Dale Earnhardt Jr. refuses to let the worst memory of his life define his thoughts on the Daytona 500. The name Earnhardt is, of course, synonymous with NASCAR's biggest race. Sunday marks the 20th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s lone win at Daytona in 1998. It almost marks 17th year since the final-lap crash in 2001 that took Earnhardt Sr.'s life while Junior finished second in a sprint to the finish.

Inevitably, Dale Earnhardt Jr., the starter for Sunday's race, was asked about his father's legacy and his feelings on the Daytona 500 -- a race he won in 2004 and 2014 -- on Sunday at a pre-race press conference. Junior said he's "made peace" with what happened on that day in 2001. Here's the full transcript, via For the Win: 

"When he passed away here, I had two choices: I could hate this place for it, or it could become even more special to me and I could become even more connected to it because of that circumstance. So I chose to embrace the track more. I knew how special this place was to my dad, so it's more meaningful to me personally, maybe, than to a lot of the other competitors as a cornerstone of our series and the birth place of speed and all the things -- The Great American Race.

"But I made peace with this place a long time ago with what happened and decided to remember this as the place where he lost his life. So that's, to me, a positive, not a negative. I didn't want to feel any negative feelings when I came here because I love Daytona. I love this track, and I love the history. I want to be rooted in this sport, and that means I want to be at Daytona when they race here. So that was the choice I made a long time ago, and I feel very comfortable here. And I try to make him proud in everything I do."

That's certainly true of everything that Junior has done in the years since his father's death. Dale Jr. may be retired, but that doesn't mean an Earnhardt won't be in the starting lineup in Daytona for the 40th straight year. Jeffrey Earnhardt, the grandson of  The Intimidator, will run in Sunday's race from the 27th spot in the starting grid. 

You'll also see an homage to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Sr. in a new Goodyear ad that's set to run during the race. The spot is called "Make a Name" and honors the Earnhardt's long-standing relationship with Goodyear. It's to the tune of the Jim Croce song "I Got A Name'" and is sung by the late singer's son, A.J., and features a young Dale Jr. growing throughout the stages of his career while always loving his father.

You can can keep tabs on all of Sunday's action from Daytona with our LIVE blog.