^ a b c d Archived at the Wayback Machine Lori Lovely, "Nuvo Safety Spelled S-i-m-p-s-o-n".^ Archived at the Wayback Machine Jim Donnelly, Muscle Machines 1203.^ a b c d e Bill Simpson at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) Racing results USAC Championship Car series He was the author of the book Racing Safely, Living Dangerously, and its sequel, Through the Fire. In 2003, he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in the "at large" category. He partnered with Chip Ganassi to form Simpson Ganassi Helmets. Simpson designed a lighter football helmet after attending an Indianapolis Colts football game and witnessing a player being hit in the head by the ball. In 2010, Bill Simpson sold Impact! Racing to Robbie Pierce and MasterCraft Safety. In addition to the drag chutes and Nomex underwear that Bill Simpson first introduced to racing, Impact! also manufactures restraints, helmets, race suits, shoes, and gloves for drag racing, NASCAR, Indycar, and other racing applications. After a one-year non-compete with Simpson Performance Products expired, he started Impact! Racing in 2002. Īfter leaving Simpson Performance Products, Bill Simpson realized that he still had much to contribute to improving driver safety. Simpson withdrew his lawsuit with an undisclosed settlement. Simpson sued NASCAR for $8.5 million defamation of character suit in February 2003. Simpson received death threats and bullets into his house, which led to his resignation in July 2001. NASCAR's investigation into the crash in part blamed seat belt failure. Simpson Performance Products was involved in a controversy after the February 2001 death of Dale Earnhardt over whether the seat belt manufactured by the company had malfunctioned. Simpson has at several times demonstrated the suit's effectiveness, by being set on fire while wearing a suit. Simpson had developed over 200 racing safety products, including three generations of fire suits. He took the suit to the 1967 Indianapolis 500 where it was worn by 30 of 33 drivers. Simpson used the product to create the first fire suit to be used in racing. Conrad introduced Simpson to DuPont product Nomex in 1967. Simpson designed NASA's first umbilical cords, where he met Pete Conrad. He evolved his business into a number of other safety items, such as gloves, helmets, restraints, and shoes. The first person to inquire about and use his parachute was "Big Daddy" Don Garlits. Both racers were jailed for the incident, but Simpson Drag Chutes was founded. The chute was too big for the car, and the car went airborne and crashed into a tree nursery. They tested it by attaching it to a tow hitch, and dumping it from the back of the Chevy wagon while Sorokin drove down a street at 100 mph. Simpson got together with his friend dragster driver Mike Sorokin to test the prototype. Simpson rented a sewing machine to create a prototype. Simpson's uncle owned a military surplus store, and suggested that he use a cross-form parachute to slow down the drag car. This time, I was hurt bad enough to do a lot of thinking." The only time I thought about safety was after I'd been hurt. Simpson later said, "Until then, I was like most drivers. In 1958, the 18-year-old Simpson broke both arms in a drag racing crash. He decided to end his racing career in 1977, because he started to think about a telephone call that he needed to make while he was practicing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He finished in the top ten 11 times, with his best finish in 6th position in 1970 at Milwaukee. He qualified twentieth for the 1974 Indianapolis 500, and finished thirteenth. He raced in the 77 seasons, with 52 career starts. Simpson started in drag racing and SCCA Formula racing, eventually moving up to the USAC Championship Car series. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2003. He left Simpson Performance in a controversy surrounding Dale Earnhardt's death and started Impact! Racing. " Bill" Simpson (Ma– December 16, 2019) was an American racecar driver, but is best known as a pioneer in the racing safety business with his company Simpson Performance Products. Bill Simpson at the 2015 Indianapolis 500Į.
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