Bill Simpson
Simpson in 2015
BornElwood Jesse Simpson
(1940-03-14)March 14, 1940
Hermosa Beach, California, U.S.
DiedDecember 16, 2019(2019-12-16) (aged 79)
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.

Elwood Jesse "Bill" Simpson (March 14, 1940 – December 16, 2019) was an American racing driver, best known as a pioneer in the racing safety business with his company Simpson Performance Products. Later during his business career he branched into developing equipment for football safety.

Racing career

Simpson started in drag racing and SCCA Formula racing, eventually moving up to the USAC Championship Car series. He raced in the 1968-1974 and 1976-1977 seasons, with 52 career starts. He qualified twentieth for the 1974 Indianapolis 500, and finished thirteenth. He finished in the top ten 11 times, with his best finish in 6th position in 1970 at Milwaukee. 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.[1]

Race safety advocate

In 1958, the 18-year-old Simpson broke both arms in a drag racing crash. Simpson later said, "Until then, I was like most drivers. The only time I thought about safety was after I'd been hurt. This time, I was hurt bad enough to do a lot of thinking."[1]

Simpson's uncle owned a military surplus store, and suggested that he use a cross-form parachute to slow down the drag car. Simpson rented a sewing machine to create a prototype. Simpson got together with his friend dragster driver Mike Sorokin to test the prototype. 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. The chute was too big for the car, and the car went airborne and crashed into a tree nursery. Both racers were jailed for the incident, but Simpson Drag Chutes was founded.[2]

The first person to inquire about and use his parachute was "Big Daddy" Don Garlits.[3] He evolved his business into a number of other safety items, such as gloves, helmets, restraints, and shoes. Simpson designed NASA's first umbilical cords, where he met Pete Conrad.[3] Conrad introduced Simpson to DuPont product Nomex in 1967. Simpson used the product to create the first fire suit to be used in racing.[1][3] He took the suit to the 1967 Indianapolis 500 where it was worn by 30 of 33 drivers.[1] Simpson had developed over 200 racing safety products, including three generations of fire suits. Simpson has at several times demonstrated the suit's effectiveness, by being set on fire while wearing a suit.[4][5][6]

Earnhardt controversy

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.[4][6] NASCAR's initial investigation into the crash in part blamed seat belt failure;[4] eventually the series moved to institute long called for safety standards, such as mandated use of the HANS device.[7]

Simpson received death threats and bullets into his house, which led to his resignation in July 2001.[4] Simpson sued NASCAR for $8.5 million defamation of character suit in February 2003,[4][6] later withdrawing it after receiving an undisclosed settlement.[3][7]

Later career

After leaving Simpson Performance Products, Bill Simpson realized that he still had much to contribute to improving driver safety. After a one-year non-compete with Simpson Performance Products expired, he started Impact! Racing in 2002. In addition to the drag chutes and Nomex underwear that Bill Simpson first introduced to racing, Impact! began to manufacture restraints, helmets, race suits, shoes, and gloves for Formula One, NHRA, NASCAR, IndyCar, and other racing applications. In 2010, Simpson sold Impact! Racing to Robbie Pierce and MasterCraft Safety.

Football 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. He partnered with Chip Ganassi to form Simpson Ganassi Helmets.[8] While their safety-related products and efforts to enhance safety-related procedures were welcomed by teams at local levels, they were resisted by the NFL.[7] Simpson and Ganassi sold the company in 2018.[9]

Death

Simpson died of complications from a stroke, in Indianapolis, on December 16, 2019.[10][11]

Awards and honors

Racing results

USAC Championship Car series

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Rank Points
1968 Bill Simpson HAN LVG PHX TRE INDY MIL MOS MOS LAN PIP CDR NAZ IRP IRP LAN LAN MTR MTR SPR MIL DUQ ISF TRE SAC MCH HAN PHX RIV
27		 NC 0
1969 Bill Simpson PHX
DNQ		 HAN
11		 INDY MIL
DNQ		 LAN PIP CDR
13		 NAZ TRE IRP
12		 IRP
8		 MIL
21		 SPR DOV
DNQ		 DUQ ISF BRN
12		 BRN
7		 TRE SAC KEN
DNQ		 KEN PHX
15		 RIV
8		 30th 320
1970 Bill Simpson PHX
22		 SON
10		 TRE
19		 INDY MIL
20		 LAN
19		 CDR
14		 MCH IRP
7		 SPR MIL
6		 ONT
DNQ		 DUQ ISF SED TRE
19		 SAC PHX
21		 33rd 295
1971 Bill Simpson RAF
17		 RAF
13		 PHX
23		 TRE INDY
DNQ		 MIL
19		 POC
18		 MCH
DNQ		 MIL ONT
DNQ		 TRE
28		 PHX
12		 42nd 15
1972 Bill Simpson PHX
24		 TRE INDY
DNQ		 MIL MCH
13		 POC
24		 MIL
24		 ONT
9		 TRE PHX
17		 27th 200
1973 Joe Hunt TWS TRE TRE INDY
DNQ		 MIL POC MCH MIL ONT ONT
14		 ONT MCH MCH TRE TWS
26		 PHX NC 0
1974 Bill Simpson ONT ONT
14		 ONT
14		 PHX TRE 32nd 105
American Kids Racers INDY
13		 MIL
8		 POC
18		 MCH MIL
19		 MCH TRE TRE
Rolla Vollstedt PHX
11
1975 Bill Simpson ONT ONT ONT PHX TRE INDY
DNQ		 MIL POC MCH MIL MCH TRE PHX – –
1976 Bill Simpson PHX TRE INDY
DNQ		 MIL
8		 POC
23		 MCH
8		 TWS
12		 TRE
14		 MIL ONT
14		 MCH
15		 TWS
20		 PHX
DNQ		 28th 190
1977 Theodore Racing ONT
9		 PHX
22		 TWS TRE INDY MIL POC MOS MCH TWS MIL ONT MCH TRE PHX 34th 80

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bill Simpson at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
  2. ↑ Archived 2006-10-19 at the Wayback Machine Jim Donnelly, Muscle Machines 1203 Hot Rod Hero: Bill Simpson
  3. 1 2 3 4 Archived 2006-10-19 at the Wayback Machine Lori Lovely, "Nuvo Safety Spelled S-i-m-p-s-o-n"
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Korth, Joanne (August 21, 2002). "Bill Simpson is glad to be back: A year after NASCAR's Earnhardt report, the man who was scrutinized by it returns to the safety business". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on 2002-12-18. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  5. ↑ Markus, Rober (May 25, 1993). "Indy Safety Starts Before Engines Do: Fire Suits, Helmets Help Protect Drivers". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Miller, Robin (August 2002). "Crash Course: When NASCAR Blamed Bill Simpson, auto racing's foremost safety pioneer, for the death of driving great Dale Earnhardt, the Indianapolis business owner bumped back". Indianapolis Monthly. Emmis Communications: 48–56. ISSN 0899-0328. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 "Bill Simpson Lit Himself on Fire to Protect Racers Worldwide". Road & Track. 2020-04-29. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  8. ↑ Cavin, Curt (February 4, 2013). "Head Master". Autoweek. 63 (3): 62–63.
  9. ↑ New local owners of SG Helmets hope to protect next generation of football players - Karen Billing, Rancho Santa Fe Review, 4 September 2018
  10. ↑ "Safety pioneer Bill Simpson, 79, dies". IndyCar.com. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  11. ↑ "Racing safety pioneer Bill Simpson dies at 79". Autoweek. 2019-12-16. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  12. ↑ "Bill Simpson". www.mshf.com. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  13. ↑ "Bill Simpson". IMS Museum. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
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