Was his seat belt broken when rescuers reached Dale Earnhardt after the crash that took his life? If it was, had someone cut it? And why has no one spoken officially with Tommy Propst, the firefighter who was one of the first on the scene and who insists the seat belt was intact?
Questions are swirling faster than cars around a track, and that ought to make every racing fan, and everybody else, for that matter, concerned.
NASCAR officials seem much too hasty in concluding that a faulty seat belt caused the death. If this were an isolated tragedy, that would be one thing, but Earnhardt was NASCAR's fifth fatality in less than a year. Independent investigations seem warranted.
All of which puts the Orlando Sentinel's battle to review Earnhardt's autopsy photos in a different light; the proper light, actually. The newspaper wanted the photos in order to get expert opinions on the cause of death — to act as a watchdog on NASCAR, the coroner's office and anyone else connected with the official version of events.
They had no intention of publishing the photos.
That's the whole idea behind the concept of making records public.
The government should not have exclusive right to the information it collects on its citizens. Information is power. Without the means to independently review information, the public is powerless and corruption breeds easily.
It is, of course, easy to sympathize with the wishes of a grieving widow and other family members.
But the number of deaths associated with racing in recent months raises questions about the safety of the sport and of NASCAR's ability to respond to those concerns.
Imagine if a similar string of tragedies struck professional football or hockey.
A sport ought to be able to ensure its fans and its participants of a degree of safety before it can be allowed to entertain thousands of spectators.
At the moment, NASCAR's investigation seems sketchy, at best. The organization has refused to show the allegedly faulty seat belt, and its officials have insisted Propst was in no position to view the belt, even though videotapes of the rescue clearly show that he was.
The questions are troubling. Racing fans ought to be the first to demand answers.