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The wallflowers


The Earnhardt report, and the Sharpie 500 from Bristol, Tennessee.





The Report........

By now, most of you have read the Earnhardt Report or heard something about its' findings. The general consensus from drivers, teams, and those directly involved with NASCAR, is that the report was very thorough and almost everyone seems to be pleased with the outcome.

I was able to watch the report, and I recorded it on tape. I have to say that NASCAR went overboard in investigating all possible angles of the accident. The modern technology used in recreating the accident, occupant kinetic studies, computer models, etc, were all state of the art.

In my point of view, the most startling part of the presentation was the in-car video of Johnny Benson hitting the wall. I could hardly believe the body movement Benson displayed, even though he was strapped tightly in his seat. The movement of his head and arms was very disturbing. It made the Earnhardt tragedy easier to understand. The way I see it, when Kenny Schrader's' No. 36 car hit the right side of Dales No. 3 car, Dale's head was jerked and spun around to the right. Four one thousandths of a second later, Dale's No. 3 car hit the wall. The back of his head, while twisted around to the right, hit the steering wheel due to the forward motion caused by colliding with the wall. It was never made clear when infamous lap belt broke. It would stand to reason that it broke with the forward motion in the instant that the car collided with the wall.

Bill Simpson

The broken lap belt and the term "dumping" is something new to racing personnel. Richard Childress, owner of Richard Childress Racing and the N0. 3 car, claimed in a published interview that he had never heard of it. Richard also claimed that he has never heard Bill Simpson, or anyone from Simpson Performance Products, say anything about Dale's safety equipment being mounted wrong. He stated that he even talked with other crew chiefs that had worked with Dale in the past, and none of them had any knowledge of Simpson complaining about unsafe mounting of safety equipment. Simpson is initiating a lawsuit against NASCAR, and he claimed that he complained to Dale Earnhardt several times over the years about improper safety belt mounting. Simpson claims that the Earnhardt Report was nothing more than a "dog and pony show." He contends that the report said nothing about the belt being mounted wrong and continues to point the finger at the company he founded. He hopes to clear his name by taking NASCAR to court.
The copyright of the article The wallflowers in NASCAR is owned by Thomas M. Sampson. Permission to republish The wallflowers in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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