ALAN KULWICKI
Joe Weatherly died at Riverside Track in California defending his championship during a race. Alan Kulwicki died in a plane crash during his defense of the Cup championship.
The NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson is not dead. He races in the number 48 car in the NASCAR races.
Dale Earnhardt is a NASCAR driver. he died in 2001. :-(
Jerry Smith of the Washington Redskins from the 60's and 70's. Died of AIDS in 1986.
Nascar driver Wendell Scott died of spinal cancer on December 23, 1990.
Alan Kulwicki died in an airplane crash on April 1, 1993.
Bobby Allison
Yes. Lee Petty died on April 5, 2000, he was 86 years old.
I'm not sure, since this question can not be answered, since the first Nascar race featured multiple drivers. Red Byron was Nascar's first champion. Some people may say Lloyd Seay was the first Nascar driver, but he died two years earlier, before the birth of Nascar at Daytona.
Three Spartans died defending the pass of Thermopylae
You could be talking about Rob Moroso. Tammy Williams died in the accident as well, but she was not his girlfriend. She was the driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident.
A stock car driver. NASCAR Winston Cup circuit. Nickname, the Intimidator. Car number 3. Died in a wreck at the Daytona 500 in 2001.