NASCAR drivers defend Earnhardt’s seatbelt maker

While the teams and drivers accept that a seatbelt failure did occur, there is growing concern that NASCAR has failed to produce the belt for analysis and that Dr Steve Bohannon's account of the accident altered significantly in a second press conference held by NASCAR at Rockingham on Friday.

Initially, Bohannon said Earnhardt suffered no facial injuries in the accident and that a full-face helmet would have made no difference to the basal skull fracture he sustained when his car hit the outer wall on the last lap of last Sunday's Daytona 500 at a speed estimated at around 160mph. But on Friday, he corrected his version of events, saying Earnhardt suffered a chin abrasion, probably from hitting the steering wheel and that the transferred force from this caused the fatal skull fracture.

"Well, what happened did he break his jaw or have a basal skull fracture?" said Simpson spokesman John Malone at Rockingham. "Make up your mind? The NTSB [the USA's National Transportation Safety Board] investigates a plane crash where 137 people died in Pittsburgh and it takes them a year-and-a-half to find out a piston was bad. You're going to tell me last Sunday night they knew in a couple hours exactly what happened? They sure got a crack research team.

"[Company founder] Bill Simpson has looked at the belt," he added. "Our belt didn't fail. Bill's statement is that when the belts are properly installed they won't fail. That statement sums it up."

Former Winston Cup champions Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett and Daytona front-row starter are among the drivers who have come out in support of Simpson, with Gordon and Compton both saying they would like to study the belt.

"I've got to imagine it is something else going on there," said Jeff Gordon. "I sure would like to know."

"I think everybody would like to see it," said Stacy Compton. "I'd like to see what happened. I don't have any concerns with their products. We blew a right front [tyre] at Indy last year, running about 200mph and hit the wall, and the belts didn't move."

"I think we all have a tremendous amount of trust in the equipment that we're provided with through Bill Simpson and his people," said Jarrett. "I still have the utmost respect for them and the quality of work that they do. I'm sure somewhere down the road we're going to find that this was a very freak accident. Something happened there to make this happen because Bill Simpson and his people are very, very good at what they do."

Jimmy Makar, crew chief to reigning Winston Cup champion Bobby Labonte added to calls from the drivers, saying: "From everything I gather, the belts were new this winter, so he didn't have a race on them. Probably all he had was practice at Daytona over the winter and the race on them. It's hard to sit here and think of the possibility something could have nicked them.

"We'd all feel better knowing the answer, no matter what it is. Every one of us is sitting here waiting for something that is absolute."

Gordon also gave his thoughts on the HANS device, the head and neck support used by just a handful of drivers in NASCAR. Bohannon still maintains that such a device would not have helped Earnhardt, but Gordon believes it could have played a part in one or more of the three fatalities NASCAR suffered last year.

"The HANS device is the best device we have to date," said pole winner Jeff Gordon. "I'm not saying it's the best thing. It was designed for open cockpit Champ Cars and Formula 1 cars. It definitely has a lot of potential. It's
the best thing we have to date so we need to make it work.

"But we're dealing with a stock car. You have to climb in and out of a window. If you have a fire this thing is very cumbersome. There is a lot to it. I want it to be thoroughly tested in a stock car condition before I got in there. This thing was thoroughly tested in open wheel racing before they started running it."

NASCAR is believed to be looking at mandating larger side window openings in its Winston Cup and Busch Series cars in an effort to make the HANS device a more workable option.

Bill Simpson, boss of the Mooresville, North Carolina-based Simpson Performance Products company, whose seatbelts Earnhardt and the vast majority of NASCAR drivers use, issued the following statement after NASCAR revealed that a left lap strap had failed in Earnhardt's car and played a significant part in the injuries that caused the driver's death.

"It is very distressing to lose a good friend and a great competitor like Dale Earnhardt. It was also distressing to hear this morning (Friday) that a seatbelt that we produced came apart during his fatal crash.

"Having tested and produced seatbelts for the motorsport industry for more than 43 years, we have never seen a seat belt come apart in the manner that occurred. Our seatbelts, when properly installed, won't fail.

"Safety must be paramount in motorsport. The responsibility for safety is everyone's... from the manufacturers, to the crews, to the drivers, to the organisations that sanction the races. When you compromise safety, the risks for tragedy magnify. We understand this and do not compromise our procedures in producing safety products.

"Specific installation instructions are included with each seatbelt we sell. We urge everyone to insure that safety equipment is properly installed and used in accordance to the common sense instruction provided by manufacturers.

"Over 400 employees go to great lengths to insure the safety products we produce meet and exceed the standards demanded by our customers. And we know thousands of drivers are living testimony to our work."