From the archives: Dale Earnhardt’s fatal crash at Daytona

From the archives is a new segment on 'The Seven' newscast, featuring stories and perspectives from WOOD TV8's expansive tape archives. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Feb. 18, 2001 is a day many in West Michigan still remember painfully well. It was the day NASCAR lost Dale Earnhardt, Sr. in a final-lap crash at the end of the 2001 Daytona 500. News 8 was at the track, covering the race when the tragedy unfolded. Atop Dale's pit box that day was his crew chief, Portage native Kevin Hamlin. The two's relationship was one Dale praised in an interview with News 8 just two years prior. "The way he carries himself, the way he talks, the way he thinks, sort of think the same way," Earnhardt said in 1999. "We work real well together." News 8 was one of the last crews to capture footage of Earnhardt on pit road that February day before he climbed in his car before the race. It was in the Daytona International Speedway media center that NASCAR president Mike Helton delivered the infamous announcement. "This is undoubtedly one of the toughest announcements that I’ve ever personally had to make. But after the incident in turn 4 on the final lap of the Daytona 500, we’ve lost Dale Earnhardt." Fans in West Michigan and around the world were left stunned. "It’s just kind of a quiet, quiet somber mood," said Dick Mohr, a West Michigan native who was interviewed the day after Earnhardt's death at the makeshift memorial outside the track. In the days following, News 8 spoke with other West Michigan fans who were left mourning his loss. "He’s on your TV every weekend. You see this guy. He’s there, you pull for him. He’s your buddy. And now he’s gone," one Grand Rapids fan said. "When a legend in your sport passes away on the track doing something that he loves, it affects every fan, whether you loved the guy or didn’t, it affects you," said another.