Dale Earnhardt's 1997 Daytona 500 Crash Car Hood To Be Sold

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GoMotorBids
August 18, 2008

NASCAR collector Charles Ross has decided to part with his incredible collection of racing memorabilia, and in this video he talks about one of the items being sold. This could potentially be the ...

NASCAR collector Charles Ross has decided to part with his incredible collection of racing memorabilia, and in this video he talks about one of the items being sold.

This could potentially be the "Holy Grail" of all Dale Earnhardt collectibles. This is the ACTUAL hood from Earnhardt's 1997 Daytona 500 "Crash Car" Monte Carlo, which has been PERSONALLY AUTOGRAPHED by Richard Childress and (then) crew chief Larry McReynolds.

The story of Earnhardt's 1997 Daytona "Crash Car" is one that truly personifies who Earnhardt was as a person and a racer: tough and determined. He never gave up - no matter how much the deck was stacked against him.

After running with the leaders the entire race, Earnhardt had maneuvered his way into second place with only ten laps to go. He was racing hard with Jeff Gordon down the back straightaway when Gordon made a move to pass, taking the air off Earnhardt's spoiler. As he did so, Earnhardt got loose and slightly touched the wall. He quickly tried to recover, but Dale Jarrett had run up on him quickly, leaving no downforce on the #3 Monte Carlo's rear end (a slight tap may have been involved), and Earnhardt went into a slide.

At almost 200 mph the car flipped onto its roof and skidded down the track. Amazingly, after contact with another car then the outside wall, the car somehow wound up on its wheels and slid into the infield. Earnhardt was being escorted to the ambulance when he realized that the car could be restarted.

"I looked back over and said, 'Man, the wheels ain't knocked off the car yet,'" Earnhardt said. "So I went back over and told the guy in the car to fire it up. He hit the switch and it fired. I said, 'Give me my car back!'"

With hundreds of thousands of fans going wild, The Intimidator refused medical attention, climbed back into his wounded race car and went on to finish the race five laps down in 31st place.

This hood was displayed at Richard Childress Racing (RCR) before being purchased by private collector Charles Ross. It includes a Certificate of Authenticity from RCR. You've seen the replay of the Crash Car many times on highlight reels and tribute films and now you have the once-in-a-lifetime chance to add a piece of this car, one of Earnhardt's most legendary machines, to your own collection!

Ross has partnered with the well-known automobilia auction website GoMotorBids.com to sell his massive array of memorabilia and Diecast collectibles. You can get more information about this item (plus thousands more) by visiting GoMotorBids.com.

Category: Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

Dale Earnhardt NASCAR Racing Auction Daytona Crash Collectibles Autographed Gomotorbids Russ Dickey

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cnycarnut (3 months ago) Show Hide

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wow i remember watching in awe when he got back in that car! thank you som much for kepping earnhardt souvenirs and memorabilia open to the public!

MonsterDGAF (5 months ago) Show Hide

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How much did it go for?

GoMotorBids (5 months ago) Show Hide

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$8500 to a private collector, who will probably let the upcoming NASCAR Hall of Fame display it for awhile.

GoMotorBids (8 months ago) Show Hide

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ChristinaC19: The hood was only slightly bent up, and when Earnhardt pulled into the pits, the crew beat it back into shape (somewhat) with a mallet. You can't really see the dents in the hood in the video - but they were there. If you do a search on YouTube, you can see video clips of the actual crash, and you'll see that the hood itself wasn't all that mangled. The roof and rear decklid took the brunt of it.

ChristinaC19 (1 year ago) Show Hide

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how is that possible??? the hood was mangled

alljackedup408 (1 year ago) Show Hide

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If i had the money.. it would be mine

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Dale Earnhardt's 1997 Daytona 500 Crash Car Hood To Be Sold

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