The following is an excerpt from an exclusive Daytona Beach News-Journal story for our subscribers on the death of Dale Earnhardt ... for the 2001 Daytona 500 — Earnhardt's final race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports team found a big surprise in one of their car’s engines ... possum in the engine bay just as he said. JR Motorsports had four cars race in the Alsco ...

“If I could take my engine ... car most identified with Dale Earnhardt Sr., nicknamed the “Man in Black,” thanks to the all-black Goodwrench livery he ran from 1988 until his death in 2001.

Dale Earnhardt’s death in 2001 rocked ... and allegedly did race in NASCAR, although it was apparently never raced by Dale himself. The Goodwrench livery applied to this car is quite similar ...

ROCKINGHAM, NC - OCTOBER 23: Dale Earnhardt ... engine, 4-speed transmission, original racing components, seat and headrest. * The No. 8 Chevrolet Monte Carlo that Junior drove in the 2006 race at ...

The 2001 Daytona ... The death of Dale Earnhardt from a crash on the last lap of the race robbed a family of its patriarch and the industry of the greatest stock car star of his era.

The 2001 Daytona ... The death of Dale Earnhardt from a crash on the last lap of the race robbed a family of its patriarch and the industry of the greatest stock car star of his era.