USAC Racing Forum

Over the weekend the family and I were at the Nike Outlet Store. My son asked if he could get a couple of the Dri-Fit shirts. Since my brain immediately relates about 95% of everything I hear to racing in some way or another, I responded, "sure, but remember you can't wear it under your race suit".

Simpson published a notice awhile back about the danger of wearing synthetic materials under fire suits. I may have shared it on this forum before, but I thought it was worthy of posting again as a reminder to all of my racing friends.

http://simpsonraceproducts.com/pdf/SafetyUnderGarments.pdf

I have seen so many kids at the track wearing this type of shirt. They are great for helping them keep cool, so it sounds like the perfect solution to a hot day and heavy, hot safety equipment. Unfortunately, these synthetic shirts; such as the ones from Nike, Under Armour, Addidas, etc pose a major safety risk in the event of a fire. Did you know that an SFI 3.2A/1 suit has a TPP rating of 6 which means it offers 3 seconds of protection from a fire before 2nd degree burns occur? When a synthetic material is placed into this equation, melting may occur even more quickly.

We are very fortunate that the sanctioning bodies do a pretty nice job of helping our kids race safely by mandating the proper safety equipment; however, there are many things that we can do to ensure that our kids don't just have adequate protection, that they have the best protection available.

This is a good topic for your next club meeting. It may sound very obvious to some; however, I think there are many parents that may never think about stuff like this. Honestly, I didn't until I came across this article by Simpson. 

Sorry to stay on this soap box so long. Happy and safe racing!

This is a great topic.  Since reading the notice a long time ago I have seen many kids wearing those clothes under their firesuits.  Every time I have sought out the parents to talk about the notice because I couldn't live with myself if a kid got seriously injured and I didn't share information I knew could have prevented it.

I know they have gone out of style, sorta, with the new multi layer suits but good ole' nomex undies work well. I breaths when it's hot and in April or October it's nice and toasty.

I have been considering getting AJ a set to wear under his suit figuring it would add another layer of protection there, but I haven't seen anyone doing that with their kids.  Has anyone tried it with their kids and if so how comfortable was it for the kid?

Scott,

Fire protective under garments have evolved greatly over the years. The latest evolution is mostly made from Carbon X and is very comfortable against the drivers skin. The biggest challenge we face is that most of our drivers are very small. My son, for example, weighs only 50 pounds. I haven't been able to find any manufacturer producing these items in youth sizes. If anyone else has, I would love to have the information.

Presently, my son wears an SFI 3.2a/5 suit. Beneath his suit he wears 100% cotton clothing.

Hey Dave-

So from what I am reading the nomex is the best/most logical solution for this safety issue: does 4PRP.com have the ability to provide this stuff? If so, what are the smallest sizes available and what kind of cost are we talking about as well for a nomex set-up- I think I've heard there pretty expensive? Are they any other more economical routes to go?