Dale Earnhardt died of blunt force injuries to the head, but an autopsy completed Monday couldn't determine if a head and neck brace would have saved his life.
Dr. Thomas Parsons' examination could not determine whether Earnhardt's decision not to wear a new protective device called the Head And Neck Safety (HANS) system during Sunday's Daytona 500 contributed to his death, said Dave Byron, a Volusia County spokesman.
Only about a half-dozen drivers donned the U-shaped device for the 500. The brace keeps the driver's head and neck from snapping forward on impact, perhaps preventing skull and neck fractures, but Earnhardt and most other drivers shunned it as bulky and uncomfortable.
Three other NASCAR drivers, Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin and truck racer Tony Roper, died last year of similar injuries.
"We are not able to say" if the HANS device could have saved Earnhardt, Byron said.
Earnhardt, 49, died instantly Sunday after losing control of his car on the final lap and slamming head-on into a concrete wall at 180 mph.
The final autopsy report will not be available for several weeks, pending the completion of routine blood and toxicology tests, Byron said.
"We don't expect that those will show anything," he said.
Earnhardt's body was being released to the family later Monday, first going to a local funeral home, Byron said.
Plans for services were pending.<
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.