DAYTONA BEACH, Fla — (AP) — Cease production of the penny, let collectors gobble up what's left of the 1 cent coin, and there will still be one eternally glued to Dale Earnhardt’s old Chevrolet, the luckiest piece of loose change in NASCAR history.
The penny was doomed into obscurity after President Donald Trump this week directed the Treasury Department to stop minting new ones, citing the rising cost of producing the coin.
The memories that linger of Earnhardt, 24 years after his death in the 2001 Daytona 500, and of the penny given to him by a 6-year-old girl ahead of his 1998 Daytona 500 victory, are priceless to those who were there for one of NASCAR's seminal moments.
“I know,” Earnhardt crew chief Larry McReynolds said this week, when asked if he heard of the penny’s impending demise, “the ’98 lucky penny.”
Lucky, indeed.
At that point, Earnhardt, even with his seven NASCAR championships, was a victim of bad luck, missed opportunities and close calls that stamped him 0 for 19 in NASCAR’s biggest race.
Earnhardt was NASCAR’s “Intimidator,” a nickname earned for a fierce driving style and a relentless pursuit of the checkered flag that fueled his Hall of Fame career.
Winning the Daytona 500 was the only milestone that eluded Earnhardt over the first two decades of his career.
Earnhardt had a number of fluky failures in the race. In 1997, with 10 laps to go and running near the front, he was involved in a late crash that sent his car flipping down on the backstretch. In 1993, Dale Jarrett passed him for the lead on the last lap. In 1991, he obliterated a seagull on the backstretch, damaging his radiator and forcing him to pit for repairs. In 1990, he cut a tire less than mile from the finish line, allowing Derrike Cope to steal one of his two career victories.
Earnhardt long boasted one of the best teams in NASCAR driving for team owner Richard Childress.
Who knew he needed a little girl and her penny to finally win Daytona?
Earnhardt credited 6-year-old Wessa Miller for helping him get that elusive win. He met Miller through the Make-A-Wish Foundation following the final practice for the race. Miller gave Earnhardt the penny and told him she had rubbed it and that it would bring him good luck. As she handed it to him, he said he hoped so.
Earnhardt brushed past McReynolds in the garage and started digging through his tool box and drawers looking for a weather-strip adhesive that was often used to glue lug nuts on the wheels. Earnhardt essentially traded his helmet for a hard hat and went to work sticking that penny on the dash of the No. 3.
“He had enough glue to glue a dollar’s worth of pennies on,” McReynolds said. “It was running down the sleeve of his uniform. Finally I said, 'if I help you glue this penny on the dash, can we get down to business and talk about this race car?”
Whether it was the penny, the racing Gods finally on their side, or maybe Earnhardt was just that damn good, he finally won the Daytona 500.
As Earnhardt crossed the finish line, the grandstands erupted in celebration. No one expected that emotion to carry onto pit road. As Earnhardt drove toward victory lane, crew members from nearly every team lined up to congratulate him.
Now, 27 years later, the No. 3 Chevrolet is forever frozen as it was in victory lane, confetti and all — penny glued on the dash — at the RCR Museum in Welcome, North Carolina.
“I always enjoy going in there and seeing the mural of the victory lane photo behind it,” McReynolds said.
The win was a moment in NASCAR worth every penny — especially that last one.
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