Lap Belt Broken UPDATE 5 another driver hurt?: The lap belt in Dale Earnhardt’s #3 Chevy was broken when examined after the Daytona 500 crash that took the seven-time champion’s life, NASCAR officials said Friday. NASCAR president Mike Helton said threads on the left side of Earnhardt’s lap belt were separated. “We don’t know how, when or where, yet. We will continue our investigation,” he said. Dr. Steve Bohannon, one of the doctors examining Earnhardt on Sunday, said the broken belt could have caused Earnhardt’s body to be thrown forward and to the right, sending him flying into the steering wheel. Bohannon said Earnhardt might have hit his face on the steering wheel, causing the major head injury that killed him. The doctor said he was not sure if the HANS restraint device would have helped prevent the injuries. But, he said, a full-face helmet might have been beneficial. Earnhardt wore an open-face model(That’s Racin’ and from the AP) UPDATE: an updated story at CNN/SI – According to Earnhardt’s car owner Richard Childress, who was also present Friday morning, both the car and the seat belt were virtually brand new, built last November. According to Helton and Nelson, as well as officials at the belt company, last Sunday’s failure was the first example of any such event in the 52-year history of NASCAR. Both Helton and Nelson refused to offer any ideas whatsoever as to what could possibly cause such an event(can also watch the Press Conferences there via your PC)(CNN/SI)(2-23-2001) UPDATE 2: The New York Daily News reports: Dale Earnhardt altered the seat belt in his #3 Chevy during last week’s Daytona 500, possibly playing a hand in his death on the final lap of the race. NASCAR officials said yesterday that Earnhardt was found with a broken seat belt after the wreck in which he was killed instantly. However, one source who saw the car after the wreck told the Daily News the seat belt failure was because of alterations to the safety harness ordered by Earnhardt, not because of a design flaw or failure of the mechanism(NY Daily News). Other stories about the belt: Statement from Bill Simpson on Earnhardt’s seat belt and Belt theory has some detractors from That’s Racin’ and from CNN/SI: Defending their belt – Belt manufacturer: NASCAR shifting blame(2-24-2001) UPDATE 3: Mike Helton said there was no additional conclusive information about the “separated” seat belt found in Earnhardt’s car after the wreck at Daytona. But the issue continues to create speculation around the garage area. Rusty Wallace, one of the drivers who has seen the separated belt and Earnhardt’s wrecked car, told reporters that he believes the problem was not in the belt itself but in how it was installed(That’s Racin’)(2-25-2001) UPDATE 4 Lap Belt Inspection: NASCAR officials confirmed Monday they sent Dale Earnhardt’s seat belt out for expert analysis to figure out why the belt separated during the Feb 18th Daytona 500. NASCAR will announce the results of the analysis perhaps by week’s end, officials said.(That’s Racin’)(2-27-2001) UPDATE 5 David Hutchins, 29, is still recovering from an accident he was in at the Seekonk Speedway on June 17. He believes he was hurt so badly in the accident because his seat belt, made by the same manufacturer(Simpson) as the one Earnhardt used, broke. Hutchins said the seat belt gave way over his left leg, the same place NASCAR officials said Earnhardts seat belt came apart. As a result, he said, the force from the accident caused him to move forward, trapping him beneath the dash and throwing some of his body into the steering wheel. Brian Cunha and Associates have filed a lawsuit against Simpson Performance Products Inc., the Texas company that makes the seat belts, on Hutchins behalf. The suit was mailed to the U.S. District Court in Boston on Tuesday. See the full story at the Herald News: Race tragedy might have been avoided AND from the Providence Journal: A safety harness nearly identical to the one that Dale Earnhardt was wearing when he was killed in the Daytona 500 allegedly failed during a collision at Seekonk Speedway last June. The driver in the Seekonk crash, Dave Hutchins, filed a suit Tuesday against the harness manufacturer, claiming that he suffered fractures in both legs because the waist belt’s nylon webbing snapped when his car hit the wall at Seekonk Speedway(in Massachusetts a 1/3 mile asphalt track)(3-1-2001)
