that we feel like we can attempt those maneuvers, and if something goes wrong, we’re likely to be okay.”
There was nothing acceptable about that day 25 years ago. There will never be anything acceptable about that day. It still stings. The pain of 2001 may not be as acute, but it is still a sting.
That is why the memories shared and stories recounted over the weekend at Daytona and in the days since — as they have for the past 25 years — have, on some level, served as a form of therapy. Group embraces by statues, “Raise Hell! Praise Dale!” chants from Winnebagos. Beer-fueled races in GM Goodwrench decal-adorned wheelbarrows. A conga line of fans pointing and clapping when they spot a homemade bar-slash-grill secured atop a tarp-covered Airstream, all in admiration of Earnhardt.
Strength in numbers. Okay, one number. The one illuminated in neon on the side of that grill. The number three.
On Lap 3 of this 25th Daytona 500 without Dale Earnhardt, a sellout crowd, nearly 200,000 individuals, stood and raised three fingers in the air in silence. Just as they did to emotionally endure those dark race days following the worst race day of them all.
“I can hardly ever do this without breaking down and crying,” admitted Van Hunter from Charlotte, N.C., standing with his family, children and grandchildren, all clad in vintage Dale Earnhardt jackets. They stood among the hundreds in the Fan Zone adjacent to the Cup Series garage. Beneath a jumbotron screen where they watched footage of the race that was unfolding through that third lap on the racetrack in the distance.
“It has been 25 years, but it still feels like he might just come walking through here, headed out to get in his racecar,” Hunter said as he kept one hand raised and the other around his granddaughter’s shoulder. “It feels like Dale is still here.”
Because he is. Now, 25 years later, it’s hard to envision that he ever will not be.
Source: espn.com
