Questions on the Earnhardt probe: More than a month after Dale Earnhardt died at Daytona, the detective leading the death investigation knows little more about how Earnhardt died than he did Feb. 18. From Day 1 of the case, according to the lead investigator, Robert Walker, Daytona Beach police have abandoned previous procedures and blocked detectives from making routine inquiries about the death of Earnhardt. Some points noted in the story: Walke was ordered by a supervisor on the night Earnhardt died not to attend the driver’s autopsy or to inspect and photograph the racer’s wrecked car; Earnhardt’s helmet and racing suit went to his family and have never been examined by police or the Volusia County Medical Examiner’s Office; NASCAR never told Walker about the broken seat belt it later blamed for Earnhardt’s fatal head injury; Police have done more thorough investigations of previous racing deaths at Daytona. For example, after the 1994 death of racer Rodney Orr at Daytona, Walker attended the autopsy and examined the car. See Full story(very long) at That’s Racin’: Earnhardt investigation was unusual, detective says(3-27-2001)
