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'Got to be too much' Seat-belt maker resigns over Earnhardt controversy
Updated: Wednesday August 01, 2001 12:16 AM DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Bill Simpson, who found himself at the center of controversy following Dale Earnhardt's death, has resigned as head of the company that manufactured Earnhardt's safety belts. Simpson said the stress of the controversy "got to be too much." He has maintained for months that NASCAR made him a scapegoat in the wake of Earnhardt's death. "It's just been one thing after another," Simpson said. "Like I come with new [safety equipment, such as a head-restraint device] and NASCAR takes it away, and they don't give it back. I deserve more respect than that. "The amount of disrespect shown me in my position over the last five months has been too hard for me to swallow." Simpson said he submitted his resignation to Charlotte, N.C.-based Carousel Capital, majority owner of Simpson Performance Products, on July 17. He found out last week that his resignation had been accepted. Nelson Schwab, head of Carousel Capital, was not immediately available for comment.
Simpson received death threats and saw his employees harassed after NASCAR announced on Feb. 23 that it had found a broken Simpson lap belt in Earnhardt's crashed No. 3 Chevrolet. Earnhardt wrecked on the final lap of the Feb. 18 Daytona 500. NASCAR's report on Earnhardt's death is due out in August. "I haven't heard the first thing about what might be in the report," Simpson said. "I don't have any information. I know nothing. And I don't really care. I know that I didn't do anything wrong." Simpson's safety belts appeared to be exonerated in April with the findings of Dr. Barry Myers, an independent expert appointed by a special master of Volusia County Circuit Court. Myers concluded that even if the lap belt did break during Earnhardt's crash, it happened after Earnhardt's fatal injury -- a basilar skull fracture due to a violent forward thrust of his head -- occurred. Myers' findings were supported by other safety experts. But NASCAR officials have continued to refer to the broken belt during their limited discussions of the sanctioning body's ongoing investigation. Simpson said he has no idea what he will do now but he would more than likely re-establish a role in the production of safety gear, which he said is "all I know."
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