Neil Bonnett lost control of his Chevrolet Lumina during the first practice session for the Daytona 500, on the track's high-banked fourth turn, swerved onto the track apron, and then up the steep bank before crashing into the wall nearly head-on. Bonnett was rushed to nearby Halifax Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from massive head injuries at the age of 47.
Neil Bonnett died of multiple head injuries after his car spun out of control and slammed into a retaining wall during a practice run for the Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach. According to witnesses, Neil lost control of his car on the track's high-banked 4th turn, swerving onto the track apron and then up the steep bank before crashing into the wall nearly head on.
He was taken to Halifax Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Although oil left by another driver's blown engine was suspected as the reason for the crash, a spokesman for the Nascar racing circuit, Chip Williams, said no residue was found on the track surface - "The best we can tell, it was driver error".
That weekend another racing death occurred, as 1993 Goody's Dash (four-cylinder) champion Rodney Orr was also killed in a racing crash during the practices surrounding the first weekend. In the middle of the second Goodyear-Hoosier tire war, Hoosier withdrew from the race immediately.
Lawrence Neil Bonnett (July 30, 1946 – February 11, 1994), known professionally as Neil Bonnett, was a NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. The Alabama native currently ranks 45th in all-time NASCAR Cup victories. He appeared in the 1983 film Stroker Ace and the 1990 film Days of Thunder. Bonnett hosted the TV show Winners for TNN from 1991 to 1994. He was a color commentator for CBS, TBS, and TNN in the years until his death.
Bonnett won 18 Winston Cup races before the 1990 crash at the Darlington International Speedway in South Carolina, in which he suffered severe head injuries. He earned $3.5 million in winnings to put him at No. 25 on the career earnings list even though he never finished higher than fourth in the annual Winston Cup standing. He was a popular, aggressive driver known for his competitive charges from the start to the final flag.
Bonnett, who was born near Hueytown, a Birmingham suburb, loved racing from childhood. Starting out on local short tracks, he graduated to the Nascar circuit in 1973 under the guidance of his friend Bobby Allison and became a member of racing's celebrated Alabama Gang.
When Dale Earnhardt, Bonnett's colleague, won the 1998 Daytona 500, he dedicated the victory to a lot of people including Bonnett. Three years later Earnhardt himself died in a racing accident during the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
When Brad Keselowski scored Phoenix Racing's first Sprint Cup win 15 years later in the 2009 Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, Finch dedicated the win to Bonnett. During the 2013 season, Finch designed the No. 51 car's paint scheme in the Cup and Nationwide Series like Bonnett's 1994 Country Time Chevrolet that he drove shortly before his death.
