List of Daytona International Speedway fatalities

The Daytona International Speedway has had 36 on-track fatalities since its opening in 1959: 22 car drivers, nine motorcyclists, three go-kart drivers, one powerboat racer, and one track worker. The most notable is probably that of Dale Earnhardt, who died in a crash on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 on February 18, 2001.

Name	Date of accident	Event	Course of events	References
Marshall Teague	February 11, 1959	USAC-supervised test	Teague conducted test runs preparing for a speed-record attempt in a Sumar Special, a reconfigured Indycar with a canopy and streamlined fenders; when he entered the west turn, the high-speed aerodynamic lift caused his racer to spin and flip end-over-end, throwing Teague, still strapped to his seat, from the car and killing him instantly.
George Amick	April 4, 1959	USAC Daytona 100 Champ Car race	Exiting the west turn, Amick smashed into the outer guard rail on the backstretch straightaway, overturned, and traveled upside down before coming to a standstill in the infield. He died instantly.
Byrne E. Taylor	June 14, 1959	APBA Southeastern outboard race in Lake Lloyd	Approaching the west turn, Taylor's C racing runabout spun, flipped and ejected him into the water where he was hit by an onrushing competitor. The 53-year-old physician was pronounced dead of a broken neck on arrival at Halifax Hospital.
Martin Every	June 18, 1960	Private engineering test	Leaving the east turn, Every lost control of his Rambler, apparently due to a blown tire, and overturned. The 23-year-old amateur driver died about an hour later at Halifax Hospital.
Harold "Habe" Haberling	February 21, 1961	Practice for Modified Sportsman 250-mile race	Having entered the east turn, Haberling's Chevrolet spun sideways, veered down the banking, and ran it up again before rolling over several times and coming to a stop near the infield grass. The 33-year-old driver died instantly.
Billy Wade	January 5, 1965	Goodyear tire test	Wade was approaching the west turn when his Mercury blew a tire. After ramming and sliding along the outer retaining wall, the car skidded down to the apron, ran up the turn, crashed into the wall sideways and jerked to a halt. Wade was pronounced dead on arrival at Halifax Hospital from internal and head injuries.
Don MacTavish	February 22, 1969	Daytona Permatex 300 race	Coming out of the east turn, MacTavish hit an opening in the outside wall covered by metal guard rail, shearing off the front of his Mercury Comet, which was then struck by Sam Sommers. MacTavish died instantly.
Wayne Harris Bartz	March 12, 1969	Lightweight motorcycle race	Riding a Suzuki in a novice race, Bartz crashed into two downed bikes on the east turn. He was flung through the air and slammed on the ground. The 30-year-old motorcyclist died of massive injuries a short time later in the speedway hospital.
Talmadge "Tab" Prince	February 19, 1970	125 Mile Qualifying Race	A blown engine caused Prince's Dodge Charger Daytona to slide sideways as it was going into the west turn where it was t-boned by Bill Seifert. Prince died of a broken back and compressed spinal cord.
Joe "Rusty" Bradley	March 14, 1971	Daytona 200 race	Bradley lost control of his Kawasaki in turn one of the road course, his helmeted head hitting the track. The 21-year-old college student died of skull injuries in Halifax Hospital several hours later.
David Pearl	July 31, 1971	Central Florida SCCA meet — Paul Whiteman Trophy Race	Coming to a halt in the center of the track after spinning out, Pearl's Brabham BT29 was broadsided by Milo Vega on the west infield turn of the road course. The 30-year-old university graduate was dead on arrival at the track hospital, having suffered a broken neck and fractured skull.
Friday Hassler	February 17, 1972	125 Mile Qualifying Race	Hassler was involved in a multi-car pileup on the backstretch. His Chevrolet hit a wall, spun, and was struck by Jimmy Crawford, Hassler being knocked back into the wall. He instantly died of neck and head injuries.
Don Williams	February 17, 1979	Sportsman 300 race	Coming out of Turn Two, Williams, who was driving a Chevrolet Chevelle, was involved in a multi-car pileup, incurring permanent brain damage, which left him in a semicomatose state until his death on May 21, 1989.
Ricky Knotts	February 14, 1980	125 Mile Qualifying Race	Going into Turn One, Knotts, driving an Oldsmobile, made contact with Slick Johnson, crashed into the outside wall, collided with Blackie Wangerin, and skidded across the track and the infield grass before slamming into a concrete wall passengerside. Massive head injuries killed him instantly.
Bruce Jacobi	February 17, 1983	UNO Twin 125 Qualifying Race	Caught by a gusty headwind exiting Turn 2, Jacobi drifted towards the wet infield grass where his Pontiac became airborne and somersaulted until its remains came to a stop near a dirt bank. Jacobi suffered head injuries and remained semicomatose until his death on February 4, 1987.
Francis Affleck	February 7, 1985	Daytona ARCA 200 practice	Entering the backstretch, Affleck's Ford started to spin and flipped several times. Due to a failure of the window net, he was partially ejected, sustaining head and neck injuries. He was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center shortly after the crash.
Charles Ogle	December 15, 1985	Charlotte/Daytona Dash Series test	A tire failure led to Ogle's Pontiac Sunbird digging into the infield grass near the bus stop chicane and becoming airborne. The car landed on its roof and only stopped sliding near an infield embankment. The 44-year-old physician succumbed to his head injuries eleven days later at Halifax Medical Center.
Joe Young	February 13, 1987	Charlotte/Daytona Dash Series Komfort Koach 200 race	Involved in a multi-car pileup, Young's Chevrolet Cavalier was slowly sliding backwards between Turns 3 and 4 when hit almost head-on by Duell Sturgill with the impact ripping apart the front end of Young's car. The 38-year-old auto mechanic instantly died of multiple internal injuries.
James Kolman	December 27, 1987	WKA Enduro World Championships practice	About to enter the infield section of the road course, Kolman, driving a Yamaha kart in the S Lite Class, left the course and hit a barrier. A short time later, the 25-year-old computer employee was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center.
Randy Glenn	February 27, 1988	Championship Cup Series practice	Exiting the infield section of the road course, Glenn was killed in a crash with his Kawasaki EX500. The 38-year-old hobby motorcyclist was pronounced dead of massive head injuries at the infield care center.
Dale Robertson	December 27, 1989	WKA Enduro World Championships race	Starting in the Sprint Sit-Up class, Robertson and several other drivers were involved in a crash. The 26-year-old racer died of massive head and chest injuries.
Julius "Slick" Johnson	February 11, 1990	Daytona ARCA 200 race	Johnson's Pontiac Grand Prix was sliding sideways between Turns 3 and 4 when it made contact with David Simko's car just before hitting the outside wall, rebounding into the path of a spinning second car and being broadsided by a third one near the infield. Johnson sustained a basal skull fracture, a crushed chest, and other internal injuries. He died at Halifax Medical Center three days later.
Joe Booher	February 12, 1993	Goody's Dash Series Florida 200 race	Entering Turn One, the right rear of Booher's Chevrolet Beretta clipped the left front of Carl Horton's car, which sent Booher head-on into the outside wall. Coming down across the track, he was struck in the right front by Rodney White. The 51-year-old owner of a truck farming business was pronounced dead of massive head and internal injuries at Halifax Medical Center.
James Adamo	March 7, 1993	Daytona 200 race	Exiting the infield course, Adamo's Ducati 888 went straight into a stack of hay bales before striking a retaining wall and guardrail. The crash was caused by front brake failure. The 36-year-old motorcycle parts shop owner instantly died of massive head injuries.
Neil Bonnett	February 11, 1994	Daytona 500 practice	Bonnett's Chevrolet Lumina swerved when coming off Turn 4, slid onto the apron, went up the banking, and crashed into the wall nearly head-on. Bonnett was pronounced dead of massive head injuries at Halifax Medical Center a little later.
Rodney Orr	February 14, 1994	Daytona 500 practice	Entering Turn 2, Orr's Ford Thunderbird spun onto the apron, went up the banking, flipped over, and hit the wall roof-first. The crash, in which Orr was killed instantly, was triggered by a broken mounting stud, a part that holds the shock absorber to the car.
Michael Himes	January 31, 1997	Two-Hour IMSA Endurance Championship race	Having entered the bus stop chicane, Himes's Honda Civic del Sol SI, instead of turning right, hit a tire wall head-on. The 42-year-old driver, who had retired from working in the computer chip manufacturing industry, was pronounced dead of severe trauma at Halifax Medical Center several hours after the crash.
Roger Reiman	March 4, 1997	BMW Battle of the Legends practice	A collision involving several motorcycles caused Reiman to be thrown from his bike on the infield part of the road course. The 58-year-old Harley-Davidson dealer was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center.
Chris Tatro	March 2, 2000	CCS practice	Riding a 600cc Kawasaki, the 22-year-old amateur rider crashed into the outside retaining wall on the high bank off turn four. A short time later, he died of head injuries and multiple trauma at Halifax Medical Center.
Dale Earnhardt	February 18, 2001	Daytona 500 race	Going into the final turn, the rear of Earnhardt's Chevrolet Monte Carlo made contact with Sterling Marlin's front bumper, which caused Earnhardt to briefly slide towards the apron before shooting up the banking. His car was hit passengerside by an oncoming Ken Schrader so that the two cars were deflected towards the outside wall, which Earnhardt hit at a sharp angle. Their cars slid down the track, coming to a halt on the infield grass. Earnhardt died instantly, but wasn't pronounced dead until his arrival at Halifax Medical Center, killed by a basilar skull fracture.
Dirk Piz	March 11, 2001	AMA Buell Pro Thunder race	Entering the bus stop chicane, Piz's Ducati 748 collided with Kiyoshige Watanabe's crashed bike, was lifted up, and sent Piz into the tire barrier to his right. The 45-year-old privateer was pronounced dead of internal injuries at Halifax Medical Center.
Stuart Stratton	October 19, 2001	CCS GTO race	Practicing a start on his Yamaha YZF-R6 on pit road, Stratton hit and hurt an official, and veered into the wall. The 35-year-old rider was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center.
Michael Davis Jr.	December 30, 2001	WKA Dunlop Tire National Road Race Series race	The 17-year-old go-kart racer was either killed by suddenly veering sideways and hitting a wall on the infield road course or by being bumped from behind and thrown from his Yamaha Sportsman Lite vehicle in Turn 4.
Bryan Cassell Jr.	October 18, 2003	CCS/FUSA Fall Cycle Scene practice	Slowing down at the exit of Turn Four, Cassell's Lightweight/ThunderBike Ducati was rammed and run over by Jeff Tatham, who couldn't evade him. The 28-year-old rookie was pronounced dead at Halifax Medical Center.
Roy H. Weaver III	February 8, 2004	IPOWER Dash 150 race	Weaver was picking up debris on Turn 2 during a caution period when he was struck by Ray Paprota’s Pontiac Sunfire. Once Paprota spotted the track worker, he hit his brakes, but went into a lateral slide and caught Weaver with the rear of the passenger side. The 44-year-old supervisor of track crews was killed instantly. His death was ruled an accident by the Daytona Beach Police Department.
Robert Boswell	February 3, 2008	Richard Petty Driving Experience	Boswell, slumped over the steering wheel and driving erratically, skidded down the Turn 2 embankment and hit a retaining wall. A medical examiner found that the 60-year-old man had suffered a heart attack.

External links

• In memoriam at The Florida Times-Union's website
• Auto-racing Fatalities list at USA Today's website