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Questions still linger Helton says Earnhardt inquiry may not reveal all answers
Updated: Monday May 21, 2001 8:46 AM
CONCORD, N.C. -- When NASCAR commissioned an independent review of the circumstances surrounding the crash that claimed Dale Earnhardt, it figured the team of experts -- none of whom have been identified -- would plug along until uncovering all the answers. Only now, in an interview with CNNSI.com's Mike Fish, NASCAR president Mike Helton cautions that the much-anticipated report could fall short of answering all the questions when it's expected to be complete in August. "A lot of times the [National Safety Transportation Board] in trying to figure out something major like an airline or train crash, it's sometimes not possible to get definitive conclusions,'' says Helton. "So, we're very careful not to announce we're going to have a definitive conclusion. We're going to get every answer we can possibly get. That doesn't mean we're going to have definitive conclusions to everything. Or every answer.'' Asked if NASCAR would take a hit if its investigation left major issues unanswered, Helton says: "We'll have to deal with that when we get to that point, because I don't know what is going to be unanswered or what the answers will be.'' Helton tried to distance NASCAR from the theory that the "separated'' seat belt may have played a role in Earnhardt's death. He, at the same time, labels it the unique factor, which triggered what is an almost six-month investigation. Helton refused comment on attempts by Bill Simpson to have NASCAR clear his safety-belt manufacturing company of any wrongdoing or on specifics of the ongoing investigation. He did, however, address a wide-range of related issues facing NASCAR since Earnhardt's death on the final lap of the Daytona 500.
CNNSI.com's Mike Fish: Looking back since the death of Dale Earnhardt, are there some things NASCAR should have done different from a PR perspective? Helton: I don't necessarily believe that. People may differ. I think, in retrospect, that maybe the bigness of all this is somewhat of a surprise. I think when we get through the cycle and conclusions are made, that it'll hopefully all make sense. CNNSI.com: Some question the handling of the safety belt controversy, specifically the insinuation that the belt separating may have been a factor in Earnhardt's death. Is that something that could have been presented differently? Helton: There's been some confusion over that. We never made that statement. NASCAR never made it, nor anyone on the behalf of NASCAR ever made the statement that we were making conclusions on what role the belt played. That's why we're doing the investigation is to find out what happened and when it happened. And what if any role it played. CNNSI.com: So, you're not saying the belt was the cause in the fatality? Helton: We're saying we're investigating to try and find out as much as we can before we reach conclusions on anything. CNNSI.com: Obviously, you have your own investigation in progress, but do you accept or how do you view the findings of Barry Myers, the independent expert who says the seat belt didn't contribute to Earnhardt's death? Helton: Yeah, and it goes to the point ... we're not going to speculate or offer opinions on other's opinions or other speculation until we're through with the investigation. CNNSI.com: But do you agree with what he's stated? Does it make sense? Helton: We won't know that until we're through with our investigation. CNNSI.com: Why is it that NASCAR hasn't conducted similar investigations following other recent fatalities in the sport? Helton: Well, there is a unique element to this one. That is the belt. That is a very unique element here. CNNSI.com: Getting back to the handling of the situation, has NASCAR sought outside crisis-management assistance or PR guidance? Helton: What this episode has created is unique challenges. This has created something we have never seen before. And like any other business, naturally in order to do its job correctly we're going to look for better ways. We're going to look for assistance. We're going to learn from others to figure out how to get through challenges. ... We sought assistance in going out and putting a bunch of disciplines together to try to find the answer to the accidents. So, it's safe to say that we would search for disciplines or we would search for assistance in making sure we run NASCAR business as well as we can. CNNSI.com: How much scrutiny of NASCAR's handling of the accident is fueled by the inherent conflict between the sanctioning body and sister corporation, International Speedway Corporation, which owns a number of race facilities -- including Daytona? Helton: I see no reason for it to be fueled from that area. CNNSI.com: Do you find the intense scrutiny surprising? Helton: I don't know that you use the term "surprising." I think the bigness of all this might have been underestimated. We knew that Earnhardt was a big player in our industry. We knew what he was. People in the garage area competed against him, and they knew. Those of us at NASCAR that benefited from his talent knew that he was a big character. I'm not sure even if we're clear today -- trying to understand or even realize how big it was worldwide to motor sports and sports in general. So, the elements that come off of it become big issues. Whether they're accurate or inaccurate, it seems like everything is a big issue. And that is what led us to get the group together to come with as many answers and conclusions. CNNSI.com: In a perverse way has Earnhardt's death brought NASCAR even more exposure? Helton: Yeah, it's not the exposure you go looking for. For 53 years, NASCAR has been growing the sport, making it bigger, making it more exposed. And setting the stage where today you have hundreds of thousands in the grandstands and TV ratings at an all-time high. And this gets played out in that environment. And that is what we have to be sensitive to. CNNSI.com: If attendance and TV ratings are up, then NASCAR obviously hasn't lost the fans? Helton: There are a lot of good things that are going on in the sport today [like] the TV ratings, the grandstands, the opportunities that we have going to Kansas City and Chicago for first time ever in 2001, and the fan is the key to everything that we do. They are the ones that attract the sponsors. They are the ones that have the promoters grow in their facilities, and modernizing their facilities. It is a fan-oriented business. And we have to be conscious and sensitive and keep our ear to the ground as to their pulse on the way that we do our business. CNNSI.com: Again, it's fair to say the fan hasn't been turned off despite all the criticism of NASCAR? Helton: We don't see it out there, but that doesn't mean we're going to sit back and be overconfident that we got them on our side through all this. We owe them as big a responsibility as anybody to make sure that they believe in us. CNNSI.com: Have any corporate partners made comments or addressed concerns they may have? Helton: It's no big secret how important we place the sponsor in our sport. It's critical to the economic health of the sport. And NASCAR itself has invested in Charlotte and New York offices to serve the industry from that aspect, and to stay in tune with the sponsors. And through car owners and through our own relationships, we've had conversations about the big issues that NASCAR is faced with. CNNSI.com: What are they saying? Helton: They've been supportive conversations. We're not going to get into the details of conversations we've had. CNNSI.com: Even people within your industry, while impressed with what they're told behind closed doors, are frustrated with the reluctance of NASCAR to be more public about work and innovations it's doing on the safety front. Why the big secret? Helton: Well, we don't go public with what we're doing behind the scenes. But I guess the answer is if you look at a five-year-old race car and compare it to a car in garage today, there are an enormous number of safety features that exist today that have been done purely for safety reasons. Changes that we made. And they're obvious. They're visible. So, there are results to NASCAR's attention to safety, and there always be. As technology exists, new materials, new engineering practices, new discoveries come about that could be applied to make car safer -- we're interested in that. We have always been and will always be. CNNSI.com: In general, NASCAR has come under criticism for not better stating its position when issues have cropped up and failing to respond to various allegations. The result is stories tend to be one-sided and often not favorable to NASCAR. How do you explain the tight-lipped approach? CNNSI.com: It's a little bit of ... it's a bigger issue. The biggest issue right now is that Teresa Earnhardt still has legal battles going on in central Florida with Internet companies, with media publications, and we've got to be sensitive to what we talk about it, because in the ways it is used in those legal battles. And we're behind Teresa. So we're going to maintain our course, find answers, get conclusions. When we know those definitive answers -- present them. In the meantime, we're not going to challenge somebody else's opinion or other speculation. Or give it credit or try to undermine it. We're going to just to maintain our course. The legal challenge she still has going on in Florida is a big deal. It's very unfortunate for her. We're on her side. CNNSI.com: That begs the question, what is the relationship between NASCAR and Teresa in all this? How much conversation is there? Helton: Well, she is a car owner on top of the fact she was Dale's wife. We're behind Teresa.
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