Simpson goes on without getting meeting

By Mike Fish, CNNSI.com
May 26, 2001
1:05 PM EDT (1705 GMT)

CONCORD, N.C. -- When embattled safety-equipment manufacturer Bill Simpson showed up at their doorstep, NASCAR officials refused to meet with him in Daytona Beach -- and they've been no more responsive to overtures from his attorney.

Simpson was hopeful of sitting down with top NASCAR officials this week, between the staging of The Winston last Saturday and the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday. His attorney, Bob Horn, proposed the meeting in a letter two weeks ago.

As of this weekend, NASCAR has not responded and so Simpson remains in Indianapolis, where he's been working with teams prior to the Indianapolis 500.

"My attorney said that I would leave Indianapolis and go down there and have a meeting with them," Simpson said. "We haven't heard anything. They didn't answer. So I'm still here in Indianapolis."

Asked if he was surprised by lack of a response, Simpson said: "I don't know, man. I don't want to talk about this stuff anymore. I'm over it. I'm busy doing what I do, making safety equipment."

NASCAR president Mike Helton has refused to discuss the Simpson situation.

Simpson has wanted an update on NASCAR's probe of the crash that killed Dale Earnhardt and, in some form or another, a statement clearing him of any culpability -- and thus, return his safety equipment company to the sport's good graces.

Less than a week after Earnhardt crashed at Daytona, NASCAR officials held a new conference to announce that a lap belt failure might have contributed to the driver's fatal head injuries. His company has supplied belts and other safety gear to racing teams for three decades.

Subsequently, an independent study of the autopsy photos by Barry Myers, an expert from Duke University, found that seat-belt failure could not have contributed to Earnhardt's death.

Simpson showed up for a meeting earlier this month with Helton and chairman Bill France Jr., only to be told officials couldn't sit with him unless his attorney was present. Horn said the NASCAR legal team overacted, though acknowledging an April 13 letter he sent Helton, requesting his presence at any meetings involving the seat-belt controversy.

This proposal enjoys Horn's legal blessing, but the NASCAR response apparently remains unchanged.