http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/thatsracin/10556014.htm

I'm a little surprised to see NASCAR ban the Hutchens but I'm not
surprised it failed the safety testing. It has been apparent that the
Hutchens is not as effective, especially in side impacts.

On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 20:54:03 GMT, Good2go
<Good2go (AT) good2go (DOT) nb.sympatico.ca> wrote:

"Alan Jones" <me (AT) alanjones (DOT) us> wrote

Doesn't surprise me that much Alan. I've owned a Hutchens for a couple
months now, and I wouldn't want to use it in any faster of a vehicle than my
own little race car (which on 'long' straights barely gets above 85-90mph,
plenty fast for a sub-1000lb car) Since using it some myself and seeing how
light they really are constructed compared to a HANS, I am surprised that
NASCAR ever ok'd it for use in such heavy cars that routinely run over
180mph. I know I wouldn't get into a Cup car today without a bonafide HANS,
unless something just as good comes along first of course.

The Hutchens device's appeal was multi-fold. First, they aren't as
cumbersome/uncomfortable as a HANS, and second, they only cost about 1/3 of
what a HANS costs. Bobby Hutchens said he wanted a low priced product (about
$400) for the weekend racers out there that didn't have $1200-$1300 to put
into a HANS, plus the time it takes to get it perfectly fitted to you. I am
not even sure that he wanted the Hutchens really pitched to NASCAR drivers,
but the rule that came up opened the door for their use, until now I guess.
His target audience was the local guys, on small bullrings, not going that
fast, and that aren't going to hit anything "too" hard as a result. I don't
think he ever intended it for full fledged, full-sized NASCAR use, but I
could be wrong.

I'm glad they passed the rule on it, it isn't really stout enough for NASCAR
racing IMHO.

Sim, what class you race? Website?

SimRacer wrote:

Now THAT'S a dedicated sim racer. :-)

Will NASCAR ban the Hutchens for their local series drivers as well, or
just the "big boys"?

You're right. I should be more surprised that it was allowed in the
top levels to begin with. Maybe I should no longer be, but I guess
I'm still a little shocked when NASCAR does the right thing regarding
safety.

On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 22:06:31 GMT, "SimRacer"
<nOspaM@simracer68 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote:

Alan Jones wrote:

I'm a little shocked that NASCAR has done something about safety without
being motivated by a recent tragedy, as is all too often the case.
I'd like to know what caused the Hutchens to fail their test, but their
taking the initiative on this one is definitely a good thing.

Yup, the article says Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, and others still
use the Hutchens. On this one, NASCAR is thinking ahead. Of course
something tragic can still happen but at least the drivers are not
wearing a device that is not well suited for the upper levels of racing.

On Tue, 04 Jan 2005 00:58:35 GMT, Frank Dwyer <fdwyer (AT) XcitlinkX (DOT) net>
wrote:

--
Humor, don't leave home without it!
www.Rappy.net


"Alan Jones" <me (AT) alanjones (DOT) us> wrote

Tony is gonna

On this one, NASCAR is thinking ahead. Of course

In article <HljCd.16270$B66.549911 (AT) twister (DOT) southeast.rr.com>,
"SimRacer" <nOspaM@simracer68 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote:

I think what you may be wrong on, is the statement
or the implication that the smaller tracks present
a larger hazzard.

Actually, some of the hardest hits have come on small tracks.
And also, there are a lot more fatalities on short tracks
than on big ones..



Dan
----------------------------------------------
I got a new toolbox for my wife.
Best trade I ever made.