Well now. I think I'll just pop into the IT board to see what's shaking. Holy smokes!

<font face=\"Verdana, Arial\" size=\"2\">...The Club Racing Board would like to clarify that all safety devices (including head and neck restraints), per GCR Section 20.4, shall free the driver from their belts and the car with a single point of release.</font>
(emphasis added)

It looks like the HANS device is forbidden in SMs and other small, closed-cockpit cars! And if NASCAR adopts this philosophy, it’s bye-bye HANS!

Okay, okay, I’m having a little fun here, but not much. This subject, at least within the SCCA, is screwed up beyond all recognition (Isn’t there an acronym for that?), but people are making a good-faith effort to put things right. It is unfortunate this was mentioned in the FasTrack before the details were worked out. Here is a brief summary of what is going on:

1) SCCA Pro Racing includes the Isaac system in its list of accepted, mandated H&N restraints. It takes the position that the driver needs to demonstrate that they can quickly egress from the car, and does not care how it is done.

2) SCCA Club Racing recognizes that it has created something of a monster by concentrating on the means rather than the ends. They are making a sincere effort to fix it. We're not privy to the internal debate in Topeka, but I suspect the main issue is whether they continue to tweak the GCR as is, or flush all egress-related rules and switch to a Pro-style performance measure.

SCCA Club Racing has contacted us for our input on this subject, and has been very receptive. (See the subject FasTrack, page F-165, center column, item #6.) Without getting into the details, we offered two observations:

1) Getting out of your seat means nothing if you cannot get out of your car. This is not some philosophical position; we are aware of real instances where drivers have been trapped in burning cars by competing products. Had nets not melted or corner workers not been there to put out the fire, these guys would have been vacuumed out of their cars once everything cooled off. We purposely designed the Isaac system so it would be left behind if you have to bail. It’s been an uphill battle, but drivers are slowing coming around to agreeing that <1 second to pop the pins is a small price to pay for a guaranteed exit.

2) Given that tweaking the GCR to accommodate belts, H&N restraints, radio connectors, etc. could be cumbersome, a Pro-like approach to egress may be the best way to go. We are not recommending a specific time limit, but rather that the driver demonstrates that they have practiced rapid egress to the point where it becomes second nature. Jake Gulick does this regularly; I’m sure he could chime in as to whether this approach makes any sense.

Those are the highlights. Other stuff is going on, but it’s more business/politics than safety.

This is a case of safety technology getting ahead of the rules. The rules will eventually come up to speed and I hope it happens soon. Here is the nightmare scenario: Tech bounces Isaac, driver borrows “other product”, driver gets barbequed, SCCA gets sued into the next dimension. No winners there.

Lastly, I’m not sure what to say (except thanks) to those of you who say you will dump the SCCA if you can’t use your Isaac. Wow. You guys are on the A list for Rolex tickets.

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Gregg Baker, P.E.
Isaac, LLC
http://www.isaacdirect.com