NASCAR President Helton responds to supposed "cold war" between Simpson and NASCAR

[Joe Fan]

"The perception is that its a cold war between us (NASCAR and Bill Simpson) but the truth of the matter is NASCAR never, ever implied or stated that we felt that there was anything wrong with a Simpson product. We did launch an investigation because we had a separated belt. And everybody agrees that the belt separated in the accident, including Simpson Products.

"And I don't believe that Bill Simpson told Dale Earnhardt about the installation. Because I know, no one from Simpson Products ever told NASCAR about any of that. No one, not Bill or anyone representing Simpson Products ever told us about dumping, ever told us that there was a possibility that a belt could separate. And they never addressed the installation of the belts in cars, and particularly the three car. And Richard Childress says that no one did to him either, or his crew chiefs that worked for Dale over the years. And I believe Richard Childress."

"Evidence is out in the garage area, tonight's race; the majority of belts in those cars are made by Simpson Products. And if we wanted to do something about that, I think we could. But that is not the issue here. Our effort was to find as much information and facts and present those which we did Tuesday. It was not to exonerate anyone or not to point blame at anyone, and that's the truth of it all."

[texasfan3]

Sorry, but what about Jimmy Spencer's and Robin Webber's statements to the contrary?

[Joe Fan]

I believe that Simpson may have said something to some of the drivers about the mounting of belts but what did he exactly say and what did he say would be the consequences of mounting these against specs? If it was a bid deal and very dangerous, why didn't Bill Simpson write a letter addressing the issue and then send it certified mail to Bill France, Gary Nelson and Richard Childress? That way he would have some record that they received this information and it would also pretty much prevent him from having to pay out damages in a lawsuit.

I don't think that Simpson ever thought that his belts would break the way Earnhardt had his mounted. He said in the very beginning that his belts would not break and that never had one break before in the past. Then later when it was proven that they would due to this phenomenon called dumping, he backtracked and then qualified his statement with, "so long as they are mounted correctly."

[texasfan3]

I'm feel that Simpson never thought that he would have to deal with a lawsuit, and never thought that he would need a written record of his conversations with the drivers about the mounting of the safety belts. In our society nowadays, it seems that anyone can sue anyone else for any type of claim, real or imagined, and win and exorbint amount of money. It's a society of lawyers and lawsuits which I hate having to live in!

[Lee]

Appears now, that there may have been a little "cover-up" going on of BOTH sides. Good points Joe Fan, seems everybody has been trying to put the blaim 100% on NASCAR's sholders, when it now appears, as you have pointed out here, that Simpson's hands aren't exactly clean either.

Sorry to have been away, good to be back. For some reason, I haven't been able to access the site for a couple of weeks.