The 2001 Pepsi 400 Revisited

On February 18th 2001 the NASCAR world was changed forever with the death of Dale Earnhardt both the sport and its fans were aimless their hero was gone Superman had met his ultimate match and moving on was to be a nearly insurmountable task and while Steve parks Dei Chevy went on to victory lane the next week after Earnhardt's death the culture of the sport was still in immense pain only two races after that an even more important victory occurred [Music] but with all of that the sport was still in mourning of the loss of the Intimidator the struggles of day learned her junior through this first half of the season didn't help as well to wash away the pain so the first race back at Daytona was one of mixed emotions the first race back since the tragedy of Dale seniors death but also the first race for the second of NASCAR's to broadcast partners NBC NBC was pulling out all the stops for NASCAR even going so far as to promote the sport with the world's most famous pop star at the time with all the stories coming together the stage is being set for NASCAR to cash in on a weekend of these storylines great racing and the nationwide spotlight Earnhardt jr. looked to be the favored to win and by 27th lap he had passed the car his father used to drive for the lead and junior would lead and lead and lead and lead some more if someone was going to win this race they would have to find a way to beat the white eighth car with the laps closing cars began to make their final stops under green flag conditions the chaos caused by this would soon reach a breaking point [Music] [Music] with the shuffling of pit stops Junior would cycle out in seven before another quick caution though he could only make up one spot and what would turn out to be the final restart of the race little II would create one of the sport's greatest moments and one of the greatest moments in all of sports history behind Earnhardt a familiar face made his way to the rear bumper of that eight car French waltrip was the winner of the 2001 Daytona 500 creating an even more storybook ending than if Earnhardt had just won on his own together the two Dei cars held the field at bay [Music] [Applause] and the light of the over 150,000 in attendance and the millions at home watching they celebrated together [Applause] American race [Music] the grass through in victory doughnuts joining in the celebration that's took the Myers time for Dale at Richard Childress Racing to some food storybook ending [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you've learned a few things through the years though haven't you from certainty [Music] the race was a moment of healing that NASCAR Nets fans desperately needed the culture of NASCAR could move forward as for Earnhardt jr. the win propelled him to the great second half of the 2001 season he had with two more emotional victories a win at Dover a week after 9/11 as well as a victory at Talladega a year after his father 76th and final win at the same track the Daytona win also set juniors career her going forward scoring 13 wins and only three and a half seasons as well as four straight seasons of 11th or better in points as for NBC the race was a smash hit the race scored a six point one rating and a 13 share and attracted over 25 million viewers the race set a record as well as the most viewed night race in NASCAR history at the time setting NBC up with a first and very fruitful six-year relationship with NASCAR the race itself is now regarded as one of the best moments in sports history and to you I asked what do you remember of the 2001 Pepsi 400 let me know down below and until next time have a good one [Music]

Channel: The Iceberg

Views: 31,566

Rating: 4.9537368 out of 5

Keywords: 2001 Pepsi 400, NASCAR, Revisited, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Dale Earnhardt, Daytona, The Intimidator, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Britney Spears, crash, the big one, Little E, Michael Waltrip, Sport, Sports, Motorsport, Motorsports, Racing, Auto Racing, NASCAR Racing

Id: rFwtg_1Q8GI

Length: 5min 52sec (352 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 05 2019