....and then there was the HANS device he had 'poo-pooed' and which also would have at least contributed to likely saving his life that day, or giving him a much better chance given his liking for loose belts. https://www.auto123.com/en/news/nascar- ... ife/39867/
Bad-ass & popular certainly, immortal certainly not.
* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left
“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)
* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
I lol'd at yesterday's Autosport article which concluded:
Autosport wrote:Twenty years on from Earnhardt's tragic demise, his legacy in improving NASCAR safety is clear to see. The safety systems are as tough and resilient as he was as a racer, and it's fair to assume that he'd have really liked that.
correct me if I'm wrong, but if there was an 'advocate for keeping un-safety', it would be Dale.
@jimclark@Everso Biggyballies : I know he liked his belts (a bit) loose, but with the belts being 'mounted wrong' you actually mean it was more than just loose?
I just watched the final 20 laps of the 2001 Daytona 500. It's like torture. You know it is going to happen but the white flag comes out and you're still hoping you're watching another race.
Earnhardt's death probably saved a LOT of other drivers but it seems to be one of the biggest losses in American motorsport.
Dale Sr.'s death probably made Jr a lot more popular than he would've ever been under his father's shadow. Every Sr. fan flocked to Jr. after the former's death. No doubt that put a world of expectations on his shoulder, most of which he didn't really meet, but he did as well as he could.
PTRACER wrote: ↑3 years ago
I just watched the final 20 laps of the 2001 Daytona 500. It's like torture. You know it is going to happen but the white flag comes out and you're still hoping you're watching another race.
Earnhardt's death probably saved a LOT of other drivers but it seems to be one of the biggest losses in American motorsport.
The thing is, when I first saw the crash (years after the event) it looked so 'innocent' compared to some of the wrecks he had been involved in. Obviously the angle at which he hit, made worse by Shrader collecting him, was bad.
Antonov wrote: ↑3 years ago@jimclark @Everso Biggyballies : I know he liked his belts (a bit) loose, but with the belts being 'mounted wrong' you actually mean it was more than just loose?
"Simpson launched his own investigation and maintained that the belts in Earnhardt's Chevrolet were improperly installed and that led to a malfunction known as "dumping" -- where the seat belts bind up due to an improper angle of mounting and thereby can be weakened or compromised.
Simpson repeatedly warned Earnhardt that such a practice was dangerous but his friend "laughed it off."
Those were the days my friends, we thought they'd never end.....