CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Safety manufacturer Bill Simpson on Tuesday dropped his lawsuit alleging NASCAR wrongly blamed his former company's seat belt for the 2001 death of Dale Earnhardt.
The $8.5-million suit was filed last year in Indianapolis and was set to go to trial in September, but Simpson and NASCAR representatives met Monday in Indianapolis and resolved their differences.
"Simpson and NASCAR are happy to announce that they agree that it is in the best interest of racing that they direct their time, energy and resources away from litigation and toward their joint goal of improving safety for professional racing drivers," the sides said in a statement.
Simpson, former owner of Simpson Performance Products, has maintained he wanted an apology, not money, from NASCAR for putting suspicion on his seat belt in Earnhardt's death.
Earnhardt, a seven-time Winston Cup champion, died in a crash on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. A day later NASCAR officials concluded a Simpson seat belt had separated at impact, and as a result Earnhardt likely hit the steering wheel and died of blunt force trauma.
Simpson countered that when properly installed, his belts did not fail. He also said he had long warned Earnhardt, a friend, that he was not installing his belts properly.
A six-month investigation by NASCAR and independent experts concluded in August 2001 that several forces, including the angle of impact, the speed of his car and the torn seat belt, caused the skull fracture that killed Earnhardt.
It was common knowledge among drivers that Earnhardt sat much lower in his seat than others, but the NASCAR report said the separation of the belt was "not caused by driver adjustment."
Simpson later resigned as a consultant for the company he founded and eventually sold.
Simpson said Tuesday he will go back to working on developing new safety devices.
TEAM FINED: NASCAR penalized one of Roush Racing's truck series teams for using illegal engine parts in rookie Carl Edwards' first career victory.
Crew chief Doug Richert was fined $25,000 for using unapproved cylinder heads in Edwards' Ford when it won last weekend at Kentucky Speedway. Edwards was stripped of 100 driver points and Jack Roush 100 owner points.
DRIVER ON MEND: IRL driver Felipe Giaffone was moved to a rehabilitation hospital in Indiana and will spend at least a week there. Giaffone broke his right leg and pelvis in a crash July 6 in the Kansas 300.
