Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins 2001 Talladega NASCAR Race One Year After Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s Final Victory

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Updated: 6 hours ago

Talladega, October 2001. There was a lot going on at the EA Sports 500 weekend at the Alabama track's fall race that year.

#8, Dale Earnhardt Jr./Chevrolet, owner: Teresa Earnhardt, 1st place, running, action, EA Sports 500, Talladega , October 2001. (photo by Brian Cleary/bcpix.com)

In October of 2000, Dale Earnhardt Sr. has scored the final win of his career in this race. Tragically, Sr. died on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 and NASCAR was still adjusting to life without Dale Earnhardt.

EARNHARDT NATION on Amazon

On the third lap of the 2001 Talladega NASCAR race the fans raised 3 finger skyward in waht had become a salut to the fallen hero.

3 finger Dale Earnhardt fan tribute salute, EA Sports 500, Talladega Superspeedway, October 21, 2001. (Photo by Brian Cleary/bcpix.com)

Dale Jr. raced at the front all day and eventually came home first ahead of Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton.

For a deeper look at the season that changed NASCAR forever, check out In the Red: The 2001 Season with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

While the sport missed Earnhardt terribly, NASCR had taken steps to try and prevent these types of tragedies going forward, and drivers were still getting used to the mandated restraint devices including the strap-based Hutchens device and the eventually dominant HANS device.