Bill Simpson facts for kids
E. J. "Bill" Simpson (born March 14, 1940 – died December 16, 2019) was an American race car driver. He is most famous for being a leader in making racing safer. He started a company called Simpson Performance Products that made safety gear. Later, he started a new company called Impact! Racing.
Bill Simpson was honored for his work and was added to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2003.
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Bill Simpson's Racing Journey
Bill Simpson began his racing career in drag racing. This is a type of racing where cars compete to go very fast over a short, straight distance. He also raced in SCCA Formula racing.
Later, he moved up to the USAC Championship Car series. He raced in this series from 1968 to 1974, and again in 1976 and 1977. He took part in 52 races during his career.
In 1974, he raced in the famous Indianapolis 500 race. He started in 20th place and finished 13th. He finished in the top ten 11 times in his career. His best finish was 6th place in 1970 at Milwaukee.
Bill decided to stop racing in 1977. He realized his mind was not fully on the race while practicing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He felt it was time to focus on other things.
Making Racing Safer
Bill Simpson became very interested in safety after a serious crash. In 1958, when he was 18, he broke both arms in a drag racing accident. He later said that before this, he only thought about safety after getting hurt. This crash made him think a lot about how to prevent injuries.
The First Drag Chute
Bill's uncle owned a military store. He suggested Bill use a special parachute to help slow down a drag car. Bill rented a sewing machine and made a test parachute. He tested it with his friend Mike Sorokin. They attached it to a car and opened it while driving at 100 miles per hour. The parachute was too big, and the car flew into the air and crashed! Even though they got into trouble, this led to the start of "Simpson Drag Chutes."
The famous drag racer "Big Daddy" Don Garlits was the first person to use Bill's parachute. Bill's business grew from there. He started making many other safety items for racers. These included gloves, helmets, safety restraints, and shoes.
Inventing the Fire Suit
Bill Simpson also designed the first special cords for NASA astronauts. Through this work, he met an astronaut named Pete Conrad. In 1967, Conrad told Bill about a new material called Nomex from DuPont.
Bill used Nomex to create the very first fire suit for racing. This suit was designed to protect drivers from fire. He took the new suits to the 1967 Indianapolis 500 race. An amazing 30 out of 33 drivers wore his fire suits!
Over the years, Bill developed more than 200 different racing safety products. He even made three generations of fire suits. To show how well his suits worked, Bill would sometimes set himself on fire while wearing a suit! This showed everyone how much protection his suits offered.
Designing Football Helmets
Bill Simpson also helped make football safer. He designed a lighter football helmet. He got the idea after watching an Indianapolis Colts football game. He saw a player get hit in the head by the ball.
He worked with Chip Ganassi to create a company called Simpson Ganassi Helmets. They sold this company in 2018.
Awards and Books
In 2003, Bill Simpson was honored for his contributions to racing safety. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
Bill also wrote two books about his life and work. The first book was called Racing Safely, Living Dangerously. His second book was named Through the Fire.
