What is the SAH2010 Rating?

We're all expecting to see the new Snell SA2010 ratings on helmets and day now. What may catch you off guard is an all new rating - SAH2010. This rating is an addendum to the SA2010 rating. In other words, when you look inside your brand new helmet, you will see one or the other (if you see neither, you should contact your dealer since you just got burned!) Since everyone is bound to ask, Yes, an SAH2010 helmet can be used anywhere an SA2010 helmet is allowed. But what exactly is the SAH2010 rating?



The extra "H" indicates FHR (frontal head restraint) capability. We'll say it stands for "H"ead and Neck Restraint just so we avoid any further conspiracy theories regarding that particular Head & Neck Restraint manufacturer. Snell's mandate applies to helmets submitted that are supplied with built-in Hans Device connection points - two sets of M6 threads where the device anchors are typically installed. Due to an FIA homologation, many new helmets are manufactured with such terminals pre-installed.

The Snell Foundation verifies the location of the mounting points and tests the submitted helmet's pre-installed fittings for strength - I won't get into details regarding how the tests are performed (you can read up on that info by viewing the entire addendum via the link below).



Note that the device anchors are NOT pre-installed - only the M6 mounting points that the anchors attach to are built into the SAH2010 rated helmet.

Is this rating the answer to a question nobody ever asked? In our opinion, No. We've seen some attempts at Hans Compatible devices with pre-installed nutserts. Most of them were pretty shady in quality. It is of our opinion that if a Hans "install-point" is built into the helmet, it should be able to withstand the forces that an accident may create. And now, in this era of fake Hans Anchors, and false certifications, we have a way to prove that our helmets will perform the way we hope they will in the off-chance that we ever need to use it!

Detailed information for the SAH2010 Certification can be found here. For more information regarding this and other Snell Ratings, please visit the Snell Foundation's website at: http://www.smf.org

Are You Waiting For An SA2010 Helmet?

The latest SA2010 certification from Snell will be the 5th certification change that OG Racing has had the "honor" of handling. Once every five years, we get the privilege of getting rid of perfectly good helmets from our shelves and ordering tens of thousands of dollars of new helmets with the freshest Snell rating. This must be what grocery stores go through on a daily basis in the produce department!

This being the fifth time we've done this, we're once again visiting the question of "Do I need the newest rating?" Beyond the need to purchase the latest and greatest helmet safety standard - a need that I can't personally argue with as we (OG Racing) understand the need for the best in safety gear - lets examine the well known facts regarding the newest certification and what it means to the customer.

In speaking with most customers, there is only one real line of reasoning in a helmet purchase - buying an SA2010 helmet most likely guarantees the ability to keep and use that helmet through 2020. This is in contrast to purchasing an SA2005 helmet that can only be used through 2015.

True, from a financial standpoint, this makes some sense. The user only needs to buy ONE helmet in the 10 year period, whereas an SA2005 purchaser would have to buy TWO helmets to get through 2020. But let's examine this a little closer, using the Bell BR1 Helmet as an example. The SA2010 BR1 (arriving any day now) will cost $439.95. Right now, the SA2005 BR1 is on sale for $269.00. We can assume that in 2015, the SA2010 BR1 will go on sale for about $279.00 when using the same markdowns. So, buying ONE SA2010 helmet to use for 10 years will cost $439.95 VS buying TWO helmets for the same 10 year period at $548.00. A savings of $108.05 by purchasing the latest rating and using it for 10 years.

(Before I go any further, I'll take a quick perspective from a business standpoint, since yes, we are here to sell helmets. From a profit standpoint, I would much rather sell you, the customer, an SA2010 helmet at full-price, then an SA2005 helmet at a steep discount. There - I said it.)

Now for the safety argument: A racing helmet is composed of a hard shell covering an interior lined with padding. Both are fiberglass/kevlar/carbon, or some composite form of it. Over time, this will deteriorate in strength - this deterioration is multiplied by dirt and the surrounding environment (extreme heat/cold, sunlight, moisture, etc.) The helmet is actually becoming weaker, a fact that cannot be avoided unless you wrap it up in a bag and never use it! This is one of the reasons for the dreaded Snell expiration - although a 10+ year old helmet may still look like a helmet, there is no way to prove it is still as strong as a helmet should be.

Beyond the safety of the helmet, my favorite argument lies in 2 of the words in the above paragraph - dirt and moisture. As we all know, a helmet is near impossible to clean. You can't throw it in the wash, and most don't come with removable lining. Even if it were easy to clean, I know first-hand most of us don't do so! We take our wet, soggy helmets and throw them into a bag in the back corner of the garage/trailer as soon as we finished with our mid-July event. You know that helmet stink? Or the greasy, dirty feeling you get from handling your helmet? Yep - that's most likely mold. And bacteria. And plain, old sweat.

I personally have an SA2000 helmet in my closet I'll be getting rid of in the near future. I would still wear it - it's an open-face Bell Mag 4 that I used maybe once or twice a year for autocross. In my opinion, it's still very clean and looks nearly new. Similarly, if you're only attending a few events a year, and keep very good care of your stuff, I would say that there is no reason NOT to buy an SA2010 this year and use it until 2020 (and save some money in the process by using the One-Helmet/10-Year plan).

BUT - if you're at the track every other weekend and after a few years your new helmet now has legs - you know who you are (I've probably had to install Hans Anchors into your helmet - we keep hand sanitizer and latex gloves around for that very purpose) think about the other option. For an additional $100 every 10 years (through the Two-Helmet/10-Year plan), you only have to breathe your own funk for HALF as long!

Do what you will - we have lots of SA2005 helmets on sale, and the sale-prices will only get lower as time goes on. We'll also be getting SA2010 helmets within the next few days beginning with the new Bell line. I'll just leave you with one last thought - I don't own a single pair of underwear that's even close to 10 years old...and I don't wear underwear on my head (do you?)

A Penny for Your Suit? How about 10000 Pennies?

Every racing suit has a story. Every patch, every burn, and every inch of replacement Nomex thread tells a different story. Stories of the hard-won victories - and the countless losses that got you there.

OG Racing wants to hear your suit's story. Not only do we want to hear the story, we want the suit to display in our showroom! We are looking for 100 suits to canvas our showroom walls with. Each worn, well-used suit will have a small placard attached with the original owner's name, short-bio, and that suit's story.

And in typical OG Racing fashion, if you give us something, we're bound to give you something in return! In this case, it'll be a $100 rebate on any new Sparco SFI 3.2a/5 Racing suit.

And just to make things a little more interesting, we'll be awarding an additional $500 Gift Card (good for anything in the OG Racing catalog) for the most colorful suit story.

Here's the official rules:

1. Send us your old racing suit (see detailed instructions below). Racing suit must have been used by YOU personally (we already have Michael Andretti's racing suit and don't need another!) Include your name, a brief bio (condensed racing history), and approximate age of your suit.

2. We'll give you a $100 credit good towards the future purchase of any new Sparco 3.2a/5 SFI Racing suit (Closeouts models and Lico suits included).

Extra: Include a notable story/memory of your suit and you'll be entered in the $500 Gift Card prize. Story must be 500 words or less. Stories will be judged separately from above suit trade-in program.

Instructions: Please e-mail us at info@ogracing.com before shipping us your suit. Attach a recent photo of your suit and include your Name, Address, a brief-bio, Make/Model & age of your suit (if known). We will then e-mail you a pre-paid UPS label to ship your package to us along with any additional instructions. Please DO NOT ship your suit without first contacting us!



*Submitted suits will become the property of OG Racing. By participating in this program, you agree to allow OG Racing to publish and otherwise use your Name, Bio, and story material(s). OG Racing will not publish any confidential information such as address, e-mail, and telephone numbers. Only one entry/suit per person. OG Racing reserves the right to refuse any suit trade-in at our discretion. Please clean/launder all suits before shipment to OG Racing. Discount not transferable and must be used within ONE year. Program ends after 100 suits are received, at a date to be determined by OG Racing, or at the sole discretion of OG Racing. $500 Gift Card Contest: OG Racing reserves the right to terminate this contest for any reason. Entrance in contest is not a requirement of the suit trade-in program.

Stable Imaging RePlay Camera

If you've been following our Facebook page, you'd know that we've been playing with these tiny, micro-sized cameras from Stable Imaging - the RePlay XD. Our customers at the track have so far loved the camera, and we're pretty impressed from the video quality from such a compact body:

Actual Size

Here's a video sample from our Facebook page:



We just received 10 of these into our building that we overnighted directly from Stable Imaging. Another 90 or so are due to arrive sometime next week, but we wanted to make sure our customers had first shot at getting these guys.

Available now for only $189:

Click here to order today!

Sparco Circuit Plus Seat

Our last big seat shipment brought a surprise of sorts - the long overdue Sparco Circuit Plus Seat. We first were told about this seat about 2 years ago...I think most of us had pretty much given up on its existence. But 3 of them suddenly appeared last week!



What's the difference between this and the Sparco Circuit seat that's been around for years? Size. This seat is both taller and wider. Although I haven't taken actual measurements yet, to try and create some perspective, this seat is slightly too big and tall for my 5'10", 160 lb., 32 waist frame. But it fits the famous Brian Hair's 6'3", 205 lb, 36" waist perfectly.

RAM Camera Mounts

We were pointed towards this company by AIM. This is by far the nicest (and best deal) in video camera mounts we've seen - especially for everyone using today's smaller, lightweight digital video cameras. RAM primarily makes car mounts for things like GPS displays, satellite radios, and phones (we're getting a few of those too). Their car camera mounts use the same sturdy design with easy angle adjustments and vibration dampening rubber coated ball-joints.



Did I mention the great deal these are? Starting at well below $40 for the roll-bar style mount, this is the least expensive mount that's not going to send your expensive camera flying across the car! Not much else out there using the same marine-grade aluminum construction.

Check out the different options here

Available in the afore-mentioned roll-bar mount as well as suction-cup mounts and simpler bolt-on styles:

Impact Decertified by SFI Foundation

And the drama continues to unfold:

March 26, 2010 - NOTICE OF DECERTIFICATION; NOTICE TO CEASE AND DESIST AND TERMINATION OF ALL CONTRACTS OF PARTICIPATION ISSUED TO IMPACT RACING

SFI Foundation, Inc., has issued a Notice of Decertification; Notice of Cease and Desist, and a notice terminating all Contracts of Participation to Impact Racing. Effective April 27, 2010, all products manufactured and/or distributed by Impact Racing pursuant to SFI Specification Programs 3.2A, 3.3, 16.1, and 16.5 are decertified. Evidence obtained by SFI shows that over a period of years Impact Racing has engaged in the production and use of counterfeit SFI conformance labels and patches, and affixed them to Impact products for use in motorsports. Under the Contracts of Participation between SFI and Impact, SFI conformance labels and patches may only be obtained from SFI and no other source. Evidence shows that Impact had counterfeit SFI labels and patches made in Asia and then affixed them to Impact products it distributed to members of the racing community. To SFI’s knowledge, Impact never advised its customers that its products contained phony SFI labels and patches. Impact never advised SFI of its systematic and longstanding practice of counterfeiting and distributing SFI patches and labeling.

Impact has been directed to cease and desist from this practice. SFI has directed Impact to immediately notify all affected customers to remove the counterfeit labeling and to offer the affected customers a full refund of the purchase price. SFI is requesting that all counterfeit conformance labels removed from Impact products be sent to SFI.

SFI has elected not to decertify these products immediately in order to minimize the potential hardships to members of the racing community that have been brought about by Impact’s counterfeiting activities.

SFI has also elected to terminate all Contracts of Participation with Impact Racing effective 90 days from March 24, 2010. Under the terms of the Contracts, either party may terminate the agreements without penalty upon 90 days notice. This means that Impact will no longer be able to participate in any SFI programs after this 90 day period.

SFI has taken these actions in the best interests of the safety and integrity of the racing community. This is in keeping with SFI’s mission and purpose.

More info on SFI Foundation's site here.

For a downloadable .pdf of this notice, please click on the following link: Decertification Notice 03-26-10