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Case file s373 · Music and sport · 2001
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2001
Dale Earnhardt: Dale Earnhardt visits Langley AFB
Dale Earnhardt. Camera Operator: TSGT JACK BRADEN, USAF. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
18 February 2001
Place
Daytona International Speedway, Florida · United States
Field
NASCAR
Legal tradition
US common law (Florida); public records law · Common law
Historical event
Last-lap crash at the 2001 Daytona 500; NASCAR safety reforms
Music and sportNowNorth AmericaUnited States

Dale Earnhardt's widow got Florida to seal his autopsy photos, and 18 states copied the law

Dale Earnhardt, seven-time NASCAR champion, died in a last-lap crash at the Daytona 500. His autopsy photographs were public records under Florida law, and newspapers sought them†. His widow, Teresa Earnhardt, filed for an injunction on 22 February 2001. She testified that the photos were "humiliating, disgusting and negative." In March 2001 the legislature passed a law requiring a judge's permission to see autopsy photos, and Governor Jeb Bush signed it with Teresa present. Volusia County Judge Joseph Will ruled the law could apply to Earnhardt retroactively. A Florida appeals court upheld it in 2002. According to NBC, 18 other states followed. Teresa also controlled Dale Earnhardt Inc. In May 2007 Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he would leave his father's company, and he raced for Hendrick Motorsports from 2008. DEI merged with Chip Ganassi's team in 2008 and stopped racing. In 2026 it is a museum and shop in Mooresville, North Carolina.

What the law took from it

A widow who inherits the company also inherits the name, and children who race under that name can find themselves working for her.

Sources
  1. NBC NewsPress
  2. rcfp.orgPress
  3. www2.ljworld.comPress
  4. Wikipedia (English)Encyclopedia

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Dale Earnhardt's widow got Florida to seal his autopsy photos, and 18 states copied the law,” story s373, https://www.celebrity.estate/dale-earnhardt-2001, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Music and sportNowNorth AmericaCommon lawUnited States