Start your engines!
Play RPM.ESPN Stock Car Challenge!
Win a Honda S2000!
Play The CART Challenge powered by Honda!
|
|
Tuesday, May 1
Earnhardt Jr. believes seat belt broke
Associated Press
CONCORD, N.C. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes the seat belt
in his father's car was broken during his fatal accident, brushing
aside claims by a rescue worker that the belt was intact when
emergency crews arrived at the car.
"I believe that the belt broke and I will always believe
that," Earnhardt Jr. said Tuesday. "I'm not discarding anyone's
statement as fiction, but there are always going to be two sides. I
believe the belt broke."
|  | | Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he supports NASCAR's contention his father's seat belt broke during his fatal accident at Daytona. |
Dale Earnhardt was killed in an accident on the final turn of
the Daytona 500. Five days after the Feb. 18 crash, NASCAR
officials said they discovered a broken seat belt in Earnhardt's
crumpled car. After interviewing rescuers on the scene, NASCAR
determined it had not been cut.
Tommy Propst, an Orange County firefighter and emergency medical
technician who was one of the first on the scene, told the Orlando
Sentinel last weekend that the belt was in one piece when he got to
the car and he struggled to pull open the buckle before finally
releasing it.
Propst also said no one from NASCAR has interviewed him.
Earnhardt Jr. said whether the seat belt broke is not an issue
to him.
"I don't think it matters, it's not a valid question," he
said. "It's not an issue to me."
He supports NASCAR as it continues to investigate the
circumstances surrounding Earnhardt's death.
NASCAR is conducting an independent review into the accident,
and one of the focuses is on the broken seat belt. NASCAR president
Mike Helton has declined to discuss the investigation, saying he
would address it when the review is completed in August.
"I have total confidence in NASCAR and Mike Helton," Earnhardt
Jr. said. "I know in my heart what happened and I feel comfortable
with that. I'm not waiting for an answer -- I know what the answer
is and I'm fine with it. I sleep good at night."
Earnhardt Jr. refused to discuss what he thinks happened. He did
say his conclusions have not come from NASCAR because he has not
been kept informed on the progress of the investigation.
Earnhardt was in third place, one spot behind his son, leading a
second pack of cars when his Chevrolet slid down the track and made
contact with Sterling Marlin's car. The hit sent Earnhardt's car
shooting up the banking and into the wall at 190 mph.
An independent medical examiner who studied the autopsy photos
said Earnhardt likely died when his head whipped violently forward
during the collision.
|
“ |
I'm not discarding anyone's
statement as fiction, but there are always going to be two sides. I
believe the belt broke.” |
|
|
—Earnhardt Jr. |
That theory contradicted that of the speedway physician, who
said he thought Earnhardt was killed when his chin hit the steering
wheel -- which would not have happened had the seat belt not been
broken.
Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr. has started to come to terms with his
father's death and his recent success on the track has helped.
After finishing second at Daytona, Earnhardt Jr. struggled until
the past four weeks.
He's finished 11th or higher in the last four races, and his
third-place finish last weekend lifted him to 10th place in the
standings.
"Finishing poorly added to the stress in the early stages," he
said. "But it has gotten easier to deal with. I get sad less often
when I think about him. I think about more pleasant memories when I
think about him then when I did a few weeks ago."
One of those memories is of his father joining him in Victory
Lane after Earnhardt Jr. won The Winston last May. He said he'll
forever view that as the greatest moment of his career.
"My father coming to Victory Lane and not having an airplane to
rush and get on, so he stuck around and we threw beer on each other
and jumped around and hollered and just made fools of ourselves,"
he said. "I don't think I'll ever get that close to that feeling I
had that night again."
 Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
|
|
|
|
