Earnhardt’s Seat Belt UPDATE: The lap belt worn by Dale Earnhardt when he crashed on the final lap of the Daytona 500 was torn, a police report said Friday. After the crash Feb. 18, NASCAR said a broken seat belt was discovered in the car and might have played a role in the death of the seven-time Winston Cup champion. Investigators told The News-Journal of Daytona Beach they examined Earnhardt’s wrecked Chevrolet and its belt system on May 29 just outside Charlotte, N.C., where NASCAR took the car for safe-keeping while the probe continued. Detective Sgt. Steve Szabo said he found the original lap belt in two pieces with torn fibers. He said NASCAR president Mike Helton then used a pocket knife to cut another belt that was the same model, manufactured by Simpson Performance Products. Szabo examined both belts. “The cut belt did not have any similarity to the belt ends that were involved in the crash,” Szabo wrote in a report obtained by the newspaper. Szabo determined Earnhardt’s belt had torn in the area where it is adjusted for tightness.(Full Story at That’s Racin’ by the AP)(6-9-2001) UPDATE: see an AP Photo of the belt at: Yahoo News(6-11-2001)
