Change in horse collar rule....but what are they looking for?

[JackD]

1.Push something with a closed fist and see if you break any fingers.

[Roadster943]

   In my rulebook it says "The structure shall provide restriction to lateral head movement of less than 2" per side by January 1, 2008."  This is 07 isn't it? I do get confused at times but I can't see anything that says the head and neck device or the 2" rules will have to be in place for the 07 season. Instead of speckulating and guessing about what will be acceptable ways to restrict lateral movement to 2" per side I want to talk to the inspectors face to face and see what they have to say. To me the diference for this year is that they dropped the (neck collar) and are leaving it open to any head restraint such as HANS or neck collar or G force or Hutchins etc. Am I the only one that reads it this way?  Thanks Vince

[Rick Byrnes]

I think you have it right Vince,
 although limiting your lateral head movement now is still a good idea.
There will be many cars at Speed Week that will demonstrate changes to address driver safety in head movement.
The Ford Fusion fuel cell car I will be driving at Speed Week has effective driver restraint, as well as my lakester that I'll have at WOS in September.  I suspect we will see many different answers to the problem, and that is a very good thing.  The SCTA rule is only there to make us use our noggin for something other than a helmet storage device.  :-d
My approach is Hans device and very limited lateral head movement with SFI material which is available from Matt Ray at BSCI.

Rick Byrnes

[Roadster943]

  I agree that improvements now are a great idea Rick. I have not gotten the fire suit and helmet out of the rafters yet this year. I will be doing this soon. I believe my cage is real close to the 2" number and I do have some thicker SFI padding than what is on the cage now so I can gain 1/2" per side for now that way. The discussion above was just sounding like all the ansewers had to be addressed by Speedweek and I wanted to make sure I was not off track.   Thanks Vince

[Jonny Hotnuts]

I just finished the install of my lateral head restraint bar.


This is my solution:


Firstly I already have a tight space to get in and out of and the addition of a bar for L.H.R. was going to make things worse.

I decided to use some left over roll cage bar pieces and cut them to 11" and capped one end. On the non exit side (RH) I welded it to a pad and welded the pad to a hard point. For the exit side I milled a 2" long solid steel bar to the ID of the roll cage bar and welded it to the LH side pad. I drilled a 3/8" hole through the both pieces and have a ball end pin to secure the padded LHR bar to the solid bar.

I have a tail on the door net that releases the door net, it is now connected to the LHR pin so you can pull one tail to remove the LHR and the window net.

[RichFox]

This is my effort. New seat, more tubes, removable steering wheel. Maybe ear flaps. Pretty soon we will be welding the driver in.

[Peter Jack]

Point made Rich. At the same time if you go back and look at what we were running in various forms of racing in the 50's and 60's I'm glad that racing safety has continued to evolve.

Pete

[Jonny Hotnuts]

I would of much preferred to build one like yours Rich instead of a removable bar but my door opening measures 22H X 36". That isnt so bad until you consider that the seat is 12" below the side bar and I have to climb up before I can get out!

My pop is 64 and my wife it having him do some yoga to help him get flexible enough to get in and out quickly. Its not too bad for me but he has to squirm more than a dog crapping a peach seed.


The removable bar is definitely going to help.

[RichFox]

I normally have to dragged kicking and scratching into any change. The cage and rest of the car was built in '79-'80. I would have been to embarrassed to show up with my 1975 ski boat seat again. When it's done I'll like it.

[jimmy six]

This is the first time I've looked at all the responses. After receiving my new helmet I place it in the cage with the same padding I used since the "hard" padding came about. I have a total of 3-5/8" space plus the helmet so by the rules I feel I don't need to do anything. I may or may not continue to wear the collar.

I don't know if I was the first to wear a collar but I don't ever remember seeing any when I started. Sprint cars and midgets go ass over tee kettle and many still use them with side head restraints, nets, etc.

I purchased a  G-Force helmet, belts, and forward restraint. By Bonneville I hope the have the link sewn up for the restraint. A Hutchins device could work with my seat and cage but a Hans may be a problem.

I feel that each should may his own decision with the scope of the rules as they are as Dan said, the minumum.  If those side restraints from Kirkey can bend, I would not like them.

The Barbee's 277 and Eyres 836 roadsters have the new 3 layer foam padding and I have purchased the material to do them too. It may make it less than 1" of movement in my cage and I'm not sure that's right but it does sound like the right thing to do when you are spinning around or getting head slapped like tire shake. But we don't have that . It still does not mean we shouldn't do it. JD