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Blame game Belt-maker mulling options after NASCAR report
Updated: Wednesday August 22, 2001 10:38 AM
By Mike Fish, CNNSI.com ATLANTA -- In the basement of the Hyatt Regency on Tuesday, Bill Simpson and his team of lawyers and experts were enraged and ready for a fight. They didn't expect to leave happy, but they hoped NASCAR might try and make peace. Instead, two floors above, in what had the feel of a large college lecture hall, NASCAR and its own team of experts did nothing to distance Simpson Race Products from the fatal crash that killed Dale Earnhardt on Feb. 18. The Simpson team stared incredulously at a TV monitor as Dr. James H. Raddin Jr., one of the two lecturing experts, said that neither installation of Earnhardt's seat belts nor the positioning of the adjuster were factors in belt failure. Even worse, from Team Simpson's perspective, Raddin refused to rule out belt failure as a contributing factor in Earnhardt's death. "We are dismayed and disappointed that NASCAR leaves open the question of whether the belt separation caused Dale Earnhardt's injury, and failed to mention that the installation did not conform to manufacturers specifications," said Jim Voyles, an attorney from Indianapolis. "The shadow that continues to be cast is in the direct contradiction to our experts. "NASCAR failed to mention that seat belt was not installed according to manufacturer specification, and this improper installation was the cause of the separation of the webbing." So, the on-going seat-belt capper has turned into a battle of the experts: Team NASCAR vs. Team Simpson. And at the same time, a potentially high stakes blame-game. Team Simpson says the onus for the improper installation, if indeed that is the case, falls on the shoulders of NASCAR inspectors, race team owner Richard Childress (owner of Earnhardt's No. 3 Chevrolet) and even Earnhardt himself. "NASCAR made a point of saying Dale Earnhardt ran with this installation for years, and it's important to know that Bill Simpson told him, 'Dale -- that is wrong, it's not safe, don't do it,'" said Bob Horn, another Simpson attorney. "He choose to do to it the way he wanted to do it. Bill was aware of that, and everybody in the pits was aware of it." Surrounded by his team, Simpson refused comment after the NASCAR presentation. Only the day before, Simpson said: "I talked to Earnhardt billions of times about the way his stuff was installed. Everybody knows it." David McCandless and Charles Manning, accident recreation experts retained by Simpson's company, said in their report that "the rear anchor points of the lap-belt assembly [to the chassis] were approximately five inches behind the back line of the seat. Simpson Race Products recommends mounting 2 1/2 inches forward of the extended back line of the seat." The result, they say, is the belt adjuster rotated enough to cause bunching and/or crimping of the belt in one side of the adjuster -- enough that on impact the belt tore apart. A spokesman for Richard Childress Racing said the instructions for installing the belts were inconsistent. In his presentation Raddin noted there were variations in installation of the belts, saying of Earnhardt's method was to anchor the system further back "to allow the adjuster to be operated outside the seat." Simpson attorneys said no one from Childress or NASCAR had previously voiced concern about the instructions that accompany the belts. "Every belt provided comes with a set of instructions," Voyles said. "If you don't follow manufacturer's specifications with a particular product then you may have difficulty with the product working correctly. "The problem is competitors themselves prefer certain situations in their cars, and that probably generates some conflict within the teams where they in fact choose to adhere to some of the wishes of the competitors." Voyles said NASCAR bears some responsibility, since its inspectors check out the cars before races. The sanctioning body's rules, however, do not specifically address questions about the way Earnhardt mounted his belts. "This is the first time we've heard the restraint system was mounted wrong," said Jim Hunter, a NASCAR vice president. "NASCAR has always taken the position the driver compartment is for the driver -- different sizes, different preferences, open face helmets, seat designs. We've got to leave some latitude there to let those drivers feel safe as they can."
When Simpson first huddled with his team late Tuesday morning, he already had an inkling things wouldn't turn out to his satisfaction. The report of his experts was hand delivered to NASCAR attorneys in Washington last week, but the sanctioning body had no plans to reference it in their much-anticipated presentation. The attorneys had also asked NASCAR to address a handful of points in its report that would clear the company, including:
By day's end, neither NASCAR officials nor their experts had uttered a peep about any of the issues, leaving Team Simpson to ponder its next move. Simpson resigned last month from the company he founded, but also plans a return to the race business. The filing of a lawsuit is an option, but there is yet no commitment. "Just because I'm a lawyer doesn't mean I like to sue people," Voyles cracked. In this case, time will tell.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
