Looks like the bogus suits aren't the only problem
The maker of the HANS Device says that 82 of 87 Impact Racing helmets it inspected during the recent NASCAR race week at Bristol Motor Speedway had unauthorized anchors that don’t meet safety specifications on them, according to documents that are part of a lawsuit HANS Performance Products has filed against Impact Racing.
HANS obtained a temporary restraining order last Friday in U.S. District Court in Georgia to keep Impact, owned by longtime safety pioneer Bill Simpson, from selling helmets with the unauthorized anchors. The anchors on the helmet are attached to the tethers that connect to the head-and-neck support that sits on the driver’s shoulders.
The anchors on helmets sold by Impact, HANS alleges, had trademarks of HANS, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and the SFI Foundation on them. The anchors are not magnetic, while the current HANS-authorized anchors now use magnetic material (HANS had used non-magnetic material in the past). HANS performed an in-house test of the disputed anchors and said the anchor did not meet the loads prescribed by the FIA.
“These differences are not merely aesthetic but can endanger the lives of customers,” HANS states in its request for the temporary restraining order.
HANS Chief Executive Officer Mark Stiles, in an affidavit, said in a conversation with Simpson that Simpson disavowed any association with manufacturing or purchasing counterfeit post anchors, saying that he had bought product direct from HANS Performance Products in the past and was now buying from an authorized HANS Performance Products dealer. He said that he could not see any difference in the post anchors used by Impact.
Simpson attorney Bob Horn said he could not comment on the specifics of the case until Impact Racing files a response later this month. “It sounds like a big deal, but it’s not,” he said Wednesday.
According to documents filed in the case, HANS executives were informed by a former Impact employee about the anchors. HANS then ordered a helmet, which had the alleged unauthorized anchors on them. At Bristol, Impact helmets made up 91 percent of all the helmets inspected with counterfeit anchors.
HANS has replaced the anchors free of charge, according to the documents, and many of the helmets found with the unauthorized anchors had the anchors replaced during the Bristol race weekend.
The HANS Device is one of two head-and-neck restraint systems approved by NASCAR. All drivers in the three national touring series must wear either a HANS Device or a Hutchens Device.
HANS Performance indicated in court documents that it had sold approximately $10 million worth of HANS Devices in North America and another $10 million in the rest of the world in 2008.