Posted on 09/24/2001 5:54:42 PM PDT by Jeff Gordon Fan
CONCORD, N.C. -- NASCAR officials found a partially torn left lap belt in the No. 12 Ford following an accident by Jeremy Mayfield in Sunday’s MBNA Cal Ripken Jr. 400 at Dover Downs International Speedway, the sanctioning body announced late Monday.
The belt, according to NASCAR spokeswoman Danielle Humphrey, was a Simpson Performance Products belt. Humphrey was unaware where exactly the left lap belt broke, but did say the partial tear showed similar “dumping” characteristics to that of the belt installed in Dale Earnhardt’s car during his fatal crash on Feb. 18.
The act of dumping occurs when the seat belt webbing is pulled or moved significantly to one side of the metal adjustment device through which the webbing is threaded.
“We have talked to Simpson Performance Products and asked them to take a look at the belt and offer their suggestions on what happened,” Humphrey said.
When reached late Monday, company founder Bill Simpson said that he had yet to be informed of the matter.
“That means nothing to me, I don’t work for Simpson anymore. I have no comment because I don’t know anything about it. I hadn’t heard anything about it until now,” Simpson said. “I’m busy doing (research and development) right now, I don’t work for Simpson anymore.”
No one at Simpson Performance Products was available for comment late Monday evening.
No one from the No. 12 team was available for comment. Mayfield suffered only minor injuries in the accident, but was taken to Bayhealth Medical Center for precautionary reasons. He was later released after treatment for a chipped tooth and bruises on his right shoulder and side.
The partially torn left lap belt was found by officials during the standard post-accident review of the car. The car is now stationed in NASCAR’s research and development center near Hickory, N.C., where it will be reviewed by outside experts.
NASCAR said it plans to offer recommendations to its teams prior to this coming weekend’s activities.
Looks like speed is overtaking technology.
---max
There is not enough bandwidth in the world for a discussion on Chapel Hill.
The Tarheel
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