I had a little device three years ago at Daytona - it's common now in Indy car racing, then it wasn't then, it was just coming on the scene - it's a little transducer that goes on the tire's valve stem. It's about three-quarters of an inch in diameter and about a half inch tall. There's a little LED box on the dashboard of the car with four red lights, one for each tire. You preset the transducer - tell me when the tire deflates to say, under twenty pounds per square inch. When that tire goes under twenty PSI, whatever tire it is, the corresponding LED goes on. A driver knows he's getting a flat tire before he crashes into the wall. They told me to go away because somebody could cheat with it. How the hell do you cheat that?

CRO: NASCAR has recently decided to allow impact recorders in the cars, though.

Simpson: Have you seen any in cars yet? Have you seen any "black boxes" in cars?

CRO: No

Simpson: Well, I haven't either. Nor have I heard of anybody putting them in the car when they're racing.

CRO: They're planning installations at the start of next year.

Simpson: That's really good. No point in doing that in a hurry.

CRO: We saw Earnhardt and Schrader hit the wall at Daytona, and Kenny walked away. Although the crashes weren't the same, was there something different in Schrader's car that allowed him to come out alive? Have you looked at Schrader's car?

Simpson: No, I didn't look at Schrader's car. I don't believe Earnhardt was going 178 MPH when he hit the wall. I'm never going to believe that. I don't believe there was a broken seat belt. I think the seat belt was torn. I have my own theories on what happened, but at this point in time, can't expound on them.

LET IT REST? NOT LIKELY

CRO: Some people think you should let this go. The public is going to forget, and racers are going to continue to buy Simpson products. So, why keep bringing this up?

Simpson: One, I'm not the one that keeps bringing it up. Two, I'll never let it slide because I'm the one that sleeps with my self at night. I've devoted my whole life to this - 43 years of my life. I've never had a job with anybody else. Nobody is going to remember anything I did good, all they're going to say is, "Oh yeah, that's the guy that built the seat belts that broke in Earnhardt's car and killed him." That's the perception.

CRO: Is that perception still out there, do you think?

Simpson: No, I don't now. But then on the other hand, do you think I can just walk away and let that slide? I don't know of any sane human being that would. You just cannot imagine the last six months of hell, buddy. I didn't have that coming. There is no way that should have ever happened. They had no business having a press conference.

CRO: So, is some pending litigation coming?

Simpson: Probably.

CRO: What would close this out for you Bill? What exactly do you want?

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