NASCAR Questions Rescuer’s Story

Two and a half months after Dale Earnhardt’s death, NASCAR attorneys met Thursday with an Orlando firefighter who says the driver’s seat belt did not break during a crash at the Daytona 500.

During a 75-minute meeting at the firehouse where he works, Tommy Propst continued to insist that he found Earnhardt’s seat belts intact after the No. 3 Chevrolet hit the concrete wall of Daytona International Speedway.

“He was interrogated and he told the exact same story he has always told,” said his attorney, Elizabeth Faiella of Winter Park, Fla. “They believe Tommy is telling the truth, but that he’s mistaken that the belt is not severed.”

Controversy over the belt and whether it broke occupied NASCAR lawyers on two fronts. While two interrogated Propst, another in Daytona Beach, Fla., blocked an attempt by seat-belt maker Bill Simpson to win an apology from NASCAR officials he accuses of maligning his product. Simpson, who said he had an appointment with NASCAR president Mike Helton and chairman Bill France Jr., left the headquarters without seeing either man.

Simpson’s lawyer said his client would continue to seek an informal meeting, but the dispute threatens to result in a lawsuit between the racing group and the manufacturer of safety equipment used by many of its drivers.

Sixty miles away, Propst answered questions from NASCAR lawyers about his story that Earnhardt’s lap belt was in one piece after the Feb. 18 accident. Propst, one of the first rescuers to reach the car, said he had to tug on the latch of Earnhardt’s five-point harness before it opened.

His story, printed Sunday in the Orlando Sentinel and other Tribune Co. newspapers, differs from the version of NASCAR, which announced five days after the race that it found a broken lap belt. The surprise announcement shifted discussion of the accident from concern about driver head protection to an investigation of equipment failure.

Lawyers for NASCAR showed Propst photos of the belt that racing officials say they discovered in Earnhardt’s car. Faiella said the blood-spotted nylon webbing appeared to be ripped almost in two, leaving frayed edges. She said the NASCAR team said the belt actually was in two pieces. Although Propst said the left lap belt was tense when he found it, Faiella said NASCAR lawyers think the weight or position of Earnhardt’s body or seat somehow kept the belt tight after it tore along the metal adjuster plate.

Propst was questioned by Stuart Levey and Michael Barta, members of a Washington, D.C. law firm, and Miami private investigator D.C. Page. All referred inquiries to NASCAR officials. They asked Propst to meet with them again so they can demonstrate each other’s version of what happened on a race car similar to Earnhardt’s.

“Even though the [NASCAR] explanation does not make sense to him, he has agreed to attend the demonstration,” Faiella said.

Simpson arrived at NASCAR headquarters for a meeting he hoped would result in an acknowledgment that his product has nothing to do with Earnhardt’s death. Instead, a NASCAR lawyer met Simpson and reminded him of a letter sent to the racing organization in April by Simpson’s lawyer.

“We did receive correspondence. . . . asking us to refrain from communicating with him directly, and that any correspondence or any talks we were to have with Mr. Simpson was to be done through the lawyer’s office,” NASCAR spokesman John Griffin said afterward. “And we are going to respect that.”

Griffin said the equipment manufacturer had no meeting scheduled for Thursday morning with anyone from NASCAR.

“There was nothing on any of our schedules,” he said.

NASCAR’s explanation “just defies credulity,” Simpson lawyer Bob Horn said from his office in Jackson Hole, Wyo. “Bill set up an appointment,” Horn said. “He wanted to meet Wednesday, but was told they couldn’t meet Wednesday and to come down Thursday at 10 o’clock.”

Horn said he wrote the letter Griffin mentioned, but that he had no objection to Thursday’s meeting. He said NASCAR could have telephoned for his approval.

“They just stiffed Bill,” Horn said. “They just weaseled out of the meeting by saying, ‘Your lawyer’s not here and we’re not going to talk to you.’ ”

Horn said he faxed another letter to NASCAR Thursday afternoon, formally reiterating his request that Simpson be allowed to meet with France and Helton.

Since a Speedway doctor suggested at NASCAR’s Feb. 23 news conference that the broken belt might have played a role in Earnhardt’s death, at least one racing team dropped Simpson as a supplier and angry racing fans sent Simpson death threats.

He claims his company has been exonerated by Propst’s story and the report of an independent medical expert who found that the seat belt was not a factor in Earnhardt’s head injuries. Four other NASCAR drivers have died of similar injuries in the past year. The violent head whip that caused Earnhardt’s basilar skull fracture can be prevented by a head-and-neck restraint system required by other racing leagues.