Unlike in NASCAR, there doesn’t seem to be a central point of authority in the NHRA that can say to the average racer, “Do this – wear a head and neck restraint.”
Hubbard: There is a lot of implementation in the forms of racing you don’t see on TV all the time that is a frontier for us, and something we’re working on. The decision making in clubs and other organizations is pretty diffuse. So, you have to convince a lot of people, and everyone is always worried about cost and complexity and so on. It’s [drag racing] an unexplored area for us, and we’ve only been working on it for about a year. It’s beginning to happen – at the top levels, but not at the bracket racing level.
Funny Car racer Phil Burkart Jr. gets some HANS fitment advice from Dr. Bob Hubbard and Jim Downing at the Southern Nationals. Top level racers have adopted the merits of head and neck restraints. It’s the amateur racers that need to start using them.
Do you think cost is a main issue for the bracket racer?
Hubbard: Sure. Yes it is. But a lot of people still think the HANS costs $2000! They’re $865.
On the NASCAR side, there were impact studies using stock cars and modeling done for that racing to verify and quantify the utility and safety performance of the HANS. Are there any special considerations necessary for the forces produced in the impacts in drag racing?
Hubbard: We’ve been testing these since 1989. The forces work the same way.