E. J. "Bill" Simpson (March 14, 1940 – 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 Simpson Performance Products is an American motorsports parts supplier. It supplies gloves, helmets, harness systems, driver's suits, head restraints, shoes, and more to racers at local tracks to international teams. It was started by Bill Simpso ...

. He left Simpson Performance in a controversy surrounding

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

and started Impact! Racing. He was inducted into the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycle ...

in 2003.Bill Simpson
at the

Racing career

Simpson started in

drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most ...

and SCCA Formula racing, eventually moving up to the USAC

Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar. Competitive event ...

series. He raced in the 1968-1974 and 1976-1977 seasons, with 52 career starts. He qualified twentieth for the

1974 Indianapolis 500 The 58th 500 Mile International Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 26, 1974. Johnny Rutherford, in his eleventh attempt, won the race from the 25th starting position, the farthest back sinc ...

, and finished thirteenth. He finished in the top ten 11 times, with his best finish in 6th position in 1970 at

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

. 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 The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United Sta ...

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." 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.
Jim Donnelly, Muscle Machines 1203 Hot Rod Hero: Bill Simpson The first person to inquire about and use his parachute was "Big Daddy"

Don Garlits Donald Glenn Garlits (born January 14, 1932, Tampa, Florida) is an American race car driver and automotive engineer. Considered the father of drag racing, he is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. A pioneer in the field o ...

.
Lori Lovely, "Nuvo Safety Spelled S-i-m-p-s-o-n" He evolved his business into a number of other safety items, such as gloves, helmets, restraints, and shoes. Simpson designed

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

's first umbilical cords, where he met

Pete Conrad Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr. (June 2, 1930 – July 8, 1999) was an American NASA astronaut, aeronautical engineer, naval officer and aviator, and test pilot, and commanded the Apollo 12 space mission, on which he became the third person to ...

. Conrad introduced Simpson to

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

product

Nomex Nomex is a flame-resistant meta- aramid material developed in the early 1960s by DuPont and first marketed in 1967. Properties Nomex and related aramid polymers are related to nylon, but have aromatic backbones, and hence are more rigid and m ...

in 1967. Simpson used the product to create the first

fire suit A racing suit or racing overalls, often referred to as a fire suit due to its fire retardant properties, is clothing such as overalls worn in various forms of auto racing by racing drivers, crew members who work on the vehicles during races, t ...

to be used in racing. He took the suit to the

1967 Indianapolis 500 The 51st International 500 Mile Sweepstakes was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, over two days, Tuesday May 30 and Wednesday May 31, 1967. The race was dominated by Parnelli Jones in the radically new, four-wheel driv ...

where it was worn by 30 of 33 drivers. 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.

Earnhardt controversy

was involved in a controversy after the February 2001 death of

over whether the

seat belt A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt red ...

manufactured by the company had malfunctioned.

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

's investigation into the crash in part blamed seat belt failure. Simpson received death threats and bullets into his house, which led to his resignation in July 2001. Simpson sued NASCAR for $8.5 million defamation of character suit in February 2003. Simpson withdrew his lawsuit with an undisclosed settlement. 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 Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Impact ...

in 2002. 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. In 2010, Bill Simpson sold Impact! Racing to Robbie Pierce and MasterCraft Safety.

Football helmets

Simpson designed a lighter football helmet after attending an

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

football game and witnessing a player being hit in the head by the ball. He partnered with Chip Ganassi to form Simpson Ganassi Helmets. They sold the company in 2018.New local owners of SG Helmets hope to protect next generation of football players
- Karen Billing, Rancho Santa Fe Review, 4 September 2018

Career award

In 2003, he was inducted into the

in the "at large" category.

Author

He was the author of the book ''Racing Safely, Living Dangerously'', and its sequel, ''Through the Fire''.

References

External links

Official website for Impact Race Products
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Bill 1940 births 2019 deaths American racing drivers Deaths from cerebrovascular disease Indianapolis 500 drivers People from Hermosa Beach, California Racing drivers from California Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California Tasman Series drivers Automotive safety pioneers American automotive pioneers