Dale Earnhardt: Controversy over the cause(s) of his death

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Dale Earnhardt was a NASCAR driver whose death on 18th February 2001 led to controversy over its causes and the degrees of responsibility of those involved. The controversy ultimately led to improvements in NASCAR and general race track safety.

Going into the final turn during the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 race, Earnhardt appeared to make slight contact with another car. Earnhardt’s car took off up the banking and struck the wall head-on. Earnhardt's car was also hit on the passenger's side by another car driven by Ken Schrader. The two cars ended up in the infield grass. Schrader was able to climb out of his car. Earnhardt Sr. did not, having died on impact of massive head injuries.

At a news conference five days after the fatal crash, NASCAR officials announced that a seat belt had broken in Earnhardt's car. Daytona International Speedway physician Dr. Steve Bohannon said he thought the faulty belt had allowed Earnhardt's chin to strike the steering wheel, causing a basilar skull fracture, killing him. The manufacturers of seat belts for NASCAR, Simpson Race Products of Charlotte, North Carolina, maintained that the belt had failed because it had been installed in an unapproved fashion in order to increase Earnhardt's comfort, an allegation that had been supported by some who were familiar with the situation.

Certainly, being held responsible for the death of one of NASCAR's most popular and successful drivers was not a desirable prospect for Simpson. On the other hand, NASCAR also did not wish to be seen as negligent in not requiring adequate head and neck restraint for drivers in the wake of five fatal accidents in the past 11 months, including popular drivers Kenny Irwin, Jr., Tony Roper, and Adam Petty, grandson of legendary NASCAR driver Richard Petty. NASCAR soon made it a requirement to wear full faced helmets (although Earnhardt had been one of the very few to still use an open face helmet).

The Orlando Sentinel, particularly Sentinel sportswriter Ed Hinton, attempted to acquire Earnhardt's autopsy records and photos for study, autopsy records being normally public documents in Florida, but Earnhardt's widow, Teresa, (along with public opinion) petitioned a judge to seal the records. After a short court battle, it was mutually agreed to appoint Dr. Barry Myers, a Duke University expert on crash injuries, to independently study Earnhardt's death. On April 10, 2001, Myers published his report rejecting NASCAR's explanation, finding that Earnhardt's death was in fact the result of his inadequately restrained head and neck snapping forward, independent of the broken seat belt (making the question of proper or improper installation irrelevant).

"If the outboard lap belt had remained intact throughout the crash, Mr. Earnhardt's head would still likely have experienced similar inertial forces and similar contact forces with the steering wheel. As such, the restraint failure does not appear to have played a role in Mr. Earnhardt's fatal injury." [1]

Dr. Philip Villanueva, a University of Miami neurosurgeon who had previously analyzed the crash for the Sentinel before the autopsy records were available, said he had reached the same conclusion, but had wanted to examine the autopsy photos to be certain. Dr. Steve Olvey, medical director of Championship Auto Racing Teams for 22 years, and Wayne State University crash expert John Melvin also agreed with Myers' report. Simpson's founder, Bill Simpson, called the report "The best news I've heard in seven weeks. I've been living in daily hell."

On the same day as Myers' report was made public, NASCAR announced its own investigation, after having remained silent for six weeks since the accident. However, when the greatly anticipated official NASCAR report[2], which had cost over a million dollars, was published on August 21, 2001, it cited collision with another car, the speed and angle of impact, and separation of the seat belt as factors in the fatality. After NASCAR's report, Simpson retired, citing the stress as "too much." The Simpson company attorneys asked NASCAR to unequivocally assert:

  • The belts were of high quality in workmanship and there were no design or manufacturing defects.
  • The belts met the NASCAR rule book requirements.
  • The belts, as installed, did not conform to manufacturer installation requirements.
  • The separation of the left lap belt was not a result of design or manufacturing defect, but caused by improper installation.
  • The belt separation was not the cause of Earnhardt's death.

NASCAR, however, did not respond. - NASCAR declined at the time to require drivers to wear the uncomfortable head and neck restraints. NASCAR president Mike Helton said that "We are still not going to react for the sake of reacting." However, it did state that it "encouraged their use." Drivers were indeed encouraged, with 41 out of 43 drivers wearing them at the Pepsi 400 by Meijer at Michigan International Speedway on August 19, 2001, just two days before NASCAR's report came out.

Two months later, after Earnhardt's son Kerry was involved in a fatal crash in an ARCA race where he and Blaise Alexander collided late in an ARCA race, and Alexander was killed because of a basal skull fracture, NASCAR quickly mandated head and neck restraints.