For 19 years, he tried and failed. When the 20th attempt to win the Daytona 500 came by in February 1998, Dale Earnhardt Sr. was hell-bent on writing another page of history. It was the only void in his otherwise spectacular career. While he did end up in victory lane, for once, it wasn’t all him behind the wheel of the No. 3 car.
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The story of how Earnhardt won his first and only Daytona 500 begins three days before the event. On Thursday, he raced in the Daytona Duels while feeling sick and still won. A short discussion with his crew chief, Larry McReynolds, ended with them deciding to cut down on practice for him to feel better.
The decision to test the car late on Friday backfired as rain lashed out at the track. They were left with only Saturday to break the engine. When Earnhardt got inside the car on the final day of practice, he immediately knew that there was something wrong with it. He brought it back into the garage and had his crew check things out.
Whilst they popped the hood and got to work, the Intimidator slipped away to spend a few moments with his fans, who were brought to the track by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Among them was six-year-old Wessa Miller, a child born with spina bifida, a defect in which the spinal cord fails to develop properly.
Wessa was a huge fan of him and had wanted to meet him for as long as her parents could remember. Earnhardt knelt to talk to her eye-to-eye when she gave him a penny and told him that she’d rubbed it to bring him luck. She also told him that he would win the Daytona 500 the next day. Unknowingly, little Wessa had started a fire in the man’s heart.
Dale Earnhardt Sr. won the Daytona 500 with Wessa’s penny on his dash
When the meeting with Wessa was going down, McReynolds was frustrated with Earnhardt’s absence in the garage. There’d been a striking issue with the engine, and they had to decide if it ought to be replaced. Several minutes later, the driver walked down towards him. He narrates the incident, “He walked by me like I didn’t even exist.”
“I’m like, ‘What in the world is he doing?’ He’s digging through the toolbox. He’s got something in his hand. Finally, I walk over there. ‘Dude, what are you doing?’ (He said,) ‘I’ve got something I’ve got to do. Where’s the yellow glue?’” It was only then that the crew chief understood what was going on.
About that Dale Earnhardt win 25 years ago. Dale was sick for part of that week; the engine was ill, too. Wessa Miller, who gave Dale her lucky penny the day before the race, is still alive today. A strange voice on his radio during race. And the Mike Joy infamous call. https://t.co/caIfU4XgOc
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) February 17, 2023
Earnhardt stuck the penny to his dashboard using a tonne of glue and decided that they would change the engine. The following day, he led 107 laps and found his way to victory lane in the Great American Race.
He called Wessa his angel in his post-race interviews and credited her for the historic moment. He would meet her again later and shower her with gifts of gratitude.
When Wessa was born, the doctors gave her only a few years to live. But it has been 25 years since she saw her idol win the important race of his life, and she is still alive and well, residing in Kentucky.
Even though Earnhardt passed away in the 2001 Daytona 500 leaving her heartbroken, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that her lasting love for him has played a significant role in her wellbeing.
