Lightning Breaks Up Earnhardt Concert

By Stephen M. Silverman

Monday June 30, 2003 10:45 AM EDT

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Mother Nature – in the form of lightning – pulled the plug on the music midway through Saturday's all-star tribute concert to late racing legend Dale Earnhardt at the Daytona International Speedway, reports Florida TV station WESA.

A 45-minute break was required as security guards helped more than 50,000 fans evacuate for their own safety, the Associated Press also reported.

Sheryl Crow, the Goo Goo Dolls, Kenny Chesney, and Brooks and Dunn were among those on the bill, which marked the first concert ever held at the track, said the TV station.

The seven-time NASCAR champion Earnhardt was killed during a crash on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. The concert raised money for the Dale Earnhardt Legacy Foundation, founded by his widow, Teresa Earnhardt, to support the various charities Earnhardt had worked with in his lifetime.

Besides the musical acts, the seven-hour concert also reportedly featured video segments featuring the racer and remarks from Teresa, who spoke about her late husband's "relentless" style of racing.

FOX TV will broadcast the concert on July 10 at 8 p.m. ET, the network has announced.

As Dale Earnhardt Jr. told FOX Sports last week in anticipation of Saturday's event: "This concert at Daytona is going to rock. When you see this level of performers jumping on board to play, it just shows how much my dad meant to them. This is a show he would have loved."