Drive through the Daytona International Speedway infield, and you'll still see black No. 3 flags waving atop hundreds of campers. If not flags, then shirts. Or hats. Or golf carts. Take your pick. They're everywhere.
It's been 25 years sinceDale Earnhardtdied on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, but he's very much still alive in the world of NASCAR. That's right.Twenty-fiveyears. Hard to believe. This sport lost it's soul – it's leader – a quarter-century ago.
Some say it's never been the same. It hasn't. Some say it'llneverbe the same. It won't. Every few years, when we get to these milestones, we're reminded of Dale Earnhardt when we come back to Daytona.
This year is no different. Folks have tried to move on. Some can. Others bury it, only to be reminded of that day when the garage reopens every February in Daytona.
"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."
Bohannon, now 68 and retired, was the trauma doctor at the Speedway that afternoon. In fact, he had just been hired as the track's "Medical Director of Emergency Medical Services." He would hold that title for the next decade.
"I had just started in that position," he remembered. "And I mean, sh-t hit the fan. So yeah, I was new to that."
The former Halifax trauma specialist was working his first Daytona 500, and was stationed in Turn 2 on the final lap when Earnhardt hit the wall coming out of Turn 4. We've all seen the video by now. Some of us have seen it a hundred times. Some more.
Earnhardt was blocking as Dale Jr. and Michael Waltrip raced to the finish. Sterling Marlin got into his left-rear quarter panel, and the rest is history. Ken Schrader was the first one on the scene, immediately signaling for help.
By the time Bohannon arrived from Turn 2, it was obvious – to him – that Dale was gone.
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