NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The Head Racing Funny Car will be carrying the RacingGoesSafer.org logos of the Stand 21 Safety Foundation at this weekend’s Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, Aug. 31 -Sept. 5. 

“We have been working with Stand 21 and its Safety Foundation for the last several years on improved driver safety equipment, and we wanted to thank them for their contribution to safety in our sport.” said team owner Jim Head. Jim and Chad Head’s introduction to Stand 21 was at one of their safety seminars in 2012. 

Stand 21 and their Racing Goes Safer racer education program may not be familiar names in drag racing, but they are starting to make their mark in the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes. 

Stand 21 Racewear has been in the safety business for the last 46 years, making driver protection equipment in Europe and elsewhere around the world for drivers in F1, Le Mans, Indy, NASCAR, and World Rally, specializing in helmets, HANS devices, suits, underwear, gloves, and shoes. 

Yves Morizot, founder and president of Stand 21 and the foundation, said, “My safety crusade began when my good friend was badly burned in a Formula Three racing accident.  I said, ‘We must do better!’ Loving all types of racing, I want to help the Professional, as well as the vast majority of drivers who are Sportsman racers, to be safer wherever they compete.” 

Several years ago, when Morizot became interested in looking at safety in drag racing, particularly in the area of fire protection, he knew he needed to first learn about the sport’s particular needs. 

Encouraged by Don Taylor, then a part of NHRA’s technical services and now the foundation’s director, he came to Denver in 2008 and met with Larry Dixon and Del Worsham to hear firsthand about their personal safety concerns.  Seeing what equipment was being used at the time, Yves felt that he could improve upon it. As an independent producer, he knew he would have uncompromised control of design, manufacturing quality, and use of best materials. 

Since then, Morizot and his U.S. staff, headed by Kevin McConnell, have been working quietly with several top drivers to evolve better protective clothing, specifically suited for drag racers. 

The first opportunity Yves saw was to reduce the stiffness and isolated-feeling of the bulky Funny Car and Top Fuel drivers’ suits by utilizing a proprietary knit material he had pioneered in other series. 

“The soft-knitted, fire-protective materials Stand 21 uses in their special SFI 15 and SFI 20 suits are not only cooler and more comfortable but allow my body more freedom of movement both to control the car and to get out in a hurry when I need to!” said Chad Head. 

That same kind of paring down, while still providing the required NHRA/SFI high level of protection, has been applied to the Stand 21 driver boots, resulting in a better pedal feel. 

A few of Stand 21’s other safety product innovations available now in drag racing are the FIA 8860 Helmet, Double-Visor, and the Lid Lifter. 

The FIA 8860 “super” helmet specification developed in Europe for F1 exceeds even the high standards of Snell in terms of head and face protection from intrusion. Though not the only producer of FIA 8860 level helmets, Stand 21 has introduced the option to many NHRA Pro racers in recent years. 

Stand 21’s unique Double Visor is a replacement helmet face shield, constructed from two sandwiched pieces of polycarbonate, to better protect a driver’s face and eyes from the heat of a fire. 

The Stand 21 Lid Lifter is an innovative balaclava built with simple handholds sewn in to allow safer driver helmet removal while not straining a possibly injured neck. It is now one of the two approved helmet-removal systems required in NHRA for the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes. 

“What Yves Morizot is doing appeals to my sensibilities as an engineer,” said team owner/driver Jim Head.  “Stand 21’s R&D group understands the dynamics of fire and the impact of G forces on the human body.” 

“Yves does not do it alone, as he has many friends who are independent, world-renowned motorsports safety experts, such as Doctors Terry Trammell and Steve Olvey, famous for their life-saving work with Indy Car drivers, and European experts like Dr. Jean Duby and Dr. Claude Meistelman, both of whom work with the FIA.” 

Morizot’s desire to give back to the sport has resulted in his creation in 2010 of the Stand 21 Safety Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to educating racers on how to better protect themselves through seminars and a video library, both featuring these world experts. 

The next Racing Goes Safer seminar, free and open to all racers, will be held at the PRI Show in Indianapolis on Dec. 9.  For more information, visit RacingGoesSafer.org.

“We are happy to give Stand 21 and its Safety Foundation a little recognition for the work they and their network of independent medical and technical advisors are doing to help drag racers,” said Head. 
Morizot will be at the Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis this weekend and can be reached through Chad Head Racing.