Bill Simpson, a great innovator but flamboyant jerk

[Joe Fan]

I will give Bill Simpson his due credit as a great innovator in the motorsports safety but this whole Earnhardt ordeal has shown that he is an egomaniac and a flamboyant jerk.

First of all, he has pouted like a child to the media that he has been made a scapegoat by NASCAR in this Earnhardt tragedy when NASCAR has never officially said that his products were defective or that they were ultimately responsible for his death. He supposedly resigned over the pressure of this whole tragedy. At NASCAR's first press conference, all Mike Helton said was that they had found a separated belt but they didn't know how or why. Dr. Bohanon, a physican who tended to Earnhardt after the crash, speculated that how the belt could have played a role in his death at the press conference. And the media and fans took off with it. However, the bottom line here is that Dr. Bohanon is a physcian and health care professional. He is free to give his opinions without it being a formal statement by NASCAR.

Secondly, Simpson recently stated that he was disappointed that NASCAR didn't issue a formal apology at the presentation in Atlanta. Why? What do they have to apologize for? Is it his guilty conscious that needs be reaffirmed that his product wasn't at fault? Is NASCAR required to state on the record that his product wasn't defective when it is hard to prove one way or another? This would sure give him necessary ammo in any product liabilty court case if NASCAR made this kind of a statement. But Teresa Earnhardt has never hinted that she would pursue a wrongful death court case over Dale's death. So is it his ego that needs to be stroked?

Thirdly, he makes the following statements to Robin Miller in a recent ESPN article:

"Dale liked to pull up his seats belts instead of pulling them down," said Simpson, who hunted, fished and palled around with the seven-time Winston Cup champion for the past 12 years. "We specify how the belts should be mounted and at what angle (45 degrees), but Dale's seat was four inches lower than anyone else's to accommodate how his belts were mounted. I warned Dale all the time that this was going to bite him some day, but he just laughed and said I was going to check out before he did. I mean, we were good friends and shared a lot of laughs but he always did what he wanted to do."

Excuse me, if he had known for years that Dale mounted his belts this way, and that doing so would compromise their safety, why wasn't he proactive enough to come up with belts that would protect a legend and conform to his seat and driving sytle? Human beings aren't like crash dummies, we all have different styles and on-the-job ergonomics. Coming up with a solution this mounting issue would be the least that he could do if he was really a close friend. And if Dale mounted his belts this way, surely there had to be others.

As a manufacturer of anything, you have to be in tune with how the consumer ultimately uses your product despite specific instructions. If people aren't using your product right and you know that it can create problems that could jeopardize someone's health, then you should look for solutions.

Fourthly, Simpson then makes the following statement:

"But by blaming us they take the heat off themselves. I'm not saying the belt didn't separate; I'm saying it failed because it went from 5,800 pounds of safety to 1,900 pounds of safety because it wasn't mounted properly."

Seems to me that making the belts three times thicker might have been a possible solution.

Finally, he makes the following comment about how Earnhardt would react to this whole affair, "I think Earnhardt would throw a bomb at the NASCAR office," he replied. "He wouldn't believe it. And neither do I."

Sorry but I find this comment to be very disturbing. Dale is dead and the only one who should speculate what he might have to say about this is his wife or his son. And I seriously doubt that he would blame NASCAR.

The bottom line here is that one of Simpson's belts broke. Simpson hasn't proven to be any better than NASCAR throughout this whole ordeal. Instead of pouting to the media and looking to shed all blame, he needs to look for ways to make his belts unbreakable or else he is the pot calling the kettle black.

[ August 26, 2001: Message edited by: Joe Fan ]

[Cupfan]

I agree wholeheartedly.

Thanks for not being afraid to state it.
Very well put, IMO.

If that's what he said about how Dale would have reacted, I expect to see TRW belts in Jr's car as soon as his obligation to run Simpson (if any) is over.

Listen, Bill Simpson has not been dragged through the mud on this. If he sues, he most certainly will be. More than he can imagine.
Why he didn't work with Earnhardt to establish a safer setup when he knew the current one was deficient is very damning.
Can he prove that 'ol Ironhead resisted all efforts to do so?

[SZautke]

I would think that Mike Helton could had thought of a more unique name than "Joe Fan."

Also, anybody "in the business" of racing knew of Earnhardt's "unique" way of rigging his saftey equipment. Up to a few years ago he had a old non-racing seat with springs.

When a major sanctioning body holds up a torn seatbelt and says in a round about way, this killed Earnhardt, it sort of makes you take notice.

It would be like Paul Tagliabue of the NFL holding up a bottle of Gatorade and saying, this killed Cory Stringer.

Don't tell me you if you were in his (Simpson's) situation, you wouldn't be on the mountain screaming your innocence.

[doby]

To the Nascar forum.

[KnockOff]

Wrong forum?

[jandj]

Gimme a break .

Bill has been made a scapegoat . NASCAR has implied everyway possible ( without actually saying it ) that Dale's dead because the belt separated . That way it's no responsiblity of theirs .

The fact is that no properly installed Simpson belt has broken .

Dale died because the belt separated due to improper mounting .

An instruction sheet comes with the belt , it's up to the installer to follow it .

You're saying an individual "special" belt should be developed for each driver that won't install the regular belt the only way it's designed to work .

We'll see how it works out in court . My money's on Simpson . NASCAR's got a lot of $$$$ , but you can't buy truth .

[Joe Fan]

Originally posted by Cupfan:
<STRONG>Listen, Bill Simpson has not been dragged through the mud on this. If he sues, he most certainly will be. More than he can imagine. Why he didn't work with Earnhardt to establish a safer setup when he knew the current one was deficient is very damning.
Can he prove that 'ol Ironhead resisted all efforts to do so?</STRONG>

Does it seem convenient that all of a sudden, Simpson comes out and says that he told Dale that his belts were mounted incorrectly, and for years? Richard Childress asked everybody who has ever been a crew chief at RCR and no one remembers him telling Dale this. I don't doubt that he did but when one of your witnesses is Robin Miller, you have to wonder.


[ August 24, 2001: Message edited by: Joe Fan ]

[MicroRacer]

I'll put Simpson belts up against any and I mean any safety belt manufacturer out there. As a racecar (lowly) driver I can tell you that you don't know what the heck you are talking about. Jr. will stay with Simpson's for one reason only, because they are the best.

[Cupfan]

As a racecar (not lowly) driver, do you think Scott Sharp considers his belts inferior to Simpson's?

[grogg]

I have never known Bill Simpson to lie. Why would he? His company is based on trust.

[MrIndy]

I totally have to disagree with you here, JoeFan. Yeah, Bill has some drinks and isn't so quiet when he does, but NASCAR did a very good smear campaigne against a man who has devoted a major portion of his life to making racing much safer for all involved.

You suggest each belt should be individually designed for each driver. Apparently the auto industry disagrees with your analysis and conclussion.


Let's talk about Dr. Bohanon: I saw his announcement of DE's death on TV the same day as the crash. He also said, very clearly, there were no facial injuries whatsoever. Then the next day, he says he was wrong and there were severe facial injuries. Now, this is the doctor who worked on DE at the infield medical center. Excuse me but that sure raises a whole ton of questions in my mind.

Then, I believe the next day, NASCAR comes up with a broken belt and holds it high in the air for all to see. Have you or anyone else who can talk truth seen the actual belt?

[MrIndy]

I totally have to disagree with you here, JoeFan. Yeah, Bill has some drinks and isn't so quiet when he does, but NASCAR did a very good smear campaigne against a man who has devoted a major portion of his life to making racing much safer for all involved.

You suggest each belt should be individually designed for each driver. Apparently the auto industry disagrees with your analysis and conclussion.


Let's talk about Dr. Bohanon: I saw his announcement of DE's death on TV the same day as the crash. He also said, very clearly, there were no facial injuries whatsoever. Then the next day, he says he was wrong and there were severe facial injuries. Now, this is the doctor who worked on DE at the infield medical center. Excuse me but that sure raises a whole ton of questions in my mind.

Then, I believe the next day, NASCAR comes up with a broken belt and holds it high in the air for all to see. Have you or anyone else who can talk truth seen the actual belt?

Any then we have an EMT who swears the belts were all together and none had seperated but still from NASCAR we hear, seat belt seperated, seat belt seperated, seat belt seperated.

You may not like Bill Simspson but, his products in no way contributed to the death of DE.

One more question Joe, have you talked to RC? How do you know he questioned everyone on the team about whether or not they ever heard Bill Simpson say anything about the installation of the belts?

[Cupfan]

Well, I wasn't a regular, but I guess I'm becoming one.

>>against a man who has devoted a major portion of his life to making racing much safer for all involved.<<

I've read this time after time. It's like saying he's above all reproach based on the good he's done in the past. Of course he's made racing safer. If he got drunk and killed a car full of kids, would people be saying "look at how he made racing safer"?

>>You suggest each belt should be individually designed for each driver.<<

Speaking for myself, I'm saying as the dear friend he's portraying himself to be (and I'm sure was, hence his decision to resign), maybe he could have come up with something for Dale, not every driver.


>>Let's talk about Dr. Bohanon: I saw his announcement of DE's death on TV the same day as the crash. He also said, very clearly, there were no facial injuries whatsoever. Then the next day, he says he was wrong and there were severe facial injuries.<<

I don't remember Dr. Bohannon saying there were severe facial injuries. Maybe I'm wrong, but have you imagined a motive behind this that would benefit NASCAR? If so, I'd like to hear it.

>>Then, I believe the next day, NASCAR comes up with a broken belt and holds it high in the air for all to see. Have you or anyone else who can talk truth seen the actual belt?<<

I think you'll agree, if you question whether it's the actual belt that's being shown, there's absolutely nothing to discuss.

>>Any then we have an EMT who swears the belts were all together and none had seperated but still from NASCAR we hear, seat belt seperated, seat belt seperated, seat belt seperated.<<

I'd like to hear from him now. The investigation interviewed everyone on the scene. Maybe "they" got to him.

>>You may not like Bill Simspson but, his products in no way contributed to the death of DE.<<

I agree.

>>One more question Joe, have you talked to RC? How do you know he questioned everyone on the team about whether or not they ever heard Bill Simpson say anything about the installation of the belts?<<

Because he was quoted as saying so.

[hdolan]

Good thread...break away from the cult...

[dog-ring]

Obviously Bill Simpson didn't get the "call"!

[slinger]

For what it's worth,RPM2night reported that Jimmy Spencer confirmed that Simpson warned Earnhardt about the belt installation.Spencer says he was warned about his own belts at the same time and that Simpson said that they weren't the only two drivers with improperly installed belts.You can choose to ignore everything Simpson says but he does appear able to back it up.NASCAR on the other hand,has made a number of decisions on safety which utterly defy all logic.This is a long way from being put to rest.

[ August 25, 2001: Message edited by: slinger ]

[Joe Fan]

Mr. Indy, I never really thought that highly of that Dr. Bohanon guy but he did not say that Earnhardt had facial injuries. He did say that the open faced helmet played no role in his death and that there were no signs of injuries tot his face at the very first press conference. But at the "separated belt" press conference, he changed his tune and said that his chin may have hit the steering wheel.

But Simpson has changed his tune too. He initially said that his belts would not break and when he was proven wrong, he qualified his statement.

If Simpson thinks he has been unfairly made a scapegoat (which he hasn't), he should file a lawsuit against NASCAR. He has hinted that he would so it is put up or shut up time. He will lose his arse unless he is able to prove that his sells dropped off dramtically. I think he resigned his position in his corporation just to show "mental stress" over this whole debacle (months after it was the highest) just to set the table for a possible lawsuit. How weak.

[ August 25, 2001: Message edited by: Joe Fan ]

[Dick Ralstin]

Hey Joe Fan,

I don't want to argue the seat belt issue, regarding Ironhead's crash, but I would like to tell you of what I saw your so called "flamboyant jerk" do one afternoon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The flamboyant jerk posted an announcement on the Speedway press room bulletin board stating he was going to demonstrate a new piece of safety equipment on the grassy area inside turn one at such and such a time .

That afternoon a crowd gathered to see what your flamboyant jerk was doing to demonstrate.

Bill showed up dressed in a brand new, shiny white driver's suit.

He sat down a chair and had a helper douse the new suit, with your flamboyant jerk still inside, with GASOLINE and touch a match to it.

The fire blazed brightly for few seconds before Speedway safety crews extinguished the flames.

Bill took the suit off shook the soot off and displayed the suit, and himself, completely unharmed.

Your flamboyant jerk had just introduced NOMEX to the racing world in a most Flamboyant, but very effective way.

There are many, many race drivers walking around today who are thanking Flamboyant Bill for his flamboyant demonstration of one of the greatest safety features in racing today, the nomex driver's suit.

[jandj]

Originally posted by hdolan:
<STRONG>Good thread...break away from the cult...</STRONG>

Would that be the cult of true believers that NASCAR is above reproach ?

[pawl]

I think what scares me the most when I read about this topic, on all boards out there. With all the lawsuits in this country. Will it be down to one safety co. one day building everything? Look at other industries {light planes for example} that quit building over lawsuits. Racing needs Simpson. His co. has made racing safer over the years. No product is 100 percent. You don't have to look far to see that in everything.

[Belanger99]

I am amazed at the number of people that continue to drink the Kool Aid that NASCAR dishes out.

I was and still am a huge Dale Earnhardt fan, but I can't take issue with Bill Simpson. The man has done too much for racing safety in the last thirty years, where sanctioning bodies such as NASCAR failed.

Remember the line in Days of Thunder from Robert Duvall, "under the watchful eyes of NASCAR? Well, it seems to me the watchful eyes see only what they want. The Briston race Saturday night is an excellent example, Brett Bodine wrecked a significant number of race cars. Any penalites as of this AM? Nope, even though someone could have gotten hurt of killed, NASCAR puts it down as "just racin' at Bristol". Hogwash.

IF you looked at Earnhardt's car, you can see that his way of sitting in the car was quite different, he sat low in the car (it ought to be required of all drivers, IMO) and back from the wheel quite a way. He liked it that way, and so be it. Simpson says (and it appears to be corroborated) that he told Earnhardt to change some of the things in the car. Childress, whom I have the utmost respect for, says no. Does it matter at this point?

What do we know? We know that the Simpson belt separated due to a condition called dumping, and probably caused by the way the belts were installed. OK, fine. Hard to fault the belt itself, and making them triple thick probably isn't the cure.

This is one great magic trick by NASCAR, making you watch something else, while losing focus on the real problem.

Dale said on many occasions, as have a whole host of other drivers, that restrictor plate racing is the big problem that drivers face. The dangers are exceptional, yet NASCAR has refused to find an acceptable solution. Such as reducing the size of the front air dam (as suggested by Ken Schrader) and knocking down the rear spoiler. Or, going to a much smaller V-8. Or any combination of these things.

The statement that a manufacturer should be in tune with the way a product is being used is absurd. All it does is make those that are using it irresponsibly unaccountable for their own actions. Should a manufacturer of chain saws anticipate that a consumer might use it to cut hair?

I'd agree that perhaps Bill could have come up with something for Dale, but really, Dale was going to do things his own way.

We've lost many other drivers, Neil Bonnett, Orr, Irwin, Petty, Roper to crashes in the last several years. To date, no one has addressed the stiffer front ends in cars. And NASCAR didn't get all up in arms over the deaths of three drivers last year. Only under intense media scrutiny did they act.

Vince McMahon is a great marketer of his product, the WWF. Does that mean he automatically earns your undying trust because he gives you a product you enjoy?

This is big business, and big business has repeatedly shown it cannot be trusted. Why should NASCAR be different?

Yes, Simpsons belt broke, we know it and we are pretty sure why. When the next stock car driver perishes or gets hurt like an Ernie Irvan (almost forgot about that) and the belts don't break, what questions will we ask then?

[MrIndy]

Good post Belanger99. NASCAR should have kept it speculative mouth shut until they had a better idea of what had happened. When NASCAR officials held up "a" broken belt and said it broke, that was like saying DE died because his seat belt broke. If you don't believe that, then perhaps you have another explanation as to why the press and fans ran with it and some fans even issued death threats to Bill Simpson.

And yes, Dr. Bonehead did say on Monday following the crash, that DE had facial injuries and when questioned by the press as to why he had said on the previous day that there were no facial injuries, he said he was speculating in the heat of the moment. Excuse me? Speculating? He was the d@m doctor who tried to resucitate DE!

Our whole entire point here is you are shooting arrows at Bill Simpson that shouldn't be shot. Of course, I guess to you who blame him, it is an opinion and everyone has a right to one.

[Lee Roy]

Originally posted by MrIndy:
<STRONG>NASCAR should have kept it speculative mouth shut until they had a better idea of what had happened. When NASCAR officials held up "a" broken belt and said it broke, that was like saying DE died because his seat belt broke. </STRONG>

Yet, if NASCAR would have kept their mouth shut about at separated belt (please note, I am not assigning blame), when the fact that a belt separated came to light, everyone would have been screaming at NASCAR because they knew of a belt separating and did not warn the other competitor's.

[Racewriter]

Dick, were you the guy barbecuing the hot dog?

Oh, just one little teensy-weensy thingy:

Three guys were killed in NASCAR in 2000, none of whom had their belts break. Wonder what you could learn if you had a blue-ribbon committee to investigate THOSE deaths?

[Joe Fan]

Dick, I was aware of that story which is why I started off my post acknowledging Simpson as being an innovator in motorsports safety. Others should be aware of it and realize that this is the way to sell safety equipment.

Belanger99, if you watch the race closely, Brett Bodine was blackflagged for "rough driving."

I believe the real problem with the safety with NASCAR is that drivers are hitting their heads on roll bars and the steering wheel. Blunt force trauma was listed as the official cause of death for both Dale Earnhardt and Neil Bonnett on their autopsy reports. The steering wheels in both Earnhardt and Bonnett's cars were bent to from the impact. Earnhardt's impact with the steering wheel was so bad that it pushed the steering column inward and down a bit. John Nemechek did not die from a basilar skull fracture. He hit his head on the b-pillar on a driver's side impact with the wall and it basically split his brain in two. It should be obvious with the concussions of Ernie Irvan along with this info that HANS-type devices seem to be the best solution in the interim. All the Winston Cup drivers are now wearing a HANS or Hutchens device except for Jimmy Spencer. So, the fire for this problem has been put out in my mind. I don't buy the head whip (without contact) theory causing basilar skull fractures in these crashes. It is possible but I would like to see some evidence of it and what the estimated threshold G forces it takes to cause the basilar skull fractures from head whip. To me, it is much more obvious that it is the contact that is causing these fatal fractures to the drivers.

Racewriter, if you watched the pre-race show last Saturdau, they said that Dr. Sicking is studying the other crashes of Petty, Roper and Irwin. However, I doubt that NASACR will have another presentation.

[ August 30, 2001: Message edited by: Joe Fan ]

[Racewriter]

Joe, we're both writers. Your "I don't buy the head whip theory" argument is getting into my area of expertise. Listen closely...

It isn't a "theory." It was listed as the official cause of death for Tony Roper and Kenny Irwin - I don't remember an actual cause of death listed for Adam Petty.

It was also the cause of death for J.D. McDuffie, Rodney Orr, and (I believe, I'll have to look this up) Neil Bonnett and Grant Adcox - NONE of these drivers had marks on the helmet consistent with contact with roll bars. BSF has also killed at least two short trackers that I know of this year, one in a late model in Oregon, one at Lebanon, Missouri. I can do some research later and look up the G-loading data if you really want me to, but why? I've got opinions on the HANS device as well - nice stopgap, but not the whole answer to the problem.

Jow, I write safety articles quite a bit. Tell you what, I won't argue with you about Masten Gregory if you won't argue with me about safety, huh? All due respect, of course...

[nitrofan]

nascar holding up that seat belt is like the Dallas PD holding up the mannlicher carcanon. (SP?)

you know what I mean.

[Joe Fan]

Originally posted by Racewriter:
<STRONG>Joe, we're both writers. Your "I don't buy the head whip theory" argument is getting into my area of expertise. Listen closely...

It isn't a "theory." It was listed as the official cause of death for Tony Roper and Kenny Irwin - I don't remember an actual cause of death listed for Adam Petty.

It was also the cause of death for J.D. McDuffie, Rodney Orr, and (I believe, I'll have to look this up) Neil Bonnett and Grant Adcox - NONE of these drivers had marks on the helmet consistent with contact with roll bars.

Joe, I write safety articles quite a bit. Tell you what, I won't argue with you about Masten Gregory if you won't argue with me about safety, huh? All due respect, of course...</STRONG>

Racewriter, sorry but I haven't seen your reply until now. I won't say exactly what I do for a living but I will tell you that I have somewhat of a medical background (ie. I took medicial physiology and anatomy with med students) as well as taking pathology and with several physics courses in pursuit of my professional degree. I am not an expert but I do have the background to understand the medical and physical aspects of what is going on, so I think I am more than qualified to draw conclusions than the majority of the motorsport yo-yo writers and fans who are doing so.

As far as having scratches on your helmet, if your head gets thrown back into a padded seat with enough force, you won't have a scratch on your helmet and you could still potentially get a BSF.

Also, for your information, Dale Earnhardt and Neil Bonnett's official causes of death were listed as blunt force head trauma. And both of their steering wheels were bent in from contact with them. You can view this info for yourself from their actual autopsy reports at www.websitecity.com (along with other morbid stuff that shouldn't be online).

BTW, I would love to see the actual autopsy reports for Irwin, Roper and Petty myself. Have you seen the actual ones or are you basing your info on what has been reported in the media? Since you live in my area, I would be willing to get together with you at the UMKC Med School library sometime in the near future and we can go over articles and case studies on basilar skull fractures found in the medical literature. Then we can discuss/debate this and motorsports safety in general (and Masten Gregory too!) if you would like. I am confident after doing so, you will see why I believe that BSFs being caused by head whip alone (without any form of contact) in these instances, is just a theory.

Even in 60mph crashes in our road cars, BSFs are believed to be caused by contact with steering wheel and/or dashboard. People have even received basilar skull fractures with nothing more than a small abrasion on the chin from hitting the steering wheel. Some people have even survived from minor basilar skull fractures. Some experts claim that you can only get BSFs from blunt force trauma to the head. Some people have died from brain contusions alone in a car carsh without any BSFs. It is all clear as mud! And I repeat, yes it is still very theoretical that head whip alone causes BSFs. There is nothing wrong with theories, there are a bunch of them used as the basis for drug therapies which have been successful. It is just that I am not a subscriber to that particular one.

[ September 11, 2001: Message edited by: Joe Fan ]

[beyondnascar]

If snow was made of B.S. there would have been a blizzard in Florida that still hasn't started to thaw! How much money was Simpson supposed to devote to developing a belt "Just for Dale's driving style?" Earnhardt had enough money, why didn't he develop it? Same reason he wore an open face helmet.
NASCAR is trying to use Simpson as a scapegoat.

Just my opinion. Viva Bill Simpson!

[ September 11, 2001: Message edited by: beyondnascar ]