NASCAR: Earnhardt's seat belt came apart

By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive
February 23, 2001
4:09 PM EST (2109 GMT)

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. - A broken safety belt was discovered in Dale Earnhardt’s race car last Sunday in Daytona Beach, Fla., NASCAR announced Friday.

According to NASCAR Winston Cup Director Gary Nelson, the left lap belt of the 5-point restraining harness in Earnhardt’s cockpit came apart, allowing the driver to thrust forward into the steering column upon impact with the wall during a last-lap crash in the Feb. 18 Daytona 500.

“The lap belt connects on both sides to the roll cage. The people who came to the scene found that the buckle was latched,” Nelson said. “What we found later on, after looking at the car, was that when we unbuckled it … it was separated between the two pieces of metal hardware. The webbing itself had separated.”

The belt, which rested on Earnhardt’s lap, is connected on one side to the roll cage on Earnhardt’s left and on the other side to a metal fastener over the driver’s belt-buckle. Both buckles were connected.

However, the “webbing” area between the two buckles snapped near the roll cage buckle when Earnhardt’s Chevrolet impacted the wall.

Consequently, the seven-time Winston Cup champion impacted the steering wheel with his head and chest, resulting in a fatal basal skull fracture, according to Dr. Steve Bohannon, director of emergency services for Daytona International Speedway. Earnhardt’s autopsy revealed eight broken ribs, a skull fracture from the back to the front of the head, a fractured sternum and a fractured left ankle.

“The major impact of Mr. Earnhardt was forward and to the right,” Bohannon said. “The belt gave way and let the body move forward and to the right, and it likely contacted the steering wheel with the chest and face. It appears that probably his chin struck the steering column in such a way that the forces were transferred up the mandible (jaw bone)… and into the base of the skull.”

Earnhardt was one of only a few NASCAR Winston Cup Series drivers to wear an open-faced helmet. Bohannon said that, due to the nature of Earnhardt’s injuries, a closed-face helmet might have made a difference.

“Certainly no one can say for sure what would have happened, but I think that could’ve played a role,” Bohannon said. “He would’ve had a different pattern of injuries.”

NASCAR President Mike Helton said the broken belt was discovered Sunday evening after the accident. Richard Childress, Earnhardt’s longtime owner and friend, said the belts in question were brand new, manufactured in last November, when the car was built.

In an effort to eliminate any speculation, NASCAR would not say whether the belt was frayed or cut, nor would they name the manufacturer. It was, however, noted by car owner Childress that many drivers use the same type of belts, and Earnhardt has used that type of belt for most of his career.

Nelson said that such an incident had never been seen before in NASCAR’s 52 years.

“We’ve never seen it, and in talking to people who are in the business of producing lap belts say that they’ve never seen it,” Nelson said.

The No. 3 Chevrolet is still in NASCAR’s possession, as they will continue an already extensive investigation.

“We think we’ve got the best people working on this issue,” Nelson said. “Hopefully we’ll find an answer real quick and be able to say this is exactly what happened. In any study, you don’t know when that answer will come, how it will come or if it will ever come. We’re very confident that a thorough study and investigation will be performed to try to find the bottom of this.”