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Dale Earnhardt Research Paper

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Earnhardt met his untimely demise during the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Earnhardt died Sunday February 18, 2001. He was involved in a three car accident on the final lap of the Daytona 500. Earnhardt was in third, he was behind two cars from his own Dale Earnhardt Incorporated team, and Michael Waltrip was in first followed by Earnhardt’s son Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt was slightly ahead of Sterling Marlin’s Dodge on the bottom of the high-banked fourth turn. Running three-wide behind the leaders heading into turn four on the last lap Earnhardt collided with Ken Schrader after he had made a little contact with Sterling Marlin. He spun out and Earnhardt hit the wall at 75-degree angle at about 150 mph and both cars slid down the …show more content…

We’ve lost Dale Earnhardt” (Brinster). Dale passed away at 49 years old. “Dale Earnhardt’s signature black #3 Chevrolet, his identifiable “gets to the front” racing style, and his larger-than-life persona have been forever cemented in racing history” (Dale Earnhardt Bio).On February 19th they performed an autopsy. The results explained that he died due to blunt force trauma to his head, also a fatal “basilar skull fracture”. Basilar skull fracture is not just a fracture at the base of the skull. It involves the cracking of a small circular bone about the size of a quarter, the foramen magnum, at the bottom rear of the skull, where the bone and cartilage are weakest. The hole in the doughnut-shaped foramen magnum is a critical passageway. Through it run the two interior carotid arteries, which branch off from the exterior carotids in the neck. Part of the brainstem also passes through that hole. Cracking of the little bone can cut the interior carotid arteries, and the sufferer can bleed to death in a matter of seconds. There also can be damage to the areas of the brainstem that control breathing and heart rate (Hill). Earnhardt has also broken eight ribs on his left side from coming in contact with the steering wheel. On February 22nd the public funeral services were held at the Calvary Church in Charlotte, North

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