Rusty Wallace, who saw Earnhardt's damaged car last week, said Earnhardt's seat belts might not have been installed properly. Ultimately, the seat belt failed, no doubt about that. Wallace's brother, Kenny, says Earnhardt's belt might have been tangled by the way Earnhardt pulled it forward to tighten it. Kenny Wallace said. And once you fray it, it comes.
Sources agree that's what happened to the belt.
They said that the belt wasn't properly on the metal adjuster, and that the metal sheared the belt when the car crashed. On a belt system that is pulled forward to tighten, a driver can pull it up and forward. That twists the belt in the adjuster. Instead of the entire belt being on the adjuster, only part of it is. There are other belt systems where drivers reach down and pull the slack backward.