- LaJoie participates in NASCAR seat testing: In an ongoing effort to improve race driver safety, NASCAR, General Motors and a select group of safety equipment
manufacturers recently met to further evaluate ways to improve racecar seat standards for NASCAR racing at all levels. Randy LaJoie, owner of "The Joie of Seating", was one of just a few manufacturers invited to participate in a discussion and seat testing conducted at a Delphi facility. Other companies represented included: Hendrick Motorsports, ISP, Richardson, and HANS Performance Products. According to LaJoie, the purpose was to further research ways to establish seat standards for the racing community and further reduce driver injuries
contributable to poor seat design, materials and installation. LaJoie's willingness to participate in this effort further reflects his passion to improve racer safety. LaJoie has been an activist in much of the safety R&D that NASCAR has conducted over recent years and has been working to see these innovations transcend beyond the top 3 NASCAR series. In his own effort to do just that LaJoie began touring around the country in 2007 with an interactive unit to help bring safety education and innovations to all levels of racing. Still seeking a Title Sponsor for "Randy LaJoie's Safer Racer Tour", LaJoie plans to continue this tour in 2008, and for years to come, in hope of getting racers to use safer equipment and practices. The North Carolina Motorsports Association presented Randy LaJoie with their 2007 Industry Safety Innovation award for his work in helping to improve auto racing safety with the racecar seats designed and manufactured by The Joie of Seating.(PR)(1-11-2008)
- Safety Meeting News: Seats and helmets were hot topics at NASCAR's annual safety meeting for drivers and crew chiefs Tuesday at Daytona International Speedway.
Attendance is mandatory for the gatherings, which continue this month with a second Sprint Cup test and sessions for the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series. Tom Gideon, safety director for GM Racing, said drivers were particularly interested in new seat specifications in the wake of Ricky Rudd's Sept. 2 crash at California Speedway. Rudd, who made a NASCAR-record 788 consecutive starts, suffered a severely separated left shoulder and missed five races, the first time he had been sidelined by an injury. "They have rigid seats now with shoulder and head support, and they want to make sure there's nothing in the seat to hurt the shoulder," Gideon said. "There can be edges of the seat that can get into the shoulder, and that might have happened in Ricky's case."(USA Today)(1-9-2008)
- So..what happened to the Roof Hatch? Michael Waltrip's excitement was literally "through the roof" after winning at Talladega Speedway in September 2003. Celebrating in the infield, Waltrip emerged from his car via what NASCAR terms an "alternate exit," a roof hatch. Since then, however, the optional roof hatch is a virtual no-show at the racetrack. What happened? According to one source who wanted to remain anonymous, "If it's optional and it doesn't make the car go faster, we don't use it." But it's not quite as simple as that.
Steve Peterson, NASCAR's technical director since 1995, helped develop the hatch at NASCAR's Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C. "It goes back a ways, to the early 2000 era, when it looked like roof hatches really would be a good idea," Peterson said. "It was at the time that we started developing it, which took about a year and a half." Engineers worked to build a roof hatch that would maintain the stability of the roof while not affecting the performance of the car. "During that time, manufacturers were also building larger and larger head surrounds," Peterson said. "In the early days, you could stand straight up in your seat if you had the roof hatch open. Today you have to kind of twist sideways and turn and come straight up. The larger head surrounds made it more difficult for a driver to stand straight up in his seat. So to take the roof hatch off and to go out through the roof hatch became more difficult. But guess what? The larger head surrounds were negating the need to be able to pull a driver out through the roof if he had difficulties because we were getting better results from the impacts. The head surrounds are bigger for a reason. They're protecting the driver in side and frontal impacts."(ESPN.com Icon)(8-25-2007)
- Study: Will NASCAR’s Increased Safety Efforts Increase Accidents? When NASCAR debuts the Car of Tomorrow at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 25 [yesterday], Todd Nesbit, an avid NASCAR fan and assistant professor of economics at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will be busy counting the number of accidents—and how many of those drivers walk away without a scratch. In 2006, Nesbit and Russell Sobel, professor of economics at West Virginia University, produced a study that explored how drivers react to having cars so safe that they can generally walk away with no injuries after crashing into a concrete wall or another car at a very high rate of speed. “Based on results of our study, we would project that drivers will drive more recklessly and take more risks while driving the Car of Tomorrow,” Nesbit said. “Initially, there will be a learning curve for everyone, which will likely increase the number of accidents as drivers and crews get used to the vehicles. Once the learning curve has passed, we predict that the new normal rate of crashes will be higher than it is currently because of the response to additional safety features on the Car of Tomorrow.” The study, “Automobile safety regulation and the incentive to drive recklessly: Evidence from NASCAR,” shows that NASCAR drivers, in fact, do drive more recklessly in response to the increased safety of their vehicles. However, even with an increase in accidents, there is a reduction in total injuries—because the increase in riskier driving is not enough to offset the benefits from an increase in safety features. See the full article/study at (Penn State University)(3-26-2007)
- Taking Safety to the Short Tracks..LaJoie: Randy LaJoie announced the launch of his Safer Racer Tour Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Tour will visit short tracks all over the country to educate racers on the importance of safety. Only an estimated 30% of short-track race cars are up to safety standards. According to LaJoie, getting the safety features in the cars is an uphill battle. Cost issues as well as negative attitudes are a huge obstacle. Lajoie hopes to work with drivers, track promoters and even chassis builders to get the word out. "I want to educate these guys," LaJoie said. "The rest of the industry doesn't know what the top three divisions know. Some people just don't know what could happen to them." LaJoie is a two-time Busch Series Champion. His company, the Joie of Seating, has revolutionized the driver's seat and is rapidly becoming the leading seat provider for drivers of all ages.(source: AMS Pit Notes)(3-17-2007)
- NASCAR looking at FlexAll for entrance to pit road: During a race on Virgina's Richmond International Raceway in 2003, Nascar driver Robby Gordon lost control of his car as he roared into the pit at 55mph. He smashed sideways into the concrete slab that separates the crew from the pit road and wrecked his car. Luckily, he didn't do the same to his body. Had he hit the divider head-on, the collision could have transferred a 100G-force jolt to his body, more than enough to kill him.
In an effort to reduce such a nasty risk, Nascar has turned to scientists at Battelle, an R&D company in Columbus, Ohio. Their solution: a new hyper-elastic material called FlexAll that deforms to absorb an incoming force and then bounces back to its original shape within minutes. After molding the FlexAll into honeycomb-like columns, the researchers repeatedly slammed racecars into it at speeds up to 100 mph. The plastic behaved identically crash after crash, absorbing 92% of an impact's energy each time. In road tests, the cushion reduced maximum G load on the driver by an impressive 60%.
Not just racers but everyday motorists stand to benefit too—Battelle has developed a highway version that can catch vehicles as big as a Hummer, traveling at speeds up to 60 mph. Both barrier systems await final approval from Nascar and the Federal Highway Administration and could be on a road or racetrack near you as soon as this summer.(Popular Science)(2-6-2007)
- Not NASCAR but a Safety Thing so: ASA Late Model Officials announced that starting in 2005, the series and its competitors' will utilize the RaceSafe System. The RaceSafe System is a dash mounted light that will alert the driver instantaneously when the yellow flag is displayed. The signal is controlled by the series race director, which means that as soon as the decision to put out the yellow is given each and every driver will immediately know. For information regarding the RaceSafe System please visit their website site www.race-safe.com or call 1-800-910-8089. RaceSafe System is owned by Racing Electronics - www.racingelectronics.com, long time sponsor of the Jayski site and presenting sponsor of my Scanner Links page. Racing Electronics also signed with the ASA Late Model Series to a three-year deal to become the Official radio supplier to the series. As part of the deal ASA Late Model teams and fans will have the opportunity to visit the R.E. trailer at most of the ASA Late Model races.(RE PR)(1-6-2005)
- IMPROVING SAFETY STEP-BY-STEP NASCAR officials provided the following list of 52 safety-related rule changes the organization has implemented since 1994:
1. Researched, developed and mandated roof flaps.
2. Increased thickness of the fuel cell.
3. Mandated that fuel cell be of one-piece construction.
4. Mandated thicker construction of upper and lower A-frame control arms.
5. Mandated center windshield bar from "halo" bar to back of dash.
6. Mandated vertical door bars between horizontal bars.
7. Mandated side rails on Craftsman Trucks.
8. Changed installation procedure of oil system
.
9. Mandated location of oil system.
10. Mandated maximum size of oil system.
11. Eliminated quick-disconnect fittings for oil system.
12. Eliminated quick-disconnect fittings for fuel lines.
13. Eliminated quick-disconnect fittings for brake lines.
14. Mandated auxiliary on/off switches on steering wheel.
15. Mandated throttle stops on carburetors.
16. Mandated wire suspension system for carburetor boosters.
17. Increased size of drive shaft.
18. Mandated minimum thickness of read axle housing.
19. Mandated minimum lug nut thickness.
20. Mandated date of manufacture be stamped in frames.
21. Standardized location of shock absorbers.
22. Mandated cable restraints on hoods.
23. Mandated cable restraints on deck lids.
24. Mandated cable restraints on spindles.
25. Eliminated floating calipers in brakes.
26. Mandated four-rail, steel-ball fuel check valve.
27. Standardized construction of frames.
28. Standardized and increased size of wheel hubs.
29. Instituted random testing of wheels.
30. Mandated minimum wheel weight.
31. Mandated polycarbon windshields.
32. Doubled retention standard of windshields.
33. Mandated spoiler angles are selected tracks.
34. Relocated centerline roof bar.
35. Standardized and increased distances for certain roll bars.
36. Added leg extension padding in seats.
37. Mandated location of main on/off switch to middle of dash.
38. Mandated 1/2-gallon radiator overflow.
39. Talladega and Daytona shock and spring rules.
40. Mandated 3/4-inch U-bolt on rear-end housing.
41. Increased size and thickness of truck trailing arms.
42. Mandated thickness of hood-pin posts.
43. Mandated solid steel hood-pin posts.
44. Changed and standardized where and how weight can be added to cars.
45. Eliminated rear window tint.
46. Mandated bracing inside rear window.
47. Increased size of rear bumper support.
48. Increased distance between frame and back of fuel cell.
49. Raised height and standardized location of "halo" bar from frame.
50. Increased the thickness in fuel cell carriage.
51. Mandated fire-resistant shifter boots.
52. Mandated quick-release latch on window net.
(Atlanta Journal Constitution)(3-10-2001)
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