15 years ago: 'After the accident in turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500, we’ve lost Dale Earnhardt'

Dale Earnhardt all smiles after winning the 1998 Daytona 500 / Headline Surfer®

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It was 15 years ago that NASCAR executive Mike Helton, a lumbering, but stoic man delivered the news in a hushed tone that made racing fans burst into tears around the world hours after a crash that at first seemed surviveable: "This is undoubtedly one of the toughest announcements that I’ve ever personally had to make, but after the accident in turn four at the end of the Daytona 500, we’ve lost Dale Earnhardt."      

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It was 15 years ago that NASCAR executive Mike Helton, a lumbering, but stoic man delivered the news in a hushed tone that made racing fans burst into tears around the world hours after a crash that at first seemed surviveable: "This is undoubtedly one of the toughest announcements that I’ve ever personally had to make, but after the accident in turn four at the end of the Daytona 500, we’ve lost Dale Earnhardt."