NASCAR changes rules after another seat belt case

Elwood · September 28, 2001

From Yahoo Sports :

By JENNA FRYER

AP Sports Writer

September 27, 2001

Reacting to the discovery of a partially torn seat belt in Jeremy Mayfield's car, NASCAR announced new rules Thursday regarding the placement of belts and manufacturer labels.

The changes were recommended by Dr. James Raddin and Dr. John Melvin, two experts NASCAR commissioned to investigate the death of Dale Earnhardt and conduct an additional study on occupant-restraint systems.

NASCAR sent them Mayfield's belt after it was found to be partially torn following an accident in Dover, Del., on Sunday.

Effective immediately, manufacturer labels cannot be located under the adjusting mechanism when the driver is buckled in the seat and has tightened the seat belts and shoulder harness.

If the label is under the adjusting mechanism, the label must be removed or relocated ``in a manner that does not affect the integrity of the belt material.'' The date of manufacture must still remain visible on the belts at all times.

Earnhardt was killed in an accident on the final lap of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18. An inspection of his car found a broken lap belt and investigators later attributed the break to the phenomenon known as ``dumping.''

Dumping occurs when the webbing is pulled or moved to one side of the adjustment device through which the belt webbing travels. When a dumped belt is under stress, it can separate and tear across the entire webbing.

Although Mayfield's partial tear is still under investigation, NASCAR believes the belt broke because of dumping.

``In talking with our people it became a common denominator that we wanted to address,'' said Winston Cup series director Gary Nelson. ``We decided to take that out of the equation -- that there is no label that is being asked to be 'loaded' by the adjuster.''

By moving the manufacturer label out from under the adjuster, there is less material that could be affected or dumped.

``The way the seats belts are manufactured, some of them have the manufacturing date and the manufacturers logo right where the buckle is, right where the driver adjusts it,'' said Chad Knaus, crew chief for Stacy Compton.

``When that gets up in there, it's easy for the seat belt to actually slip in that buckle. When there's force applied to it, it can actually twist. That's what they're trying to avoid.''

Nelson said teams can remove the manufacture labels if they find them located in the adjuster areas, but need permission from a NASCAR official before removing a date off the manufacture label if it is also in an adjuster.

NASCAR requires the manufacture dates to be visible on belts at all time to assure the belts are not too old to be used.

The modifications, distributed to all teams as a technical bulletin before the Thursday test sessions at the new Kansas Speedway, are not seen as an answer to why the belts are tearing but as a preventive measure to hopefully stop it from happening again.

``What happened to Jeremey has given us more insight to what needs to be done to make our cars safer,'' driver Jeff Burton said. ``Safety is a big deal to me, so when I am told to do something I do and don't question it. With these new rules, I'll do it because they are trying to learn from what happened to Jeremy.''

Mayfield's torn belt differed slightly from Earnhardt's, which was completely separated. Both belts were made by Simpson Performance Products.

Company founder Bill Simpson, who resigned as president this summer citing stress from Earnhardt's death, did not return a call for comment from The Associated Press.

But he told the Orlando Sentinel earlier this week that Mayfield's belt was part of a ``dog and pony show'' and indicated he was considering suing the sanctioning body.

``They can put on all the dog-and-pony shows they want,'' Simpson told The Sentinel. ``I hope they just keep going with it. It's just more food for the lawsuit.

``It looks to me like they're up to their old games. And that looks like character assassination to that company -- I don't even work for them anymore.''

Meanwhile, drivers are concerned about Mayfield's torn belt but most are sticking by Simpson products.

Ken Schrader, who went with Simpson to look at Earnhardt's car and belt following the February accident, said he also wanted to see Mayfield's car and belt.

``Obviously, it is very much a concern but until I look at it myself, I'm not going to form an opinion,'' Schrader said. ``I've still got all Simpson products in my vehicles as we speak, and I don't question Bill's products at all.''

September 28, 2001

I can't see anything good coming from NASCAR or teams modifying their belts. It makes more sense to me to have a manufacturer rep inspect and recommend changes. If a Simpson rep, for example, tells Jeff Burton, "The way you have the lap belt anchored could put a severe angle on the mount in a crash. I recommend that the anchors be changed to this configuration.", it would save a lot of this B.S. that is going on now.