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Wednesday, August 22
Report ignores chassis construction
By Jack Arute
ESPN.com
NASCAR ended their six-month investigation into Dale Earnhardt's death Tuesday. Or, did they?
In a 2½-hour broad ranging, detailed presentation capped by a 15-page written report, the stock car giant tried to right many of the errors they committed along the way. As I watched, I felt good about NASCAR for the first time in more than six months. Now, 24 hours later, I'm not so sure.
|  | | Dr. James H. Raddin Jr. shows a slide of the seat belt from Dale Earnhardt's car during Tuesday's news conference in Atlanta. |
Dr. John Reid and Dr. Dean Sicking, professors at the University of Nebraska, are two respected independent researchers. If these two had any agenda, it would have to be a bend towards safety. Nebraska has been intimately involved in soft wall and crash barrier research for almost a decade. Theirs are respected voices.
When I spoke to Dr. Robert Hubbard, the co-creator of the much-heralded HANS device, he was initially pleased with the report. You could tell he hoped NASCAR would go a step further than they did and mandate the use of head and neck restraint devices, but he understands the process NASCAR opted for.
"You must remember," Hubbard said, "that NASCAR started informing drivers about safety issues long before Dale Earnhardt's death."
Hubbard and Dr. Jim Melvin held a series of safety seminars during the 2000-01 off-season. They held another set recently in Indianapolis as part of NASCAR's Brickyard 400 stop.
I spoke with Paul Steneki, Ford Motor Company's Manager of Racing Aerodynamics and Special Projects. He is the man behind the "black boxes" that heretofore have been part of Formula One, CART and IRL cars for years. Ford has been pushing NASCAR to include their use on their cars and starting next season they will.
"It will help us to ascertain exactly what happens in every crash" Steneki said.
Dr. Steve Olvey, CART's Medical Director applauded NASCAR's decision to create a medical liaison that will coordinate all medical operations at Winston Cup sites.
"I think racing is better off today that it was 24 hours ago" Olvey said.
It looked like NASCAR had all the bases covered.
Even the seat belt issue seemed more plausible. The experts said their investigation did discover an EMT attempted to cut something inside Earnhardt's crashed car. It was however his helmet strap and not the lap belt. They determined that the lap belt was separated, and not cut. They also said the broken belt was not the sole factor in Earnhardt's death, but it played a role along with several other factors.
But, within minutes of the end of NASCAR's show, Simpson Performance Products held its own news conference and revealed an independent study showed Earnhardt's seat belts were not installed properly, a fact Bill Simpson, the company's founder and former chairman, repeatedly explained to Earnhardt.
"Bill Simpson told him for years that the way he was using the belts was not safe," said Bob Horn, one of Simpson's lawyers. "Dale listened, but his response was to do it the way he wanted to do it."
There it was again. The seat belt. The crux of much allegation and dispute. Conflicting independent studies leave the issue unresolved. NASCAR has one position, Simpson Products another.
As post-investigation days stretch on, this issue will take on added importance. Black boxes will not measure the proper angles of seat and belt installations. HANS devices have nothing to do with what happens when an improperly installed belt stretches and experiences as much as 5,000 pounds of stress.
Furthermore, where were recommendations concerning the construction of NASCAR chassis? Experts I have spoken to acknowledge this is an ongoing issue NASCAR must address. Crushabilty and energy absorption must become prevalent in car construction. During the course of NASCAR's news conference, computer modeling clearly showed what happens to a car at impact. Yet, I never heard any of the experts from Nebraska or NASCAR suggest this will be one of the issues NASCAR's new research facility will investigate.
Immediately following the presentation, I said on ESPN Radio that I was proud to count myself a NASCAR fan again. I was wrong. I was lulled into thinking NASCAR was embarking on a new road that included candor, honesty and a willingness to admit they don't always have all the answers.
After separating the bells and whistles NASCAR used in their presentation from the facts, I am left disappointed. I hoped for more. Especially when 50 people were used and $1 million was spent.
"We are still not going to react for the sake of reacting," NASCAR President Mike Helton said.
That is almost the same thing he said the day after Earnhardt died. It has been the guiding precept throughout NASCAR's investigation.
I hoped NASCAR had changed. I'm afraid they haven't and instead of today being the start of a new NASCAR, it now looks like it's just a continuation of the same old sanctioning body. I hope they prove me wrong. I'm afraid, however, I have a better shot at winning the lottery. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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