By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM
February 11, 2005
10:59 PM EST (03:59 GMT)
While Dale Earnhardt was rolling his mangled Chevrolet toward the garage area, 25-year-old Jeff Gordon was celebrating in Victory Lane as the youngest winner of the Daytona 500. With 10 laps to go, Earnhardt and Gordon touched while racing for the lead. Earnhardt's car hit the wall, was struck by Dale Jarrett's Ford and flipped over Ernie Irvan and into the infield. Gordon went on to win the 39th Daytona 500 on Feb. 16, 1997, spearheading a 1-2-3 sweep for Hendrick.  |  | NASCAR ACCELERATION | |
| ALSO IN 1997 ... |
| • | Mister Rogers receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (Jan. 8) |
| • | O. J. Simpson is found to be civilly liable for the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Simpson is ordered to pay $35,000,000 in damages to the families of the two victims (Feb. 4) |
| • | In Roslin, Scotland, scientists announce that an adult sheep named Dolly had been successfully cloned and was born in July 1996 (Feb. 22) |
| • | Andrew Cunanan murders Jeffrey Trail, beginning a murder spree that will last until July and end with the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace (April 27) |
| • | British au pair Louise Woodward is found guilty of the baby-shaking death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen (Oct. 30) |
Courtesy: Wikipedia
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A 1997 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 two-door coupe retailed for $20,115, so Gordon could have purchased 18 Camaro Z28s with his first-place check for $377,410. On Oct. 15, Richard Noble drove Thrust SSC to a world land speed record of 763.035 mph in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. If Gordon had wanted to witness the record run, the 2,080-mile trip from Pittsboro, Ind., to Gerlach, Nev., would have taken about 35 hours in a Camaro Z28 at freeway speeds, 14 hours and two minutes in Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet -- or 2 hours and 43 minutes in Thrust SSC. It took Gordon 3 hours, 22 minutes and 18 seconds to run 500 miles at Daytona. Noble could have completed the same distance in 39 minutes and 19 seconds. Milestones were the order of the day in 1997. On Feb. 9, The Simpsons surpassed The Flintstones as the longest-running prime-time animated series. On May 25, Strom Thurmond became the longest serving member in the history of the U.S. Senate, at 41 years and 10 months. At 14 years, 10 months, Tara Lipinski became the youngest women's world figure skating champion on March 22. People's Republic of China leader Deng Xiaoping died at 92 on Feb. 19. The F.W. Woolworth Company closed on July 17 after 117 years in business. The 200-year-old warship U.S.S. Constitution set sail for the first time in 116 years on July 21. After 290 years of union with England, Scotland voted to form its own Parliament on Sept. 11. Scientists in London find DNA from a Neanderthal skeleton that supported the theory that human evolution may have begun with a single female in Africa 100,000 to 200,000 years ago. Bill Clinton started his second term as U.S. President on Jan. 20. Athens, Greece started preparations for the 2004 Summer Olympics after being picked as host city on Sept. 5. On Nov. 19, Bobbi McCaughey's septuplets began life in Carlisle, Iowa. On Jan. 3, Bryant Gumbel hosted The Today Show for the final time. On Sept. 4, the final Ford Thunderbird rolled off the assembly line in Lorain, Ohio. On Sept. 6, millions of Britons paid their respects to Diana, Princess of Wales, who died following a car accident in Paris six days earlier. Diana was buried in Althorp Park on the Spencer estate in Northamptonshire, England. In July, the body of Che Guevara was returned to Cuba for burial. In April, the remains of 24 people went sent into earth orbit on board a Pegasus rocket. In February, Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter announced a $10 billion merger. In August, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas completed their merger. In November, WorldCom and MCI announced a $37 billion merger. Morgan Stanley stock is currently valued at approximately $58 a share. Boeing stock is currently valued at approximately $53 a share. In 2002, WorldCom filed the largest bankruptcy in accounting history, admitting to fraudulently misstating $11 billion in earnings, causing its stock prices to tumble and to evaporate $175 billion in shareholder wealth. On Aug. 6, Microsoft purchased 100,000 non-voting shares of struggling Apple stock for $150 million. The deal included a five-year patent cross-license, Office '98 would be available for the Mac by the end of the year and most important, that Apple would drop its court case against Microsoft over the look and feel of the Windows operating system. → Click here for more Daytona Countdown. | 
