The 44th (2002) Daytona 500

On Feb. 17, 2002, the sun rose over the Daytona International Speedway in anticipation of the 44th Daytona 500, a race with no shortage of storylines.

It marked the first running of the Great American Race since the untimely death of Dale Earnhardt, on the final lap of last year’s Daytona 500. On Feb. 7, officials at Daytona unveiled a statue of Earnhardt outside the racetrack, a tribute to the late seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion.

Fittingly, throughout Speedweeks, the fleet of Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolets emerged as Daytona 500 favorites. Reigning 500 champion Michael Waltrip piloted his No. 15 NAPA Chevrolet to a victory in the second of two 125-mile Duels to secure the fourth spot on the starting grid. Meanwhile, Earnhardt’s son, 27-year-old Dale Earnhardt, Jr., threw his hat in the ring with a runner-up showing in the first dual race and a victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race the day before the 500.

In addition to DEI, another name floated around the garage area as a chief contender for the Harley J. Earl Trophy: Tony Stewart. So far in Speedweeks, Stewart’s orange No. 20 Home Depot/Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac had been a fixture at the front of the field. Stewart took the checkered flag in the Bud Shootout exhibition and then backed that up with a second place showing in the second Daytona duel, setting him up on outside of the third row beside Earnhardt.

The field would be led to green by a duo of young Californians, each running in their first Great American Race. Jimmie Johnson, a 26-year-old rookie out of El Cajon, Calif., earned his first career pole in just his fourth career start, turning a lap at 185.831 mph in his No. 48 Lowe’s/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. To Johnson’s outside, Kevin Harvick, the pride of Bakersfield, Calif., would begin his first Daytona 500 from the outside pole after replacing Earnhardt Sr. following the previous year’s tragedy.

The 43-driver field also included Shawna Robinson, who became just the second woman to compete in the Daytona 500, joining Janet Guthrie, who last raced in the 500 in 1980.

A packed house of over 170,000 fans watched the field take the green flag at Daytona, and it did not take long for one of the race favorites to find trouble. On lap 3, as the NBC broadcast went silent to honor Earnhardt Sr. and those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Stewart slowed on the…