Motor racing is a dangerous sport. In fact, spectacular crashes are part of what makes watching a race so exciting. Modern technology, though, has reduced the danger to drivers. Helmets, firesuits, head restraints, even the webbing inside the door are all designed to make sure that a driver can flip a car seven times end over end and walk away.

It has not always been that easy. The most recent high-profile fatality in the sport was Dale Earnhart, Sr, known as the Intimidator and notorious for his black car carrying the No. 3, a number he used for most of his career. One of the most competent and popular drivers in the sport, Earnhardt was killed in a multi-car accident at the sport’s biggest race, the Daytona 500, in the year 2001. The wreck was witnessed by hundreds of thousands of fans. The number 3 has been unofficially retired from the Sprint Cup since, with Richard Childress Racing continuing to pay the lease fee (although it has been used in the truck and Nationwide series, the latter by Earnhardt’s son, Dale Jr.).

Before this, though, a number of top drivers died on the track. Rising star Adam Petty, son of Kyle Petty, died during practice in New Hampshire. Likable Iowa driver ‘Tiny’ Lund was killed on August 10, 1975 and, like Earnhardt, was posthumously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Back in the 1950s and 1960s Glenn “Fireball” Roberts was the Earnhardt of his time. He was voted NASCAR’s most popular driver in the 1957 season. In the 1964 race at Charlotte, Roberts spun trying to avoid another crash and his car burst into flames. He died of his injuries six weeks later. It was this crash that led to NASCAR requiring firesuits.

Every single high profile crash has resulted in a safety improvement. And it is to the credit of everyone in the sport that the loss of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. remains the most recent fatality in any of the top three NASCAR series. May it remain so for many years to come.