5 things you should never wear in a race car.

Yeah, it's about circle track but the principle is the same.

http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/additional-how-to/1407-5-things-that-will-catch-on-fire/

Lots of roundy rounders here. Don't be a hater.

I can honestly say I have never worn any of those in a race car on a track.

I thought about wearing a bra, but my moobs aren't quite big enough.

Don't wear the leopard skin banana hammock either, that'll be the day you have a mishap and have to strip for the medical.

The underwires leave quite a scar when they burn.

3-layer suit and carbon-x undies for me in the racecars.

I remember back when I first started instructing for NASA - one of the guys showed up in a gutted Camaro with a sketchy ERW cage covered in padding like you use to cover plumbing.

No one seemed to care and I didn't have to ride with him but... I always sort of imagined the coroner's report if he crashed would read something like "It's lucky for him the cage buckled and crushed him - he was stone dead when the padding caught fire and burned him like that"

Next time you see Charles Espenlaub, ask to see his hands: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/fighting-fire/

I also used to be guilty of going out in DE traffic as an instructor in a 100% race car in a tee shirts and jeans and not even pull the pin on the fire bottle because... $50 and a big mess if I accidentally set it off. I don't drive any less hard in a DE than I do in a race practice though so it was really just being lazy/risky. I knew this - but when it's 95 and humid... risk seems better than all the trouble to dress properly.

I'm "mostly" ATGATT at the track now. I was goofing with one of the real pros who do one on one coaching for wearing $3k in sexy new gear at a DE and he said: "Fire is fire. It does not burn any less when your practicing than it does in a race". I'm pretty sure I called him a nancy boy anyway... but I took his point.

Charles has said the same thing: fire burns just as hot any day of the week.

David S. Wallens wrote: Next time you see Charles Espenlaub, ask to see his hands: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/fighting-fire/

His story and interview in the mag was what made me get serious about sealing up all the little holes in the body and practice getting in/out of the car with a stopwatch. That E36 M3 is scary as berkeley. I've never needed it for actually escaping a fire but it has the side effect of making driver changes faster too. All win.

You think about all the stuff... drop the net, undo the straps, pop the wheel off, pull the cool suit, radio connector... are we on fire? Yank the shut off and fire the extinguisher... don't get your hans hooked on the net... guaranteed anyone who hasn't practiced it has to make changes to their car to make it efficient like spring loading the net or adding door pull straps in easy reach, etc.

You should be outside in 10 seconds. Now think about it with smoke blinding you and upside down!

Yup, the Espenlaub story in GRM is what got me wearing my full safety gear pretty much all the time.

I printed off a bunch of copies and handed them out at one of our Super Late Model invitationals. Got lots of good comments.

If you think its fun getting out of a sports car, try a late model some day.

Ah good. I don't always race, but when I do I am never wearing pants or shoes.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I also used to be guilty of going out in DE traffic as an instructor in a 100% race car in a tee shirts and jeans and not even pull the pin on the fire bottle because... $50 and a big mess if I accidentally set it off. I don't drive any less hard in a DE than I do in a race practice though so it was really just being lazy/risky. I knew this - but when it's 95 and humid... risk seems better than all the trouble to dress properly. I'm "mostly" ATGATT at the track now. I was goofing with one of the real pros who do one on one coaching for wearing $3k in sexy new gear at a DE and he said: "Fire is fire. It does not burn any less when your practicing than it does in a race". I'm pretty sure I called him a nancy boy anyway... but I took his point.

the answer (of which I'm guilty, just haven't been burned yet … pun intended)

DE session, you crash and the car catches on fire … wouldn't you feel silly if your drivers suit was back in the paddock ?

In reply to Desmond:

Well, as long as you are in a sailboat it's probably not necessary.

And nowhere was mentioned a full chicken-suit.

My main job with my team was handling the fuel and fueling the cars. I have always had the best gear money can by because of it. The story in GRM a while back reinforced my choice to be quite spendy in this department.

the one area that I wad never happy with was my hands and my neck. It just never seemed to me that these areas were protected good enough

I sent the link to my wife and told her to go bra shopping.

Keep us updated on your progress.

condom, umbrella girls take it the wrong way and perceive that you think that they're unclean.

Knurled wrote: And nowhere was mentioned a full chicken-suit.

That's because everybody knows they're strictly for motorcycle use.

In reply to Zomby Woof:

I need a pair of those shoes.

I never wear anything made of human flesh inside the car.

Fire is no joke. In addition to the gear, check that the gloves/sleeves/etc all overlap properly. I used to be in ARFF (Aircraft Rescue Firefighting) in the USMC and we had a guy get 2nd degree burns on his wrist because the glove cuff was crinkled up and wasn't fully overlapped with his sleeve. This was a training aviation fuel fire outdoors in the open, too, and it only took a few seconds.