Back when Earnhardt fell asleep...

Don't ask me why I thought of this today, I have no idea. I'm sure everyone remembers the Southern 500 back in 1997, the race that Earnhatdr fell asleep at the wheel and smacked the turn 1 wall. Did NASCAR or the Doctors ever determine what was going on? This was a strange episode in NASCAR history. Seems Dale fell asleep twice while in the car on pit road before the race, on the pace laps didn't reply to his crews many calls to him, and took the green flag and drove straight into the first turn wall and hit the exit of turn two very hard, then drove around for two laps in a disoriented search for his pits. He had to be helped from his car and carried to a cart that then took him to the infield care center, where he was sent on to a local hopital. Last I heard the Doctors found nothing. This was just pushed aside and buried, out of sight out of mind. What happened? Share your thoughts and any info you have.

Thanks,

Bumpertag in S. Carolina

updated by @bumpertag: 12/05/16 04:02:07PM

This may have been because he had a heart arrythmia. During the autopsy, Quinidine was found in his urine. Quinidine was used for the treatment of heart arrythmias back then. It's use has since been discontinued.So, just how could a heart arrhythmia cause him to pass out? Heres an explanation:Syncope (say "SING-kuh-pee") refers to a sudden loss of consciousness that soon passes. Syncope may be the first indication that you have an arrhythmia and is a very worrisome symptom for several reasons:* Passing out can cause a serious injury. For example, passing out while climbing the stairs or while driving can cause serious harm.* If you pass out because your brain did not get enough oxygen to function, this may be a warning sign that you have a serious medical condition.An arrhythmia can cause syncope in the same way that it causes lightheadedness (presyncope)your heart cannot pump blood effectively during excessively fast (tachycardia) or slow (bradycardia) heart rates, reducing the amount of blood that reaches your brain.With syncope, though, the arrhythmia causes such a dramatic drop in the blood pressure that the brain does not receive enough blood to keep you conscious, and you lose consciousness as a result. For an arrhythmia to cause syncope, your heart rate must be extremely fast or extremely slow, or you must have some other heart condition in addition to the arrhythmia.

Wow! Sounds like I'm talking to Dr. Quincy. Thanks for the info... even though I can't say the words you listed. This makes sence, but I wonder if we will ever know the truth.

would the word--- FATIGUE--- suit the purpose? I know a person of your caliber has always gotten plenty of rest and eaten properly, but I understand there was a medical definition for what he had. It came to a head during the final results in Daytona .

then after posting this i see where someone else posted it in detail---way to go Mike Kuver, johnny mallonee said:

would the word--- FATIGUE--- suit the purpose? I know a person of your caliber has always gotten plenty of rest and eaten properly, but I understand there was a medical definition for what he had. It came to a head during the final results in Daytona .

Go to youtube.com an look for "CBS Dale Earnhardt Interview", Dale himself talks about what happened to him. This is also one of my favorite Dale Eanhardt interviews done by Ned Jarrett.Here is the link if you want to click on it..

Great interview. Thanks for sharing. terlank said:

Go to youtube.com an look for "CBS Dale Earnhardt Interview", Dale himself talks about what happened to him. This is also one of my favorite Dale Eanhardt interviews done by Ned Jarrett.

Here is the link if you want to click on it.

.

I don't think this episode had anything to do with fatigue. I'm sure there have been other drivers even more tired than Earhardt that day. I think he had something wrong with him, even he thought so. Earnhardt claimed he fells it was a chemical imbalance. All I remember was he looked like he was in bad shape riding around the track and couldn't find his pit.