Driver: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Car: No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Impala

Track: Daytona International Speedway (Feb. 13, 2010)

Bio: Dale Earnhardt Jr. racing at Daytona is like having Secretariat in the starting gate at Churchill Downs: you know it’s going to end well nine times out of 10. Unfortunately, the Drive4COPD 300 that opened the 2010 NASCAR Xfinity Series season was the outlier.

Racing near the front of the pack on lap 92, Earnhardt Jr. was in the low line heading into Turn 3 when Carl Edwards’ car darted to the left as Brad Keselowski’s darted to the right. Edwards, running directly behind Earnhardt Jr., seemed to be switching lanes at the time and turned Keselowski directly into the right rear fender of the No. 88. The impact button-hooked Earnhardt Jr.’s car head-on into the wall at speed and sent him pirouetting on his roof and side with the whole field buzzing around him.

The impact shattered the front end of the Hellmann’s Chevy and didn’t do much good for the other bodywork either. After coming back onto all four tires, Earnhardt Jr. slid off the track and into the infield, where he came to rest near the inside barriers.

The window net came down quickly, and he emerged unscathed but sore over an opportunity lost. He had been the leader on the restart just one lap before and was running in the top three with Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick. The contact behind him triggered the wild ride that swept up Harvick, Brendan Gaughan, Kyle Busch (who hit Earnhardt Jr.’s car while it was in the air) and others. It was the second 10-car crash of the race, which was eventually won by Stewart.

“I got turned in the right rear quarter panel,” Earnhardt Jr. said upon exiting his battered machine. “I got hooked and my car turned to the right and it just dug in and rolled it right over.”

Eventually, like all good old cars, it rolled over to Dirty Mo Acres and took up station in the woods near some of its sisters. It sits there, missing a lot of its front sheet metal, probably regretting that opportunity lost at Daytona.

Don't miss Dale Jr. back in the No. 88 Hellmann's Chevrolet on Friday night at Richmond Raceway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff opener on NBCSN at 7:30 p.m. ET.