Jimmie Johnson wears a helmet produced by Bill Simpson's
new company, Impact Racing. Credit: Autostock

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The depression that had Bill Simpson contemplating suicide in 2001 has been replaced by exuberance for life.

You can hear it in his voice.

You can see it in his body language.

Five years after NASCAR claimed a faulty safety restraint produced by Simpson Performance Products contributed to the death of Dale Earnhardt on the last lap of the Daytona 500, Simpson is back doing what he does best.

His new company, Impact Racing, is producing the kind of safety equipment that made Simpson a pioneer in the world of motorsports. Twenty-six Nextel Cup drivers, including Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears, wear either his helmet or suit.

Twenty-four Busch Series drivers are fitted in his equipment.

Simpson's new head and neck restraint has just been certified for competition and he's developed a new fire suit material that he believes will be revolutionary.

"Four or five years ago I was contemplating taking my own life," Simpson said from his Indianapolis office. "I was pretty depressed about my pal getting killed.

"Now I feel revitalized. I've still got a lot of stuff left that I still haven't had time to do."

Simpson is quick to make sure there is no link between Impact Racing and his former company, which he'd already sold and was serving as a consultant for when Earnhardt was killed.

The voicemail at his office and the note on his company Web page states: "Impact Racing is a Bill Simpson company that competes directly with and is not affiliated with Simpson Performance Products."

The only link Simpson wants with the past is his reputation.

"New company, new products, new logo. The same Bill Simpson you trust for safety," states the signature line on his company Web page.

Those that wear Simpson gear say allegations after Earnhardt's death had no impact on their confidence in Simpson or his products.

"He was a pioneer, and there's a big reason our fire suits and stuff are as safe as they are today," said Mears, who wears an Impact helmet and fire suit. "I never doubted him one bit. A lot of those issues Bill got flack for were not really his doing."

Brendan Gaughan agreed, reminding Simpson once set himself on fire to prove his fire suit worked.

"Any man that will light himself on fire to prove he has the best product ... I'll go with Bill Simpson no matter where he goes," said Gaughan, who drives in the Truck Series. "He has the best product out there right now with his helmet, the new cooling system.

"If Impact closes and goes somewhere else I'm right there with him."

Simpson, 66, said any hard feelings he may have had toward NASCAR officials who said his equipment contributed to Earnhardt's death ended when he dropped the $8.5 million defamation suit against the sanctioning body in 2003.

He chooses to look at the positives that have come from the tragedy, such as the advances NASCAR has made in safety.

"Sure it was a tough period in my life, but the changes that have been made have been phenomenal," said Simpson, a former drag racer. "It really surprised me how quickly it all came down. Now NASCAR is probably safer than NHRA, which I always felt was the safest.

"I don't see those guys letting up. They're putting their money where their mouth is. It also gives me an opportunity to continue to do what I do best."

Simpson, who began inventing safety equipment in 1958, said his former company had lost some of its innovative edge when he fully resigned in 2002.

"I was pretty hands-tied on what I could do and couldn't do, money I could spend or couldn't spend on research and development," he said. "What I made right out of the box [at Impact] was better than I made with my old company."

Simpson's first project at Impact was the development of a safer helmet for children 12-and-under that channeled air into areas "where it's never been channeled before."

He transformed that technology into a helmet for adults.

"I didn't have to do this," Simpson said. "I could have lived the rest of my life with no problem with the amount of money I sold that company for. I needed to make a statement."

Which was?

"Look at my product," Simpson said. "Compare it to my competitors. When you go look at my products it's like looking at a Rolls Royce. When you look at my competitors, it's like looking at a Model T."

Simpson doesn't attend many Nextel Cup races these days. He was at only six a year ago.

But it has nothing to do with his feelings toward NASCAR. He just doesn't have time working 12 hours a day, six days a week selling his equipment in all forms of motorsports.

For that same reason he won't be at Daytona this week, the fifth anniversary of Earnhardt's death. But he has been back to the 2.5 mile track since '01, the first time three years ago when NASCAR president Mike Helton gave him permission to come promote his new products.

"I had to resale myself for the first two years," admitted Simpson, who was voted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2003. "Now that everybody sees what we're doing and the quality that we're doing, we don't have to anymore.

"We're barely keeping up with the orders we have."

Such good times were hard for Simpson to imagine during the months after Earnhardt's death. He was defending himself and a product he didn't believe needed a defense.

"This isn't about money," Simpson said at the time. "This is about truth and integrity. ... I personally need my name absolved from the responsibility of the death of my friend.

"NASCAR needs to apologize for making me the fall guy, and they need to make a statement that I didn't have anything to do with Dale's death and neither did my company."

Simpson never got a full apology, although NASCAR somewhat backed down from its initial claim when a belt in Jeremy Mayfield's car broke and some of the focus went to how the belts were installed.

Simpson eventually agreed to drop his suit as both sides agreed to focus on future safety. Helton publicly recognized the contributions Simpson has made to the sport.

"All I did was step up for what I believe," Simpson said. "That had nothing to do with anything other than me trying to look out for myself.

"There's quitters and there's quitters, right? I ain't a quitter. I'm an old racer. I have a lot left to give to the industry. I'll do this until I drop dead, or when I quit having fun and satisfaction for it."