It seems like it was only yesterday. I was six years old, watching my favorite NASCAR driver fight through the four turns that make up Daytona International Superspeedway. Dale Earnhardt could do no wrong in my mind, and I practically worshipped everything that he did. If there was a Dale Earnhardt product on the market, you could bet I had it stashed somewhere in my room. Earnhardt was my hero, but although he seemed immortal behind the wheel, I found out on February 18, 2001 that he was not.

The last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 is something I will never forget. I remember Michael Waltrip leading the pack around the 2.5 mile track, heading for his first Winston Cup victory in the biggest race of the year. I remember Dale Jr., in only his second season in the Cup Series, pushing his teammate to a win and a 1-2 finish for DEI. I remember Dale Sr. running third behind his two drivers, frantically blocking for the betterment of his guys. I also remember him making contact with the Coors Light Dodge of Sterling Marlin, which sent the famous black Chevy up the track, where he made contact with Ken Schrader’s yellow #36 M&M’s Pontiac.

The overall feeling from that day can be taken from commentator Darrell Waltrip’s words. Waltrip, in his first race with FOX as an analyst, was in the midst of watching his little brother’s biggest win and the sport of NASCAR’s greatest loss. “You got him, Mikey,” Waltrip said, furiously coaching Michael from the TV booth. “YOU GOT IT, MAN! YOU GOT IT! YOU GOT IT!YOU GOT IT! MIKEY!” Waltrip exclaimed as the #15 took the checkered flag, understandably overcome by the emotion of seeing “little brother” break a 462 winless streak. Still high on his brother’s win, Darrell looked back at Turn 4, where Schrader and Earnhardt’s cars rested. “I just hope Dale’s OK…” Waltrip solemnly said, choking back tears.

As the whole world soon found out, Dale Earnhardt was not OK. FOX showed an ambulance taking Earnhardt to a nearby hospital, a clear sign that something was definitely wrong. Later that night, NASCAR president Mike Helton made the announcement that has haunted Dale Earnhardt’s fans for exactly ten years now. “This is undoubtedly one of the toughest announcements that I’ve ever personally had to make,” Helton said, “but after the accident in Turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500, we’ve lost Dale Earnhardt.”

Earnhardt’s death was a hard one for his loyal fans to come to terms with, it happened so fast that it seemed to many as if he was contending for another 500 victory one moment and was being laid to rest the next. The state of NASCAR was immediately put to the test. How does a sport replace a legend, an American icon, its leading figure, The Intimidator? The answer was quite simple: it couldn’t.

Although Earnhardt has been gone ten years now, his presence is still felt throughout the NASCAR community. Earnhardt gear is still among the best-selling every year, and even though a new generation of drivers has stepped up and taken the reins from when Earnhardt last held them, they all know the stories of The Intimidator and how great a driver he truly was. The sport has changed a lot since 2001, and while the leaders of the sport claim that changes will make NASCAR even better, it’s still clear that it is still reeling from that infamous February accident. Earnhardt was man that was a hero, a villain, gutsy, crazy, smooth, and hard-headed all at the same time; he compelled you to watch every Sunday. Not one driver has been able to successfully duplicate this feat in the time since his passing.

The night Dale Earnhardt died was one of the worst days of my life. I stayed up all night crying, mourning for a man that I personally did not know but loved with everything I had. Looking back on his death now, it’s clear that it was fate; Earnhardt was meant to go out in that beautiful black Chevy. How could he leave this world another way, from a heart attack or cancer or some other constant killer? The answer is he couldn’t. There was no other option. This was The Intimidator, and a man like Dale Earnhardt could only go out one way: with guns blazing.