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Tight-lipped Helton: NASCAR will wait for facts on Earnhardt case
Updated: Friday May 04, 2001 6:42 PM
By Stephen Thomas, CNNSI.com RICHMOND, Va. -- As part of the continuing effort to put the proverbial toothpaste back into the tube, NASCAR President Mike Helton made a statement to the media at Richmond International Raceway Friday afternoon, yet again addressing the subject of NASCAR's investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dale Earnhardt. As he has previously, Helton announced that neither he nor any other representative from NASCAR would answer questions about the on-going investigation, nor would he or anyone else "[respond] to any speculations that are going on beyond this investigation." "We're not going to make any speculations on anything until we know cold, hard facts and are able to deliver those to the best conclusion possible," Helton added. That's a logical and laudable goal, but slightly at odds with the impression given at Rockingham, when Helton, Gary Nelson, Director and Dr. Steve Bohannon, the doctor in charge of Earnhardt's care at Daytona, all but told the world the seat belt did it.
"As we stated in Rockingham," Helton said, "there's no question in our minds that at the end of that accident, that that belt was separated. This investigation is to find out why, when and what, if any, role it played in the accident." Regardless of the actual truth or its actual significance -- remember, Dr. Barry Myers, the Duke University expert who analyzed Earnhardt's autopsy photos, determined that the seat belt, broken or otherwise, played no role in Earnhardt's death -- these latest stories have re-ignited questions and concerns about safety and NASCAR and the reliability of seat belts in the Winston Cup garage area. As a result, Helton met privately with both the Busch and Winston Cup drivers. While Helton wouldn't answer questions Friday and while the drivers were fairly tight-lipped about what was discussed, they appear to be satisfied by what NASCAR has told them. "This is my life," Michael Waltrip said. "I look at it as if I have to be comfortable with what I'm doing and I have to be comfortable with what they're doing and I have been all along. I hate what has come about over the last couple of weeks, but I'll keep on believing and we'll just keep working together."
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