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Earnhardt had broken lap belt

A doctor says the NASCAR star would have had "a different set of injuries'' had it worked, but whether he would have survived might never be known.

By KEVIN KELLY

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 24, 2001

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR's seemingly indestructible driver, might have survived Sunday's crash in the Daytona 500 if not for a broken lap belt.

Dr. Steve Bohannon, who was one of the first on the scene after Earnhardt's car slammed head-first into the concrete retaining wall on the last lap, said the driver's chances of surviving would have increased had his left lap belt worked.

"Certainly, his chest and head shouldn't have made contact with the steering column," said Bohannon, head of emergency medical services at Daytona International Speedway. "A different set of injuries would have occurred, and we don't know what they would have been."

Bohannon thinks Earnhardt's chin hit the steering wheel when his body lurched forward and to the right on impact. The impact, combined with an unsecured left side, might explain how Earnhardt broke his sternum, eight ribs on his left side and his left ankle in addition to sustaining a basal skull fracture.

Bohannon said Earnhardt's decision to wear an open-face helmet, which doesn't offer protection around the chin, might have contributed to his injuries.

"If he had protection over his chin and that area of contact, the forces would have been different to his body," Bohannon said. "And he would have had a different pattern of injuries. So, certainly in this particular case, a full-face helmet would have been a benefit."

Bohannon is not convinced that the HANS device -- a head-and-neck support designed to prevent basal skull fractures -- would have helped Earnhardt.

"His body and his face would have still made contact with the steering wheel," Bohannon said. "He would have still had the forces transferred as they were."

Rescue workers discovered the belt problem on Sunday, first finding a black piece of woven nylon on the floorboard and then determining the left lap belt had broken. Like Earnhardt, most drivers wear a five-point harness with straps over each shoulder, through the groin area and from each side of the lap with a central connection at the waist. Some have switched to a six-point harness with belts running under each leg.

"We've never seen this, and we've talked to people who are in the business to produce lap belts who have told us they've never seen it," Winston Cup director Gary Nelson said at a news conference Friday. "In 52 years of NASCAR Winston Cup racing, this was the first one."

NASCAR officials said they are searching for an explanation why the lap belt, which is part of the five-point harness that costs $89.95, came apart between the buckle and the adjuster. They would not say who is doing the testing or where it is being conducted.

The nylon belts are designed to withstand crashes at greater than 200 mph, although restraint systems stretch at least a few inches on impact.

"Hopefully, we'll find an answer real quick and be able to say, "This is exactly what happened,' " Nelson said. "As in any study, you don't know when that answer will come or how it will come or if it will ever come."

Officials also would not disclose whether the belt, which is bolted on both sides of the roll cage, was cut or frayed. Nelson said rescue workers did not cut the belt when trying to get to Earnhardt.

"Anything could have happened," said Gary DeHart, crew chief for Terry Labonte. "It could have been fraying on something and finally just ripped or pulled sideways or something like that. It's just weird. It is a very freak deal."

Earnhardt's lap belt was made by Simpson Performance Products, a Mooresville, N.C., company that supplies most Winston Cup and Busch Grand National teams with five-point harnesses and other equipment.

"It was . . . distressing to hear this morning that a seat belt we produced came apart during his fatal crash," Bill Simpson, founder and chairman of the company, said in a statement. "Having tested and produced seat belts for the motorsports industry for more than 43 years, we have never seen a seat belt come apart in the manner that occurred. Our seat belts, when properly installed, won't fail.

"Specific installation instructions are included with each seat belt we sell," said Simpson, a former race driver. "We urge everyone to ensure that safety equipment is properly installed and used in accordance to the common sense instruction provided by manufacturers."

Frank Stoddard, crew chief for Jeff Burton and Jeff Green, the defending Busch Grand National division champion, said NASCAR leaves it up each team to determine where it installs the lap belts on the roll cage.

"The problem is every driver is different," Stoddard said. "You could say that NASCAR needs to say where they're going to be mounted. But the problem is if they say how they're going to be mounted for Jeff Burton, that doesn't really apply to Buddy Baker. He's a whole lot bigger person.

"At the end of the day, it's the driver who is going to sit in the seat and he probably needs to be the one to say where his seat belts are."

Said Green: "There are a lot of circumstances that go into mounting seats and seat belts. If all those circumstances aren't correct, it can't perform like it's supposed to."

NASCAR president Mike Helton said he did not anticipate any safety changes before the Dura-Lube 400 on Sunday at North Carolina Speedway, but NASCAR will share any information on the lap belts with teams in its top three series: Winston Cup, Busch Grand National and Craftsman Truck.

"We're not going to put up soft walls," Helton said. "We're not making any changes unless we find out something in the next 20 to 40 hours that we can specifically do that's a fix and not a detriment to different areas."

NASCAR checks the lap belts during inspections and does not allow a team to use them for more than five years. Earnhardt's seat belts were made in November, car owner Richard Childress said.

"This just makes a statement to everybody that when you're welding on cars, when you're painting cars, when belts have been sitting outside for some reason, throw them away," Stoddard said. "We probably do a better job here than anybody in the country. When something looks like it's dirty or old, we throw it away, and get something new."

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