Broken seat belt caused Earnhardt’s death

The seven-time Winston Cup champion died of a fracture to the base of his skull when he crashed between Turns Three and Four on the final lap. The broken left seat belt was discovered during an investigation of Earnhardt's wrecked Chevrolet Monte Carlo on Sunday night. The belt was new and installed in the car when it was built last November.

"Our investigation indicates that a broken left lap seat belt came apart," said NASCAR president Mike Helton in a press conference at Rockingham, North Carolina. "We don't know why, we don't know how, we don't know when it broke. We aren't going to speculate today on theories, we aren't going to address any judgement or speculation. We will continue our investigation. We will do our best to come up with as many answers as possible."

Helton stopped short of laying the responsibility of the material of the belt breaking on the manufacturer or the preparation of the race car.

"We are not going to address any specifics right now," added Helton. "It goes back to jumping to judgements or conclusions that are not founded yet so we are not going to talk about the manufacturers names of anything like that. If we had a definitive answer that we could be certain, we would give it to you. But we are not right now. What we are not able to do is give you much more information."

As well as the fractured skull, Monday's autopsy report also revealed that Earnhardt suffered eight broken ribs, a broken sternum and a broken left ankle, consistent with him being flung forward and to the right.

Dr. Steve Bohannon, the head of emergency medical services at Daytona International Speedway, believes Earnhardt could have hit his chin on the steering wheel, causing the major head injury which killed him.

"It appears this allowed his body to move forward and it appears that probably his chin struck the steering column in such a way that the forces were transmitted up the mandible on each side to fracture the base of his skull," said Bohannon, who was one of the first to arrive at the scene of the fatal crash. "Of course, the chest hitting would account for the rib fractures on his left side. He would have had a much better chance to survive if the belt had not broken."

Unlike the majority of drivers, who choose to use the latest in kevlar seat technology, Earnhardt had an old-fashioned approach to his preferred seat. The Intimidator preferred a low-set seat fabricated from metal, although there is no indication that this became detached in the accident.

All of NASCAR's Busch Series and Winston Cup crew chiefs have been informed of the problem and all seat belts will be checked before this weekend's Rockingham race.

Gary Nelson, the Winston Cup director, said it was unclear why the belt broke. The webbing near the lower left buckle, which holds the belt in place, came apart when Earnhardt hit the wall. The buckle remained latched, but the belt itself was separated from the metal latches.

"All we know conclusively is the belt came apart," said Nelson. "We've never seen it, we've talked to people in the business and they say they've never seen it in 52 years of NASCAR racing."

Nelson ruled out that the safety workers who tried to extricate Earnhardt's body from the car cut the belts. Safety experts will carry out further examinations on the broken belt next week.

According to Richard Childress, Earnhardt's team owner, the driver wore the five-point seat harness which is the safest restraining system currently used. However, he was one of just two drivers - Dale Earnhardt Jr being the other - who uses the open-face helmet rather than full-face.

"Dale Earnhardt was one of the most safety conscious drivers out there," Childress said. "We are always looking at safer ways to make these Winston Cup cars. We don't know what to do until the investigation is further down the road. We will run the same stuff here until we know something different."