NASCAR Daytona 500: When Dale Earnhardt's zeal to win saw him 'live on top of a trailer'

"The Intimidator," as he is fondly remembered by fans of the sport, as well as the average Joe, Dale Earnhardt, in some ways, was to NASCAR what the moon landing was for NASA.

The late NASCAR Cup Series champion, known for his unashamed style of racing, was one of the biggest catalysts responsible for turning an entire generation into fans of racing.

As the sport heads to Daytona International Speedway in 2023, the tri-oval has bittersweet memories for any Earnhardt fan, including his family. The Daytona Beach, Florida track is where the former Richard Childress Racing driver lost his life. However, he did seem to go away after conquering the beast that was the Daytona 500.

During the a majority of his career, Dale Earnhardt missed out on a victory at the famed Daytona 500, despite winning races and championships all over the place.

As elaborated by Danny Myers, Earnhardt's fuelman at the time, not winning the Daytona 500 did not seem to affect the team a whole lot:

“We were in the racing business, we won a lot of races, we lost a lot of races. We had done everything you could possibly do at Daytona except win the Daytona 500."

"I think that would have been very, very disappointing if we hadn’t had all the success we had. Our group was pretty damn tough when it came to losing. We acted like it didn’t bother us, that we’d get them next year."

However, Myers further elaborated on how Dale Earnhardt, as much as he was a tough guy on the outside, wanted more than anything to with the elusive 500-mile-long race.

The 1998 run of the prestigious event finally saw Earnhardt visit victory lane, with Myers speaking on what that meant for the team back then:

"Not winning the 500 wasn’t that big a deal until we did win it. Then you realize how big a deal it is.”

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Dale Earnhardt was secretly obsessed with the Daytona 500

President of Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the time, Don Hawk looks back on how the Kannapolis, North Carolina-native was obsessed with every detail of his Daytona 500-running cars ahead of every years appearance in the iconic race. He elaborated on Earhardt's passion, and said:

“He had a keen interest in his car leading up to SpeedWeeks. He was very visible in the garage at Daytona. He was always looking at the angles on his car. He was looking at what we might be missing."

"He stood on the top of the hauler and watched other people practice. He used to live up on top of that trailer.”

Remembering the legend of the sport from the days gone by, NASCAR will be going live from Daytona International Speedway once again this year for the 65th Daytona 500.