FYI - Impact Racing gear Decertified by SFI for counterfeiting (Page 3 of 3)

This is what I was talking about yesterday when I said more will be coming out in the news over the next few weeks. I didn't know it would be this soon, but it's no secret to a lot of people that non-nomex thread has been used in their suits for a loooooooong time.

April, 2010

SFI PRESS RELEASE - Response to the Impact Racing Press Release of April 22, 2010

April 22, 2010 - Yesterday, SFI advised the racing community that Impact Racing suits bearing 3.2A/5 certifications “made prior to 2009 have been constructed with non-compliant materials that, in SFI’s judgment, pose a safety risk to users of those suits.” Impact responded by attacking SFI certification programs (although Impact and the other major equipment manufacturers have agreed to and participated in the development of these well-established programs); by claiming it could not get a fair hearing of the decertification appeal (although Impact asked for and received an expedited appeal procedure); and by claiming that “SFI’s actions have caused racers unnecessarily to question their safety.” It is this last point that requires a very specific response.

Scientific testing just conducted on 2008 Impact 3.2A/5 suits has determined that the thread melts away in a fire. This causes the fabric to come apart since there is no longer thread to hold the suit together. SFI believes this poses a significant safety risk to the racer involved in a fire. Rather than being constructed with Nomex (heat resistant) thread, the suits were constructed with some sort of unknown non-compliant thread that melts during heat testing. This thread failure is contrary to the SFI specifications that Impact agreed to follow.

The reason that this failure was not discovered sooner is that Impact provided SFI with Nomex thread samples in order to get their products tested and certified initially. Manufacturers are only supposed to provide samples of the actual materials to be used in their products. It appears that Impact failed to comply with this procedure regarding thread. Finally, one suit tested failed to have the proper thermal protective properties in the material itself. Again, such a failure poses a significant safety risk. This safety failure by Impact is consistent with a pattern of non-compliance:

1. Last year, SFI discovered that Impact SFI 3.2A/15 and SFI 3.2A/20 rated fire suits produced in 2007 and 2008 were also made with thread that melted during testing. In addition, these suits were often poorly constructed, without sufficient protective layers of Nomex material. SFI ordered the immediate decertification and recall of these potentially dangerous products.

2. Last year, SFI discovered that Impact SFI 3.3/15 and SFI 3.3/20 boots produced in 2008 were defective. Their materials failed heat resistant testing. SFI ordered the immediate decertification and recall of these potentially dangerous products.

3. Hans Performance Products discovered last year that Impact deliberately manufactured and sold counterfeit Hans helmet clips and attached them into the helmets of unsuspecting customers. These foreign made knock-offs were inscribed with the “SFI 38.1” inscription. Impact has never participated in this program. These counterfeiting activities were occurring at the same time that Impact was manufacturing counterfeit SFI conformance labels and patches. Hans filed suit against Impact in federal court last year in Atlanta. SFI intervened and joined in the suit against Impact. That suit is pending.

4. In 2004, SFI discovered that Impact gloves bearing SFI 3.3/20 specifications were made of material that was too light and failed heat resistance testing. SFI ordered their decertification and recall.

Impact’s press release claims that there “have been no burns or other injuries reported to Impact by any racer wearing Impact Race Products since its inception.” If this is true, the avoidance of injuries is due in large part to the policing of Impact products by SFI.

SFI was heartened when Impact finally admitted its own fault for previously making non-compliant gloves, boots, suits and helmet clips and acted to address those problems. SFI holds out the hope of a similar outcome regarding its pre-2009 3.2A, 3.3, 16.1 and 16.5 products, and that it will act in the best interests of the racing community without further prodding by SFI. However, admission of their fault will not change the fact that these products remain decertified and that Impact’s participation in all SFI programs will end June 22, 2010.

For a downloadable .pdf of this press release, please click on the following link: SFI Press Release 04-22-10.

SFI PRESS RELEASE

April 21, 2010 - SFI issues the following press release. Please review this carefully:

1. Impact Racing has withdrawn its appeal of the decertifications of its products bearing SFI 3.2A, 3.3, 16.1, and 16.5 specifications manufactured in the years 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. The decertifications of these products are now permanent.

2. The decertifications are based upon a number of the affected products being non-compliant with SFI specifications concerning labeling and construction. In addition to the presence of non-compliant SFI tags and the absence of DOMs on products, 3.2A/5 suits made prior to 2009 have been constructed with non-compliant materials that, in SFI’s judgment, pose a safety risk to users of these suits.

3. Impact Racing is permitted to maintain the certification for products bearing SFI 3.2A, 3.3, 16.1, and 16.5 specifications manufactured in 2009 and 2010. SFI’s investigation of the labeling and construction of these products is ongoing. Impact’s participation in the SFI specification programs ends June 22, 2010.

4. Any Impact product with SFI specifications 3.2A, 3.3, 16.1, and 16.5 without a date of manufacture (DOM) is deemed to be a decertified product unless the manufacturer has provided the product user with proof that it was manufactured in 2009 or 2010. This proof must be presented to track officials upon request. Impact believes that its products made in 2009 and 2010 have the DOMs affixed to products to the extent mandated by SFI specifications.

For a downloadable .pdf of this press release, please click on the following link: SFI Press Release 04-21-10.

Anyone still believe that Bill Simpson was in the dark about the fake SFI labels?

This should just about put the final nail in the coffin of Impact.  Who would trust them at this point?  Certainly not me.

Impact Racing is an LLC company, so there isn't anything anyone can do to them. When the class action law suits start filing in, Bill will close the doors and move to Mexico leaving all his loyal customers holding worthless Impact Race Products. If he had any morals at all, he would offer full refunds to all his "loyal" customers to show he is serious about resolving this, but instead he is offing a 35% discount on a new suit that won't be any good after June 22. He claims he dropped his suit against the Sfi because he couldn't get a fair trial, but he really knows he would have got laughed out of court with all the evidence Sfi has against him. After June 22 not even the 2009 and 2010 stuff will be any good because the Sfi is terminating it's contract with Impact Racing. All he will be able to sell is helmets, helmet bags, pit bags, umbrellas, t-shirts, sweat shirts and street shoes and these are all pieces of crap made in China, so who would buy them? Want to see something funny? Go to Simpson Race Products web page and right in the front BIG AND CENTER they have " SIMPSON RACING SFI APPROVED SAFETY YOU CAN TRUST. Think this is a jab at Impact and them trying to separate themselves from Impact Racing?

Anything is possible with a sufficient application of lawyers.

what is pcv?

I wish that the "found on another site" information was better written, as it is difficult to decipher exactly what points are being made. However, as a practical matter, I'm not sure that any of the technical details matter at this point. Impact has surrendered their appeal, so any non-helmet SFI equipment from pre-2009 is now and will forever be de-certified. It may be safe as hell, but if you can't use it in competition, who cares?

Going forward, SFI isn't going to sign a new contract with Impact, so there won't be any new equipment from Impact that is certified for quite awhile. If they are going to try for FIA certification (which is expensive and time-consuming), we won't see it anytime soon.

This whole thing is a shame though.

That's not entirely true. It's also very useful as a Halloween costume. I've thought about putting on my Heathcliff suit by Impact and helmet and running into an auto parts store in a hurry scrounging for parts like ball joints and radiator hoses (something that no auto part store carries) with a cameraman in tow. "I'm in the middle of a race here!"

Hilarity ensues.

Heathcliff suit? Where have I seen that before? Oh yes ...

I actually have extra copies of that magazine if you need/want any. The owners of Pro Tuning Performance in Fort Worth (they do some of the work on my DD/DE car for me, as well as give really good deals on tires to Lemons teams) were on that RX-7 team, so I grabbed a few copies for them when I saw the article on a down-and-back to Houston last fall.

This should make anyone wearing a POS Impact Racing suit think twice. The part I don't understand though is why the 2009 Impact suits have not been decertified. The yellow suit in the picture is a Vision Racing suit with the Menards sponsor on it. That is from last year, 2009!!!! How in the hell are the 2009 suits still certified by the Sfi when this is clearly a 2009 suit? To see the article, click on this link:
http://www.onedirt.com/news/the-smoking … uct-tests/

The Smoking Gun: SFI Foundation Publishes Test Results and Press Release on Impact Racing Product Tests
Posted by  Bobby Kimbrough  on  04/22/10   Email   Facebook   Twitter   Print Comments  (2)SFI’s Motorsports Manager, Carl Olson, released a statement along with the SFI Foundation’s latest press release which amounts to the Smoking Gun in the decertification of IMPACT Racing Products equipment.  Olson’s statement referenced  results of testing two Impact Racing Products Firesuits manufactured prior to 2009. Olson stated that the two suits tested were believed to be manufactured in 2008 but neither suit had a date of manufacture and both had counterfeit SFI patches attached.  The suit’s failures came during testing the thread used in the construction of the suits and one suit’s material failed thermal testing.  Olson’s statement reaffirmed that SFI Foundation is continuing to test and inspect Impact Racing Products manufactured from 2007 through 2010.

Previously, Impact Racing has issued statements claiming that their products met SFI standards regardless of where the SFI patches came from.  With the SFI Foundation’s release of failed testing of Impact Racing Products, driver safety replaces the counterfeit SFI patches as the key issue.  Most of the web traffic that been posted in forums on the internet tended to side with Impact Racing as being punished by the SFI foundation for using SFI patches that were bought in China.  It seemed as if most internet posters felt that Impact Racing Products were safe and met the SFI standards.  In what may seem as an admission of guilt, Impact Racing has withdrawn its appeal of the decertifications of its products bearing SFI 3.2A, 3.3, 16.1, and 16.5 specifications manufactured in the years 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. The decertifications of these products are now permanent. The recent findings by SFI Foundation may cause racers to rethink the safety risks of their equipment.

Other results of SFI’s findings: Impact’s participation in the SFI specification programs ends June 22, 2010.  Any Impact product with SFI specifications 3.2A, 3.3, 16.1, and 16.5 without a date of manufacture (DOM) is deemed to be a decertified product unless the manufacturer has provided the product user with proof that it was manufactured in 2009 or 2010.  This proof must be presented to track officials upon request.

What has been noticeably absent in these discussions is the responses by Series Sanctioning bodies.  With weekly racing going full bore around the country, it remains to be seen what effect the decertification of Impact Racing Products will have on the different series and sanctioning bodies.

Many in the industry wonder if the Impact Racing Products name has been tarnished to the point where Bill Simpson may close the doors on the company, change the signs and start a new company under a new name.  We expect to see racer’s polarized  by these findings with some siding with the reputation and name of Bill Simpson, while others will feel that the company has risked their personal safety for profit.  These and other questions should be resolved in the very near future as more testing is completed and the results are made public.

For information on this topic, we have included Carl Olson’s statement, the latest press release from the SFI Foundation, and the test results and pictures from the two fire suits referenced below:

OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM SFI FOUNDATION MOTORSPORTS MANAGER, CARL OLSON:

On April 13, 2010, SFI received test results from two Impact Racing driver suits we understand to have been manufactured in 2008. Neither suit has a date of manufacture, contrary to SFI specifications. These suits have counterfeit SFI 3.2A/5 patches attached to them. The thread on both suits FAILED during heat resistance testing. One suit’s material also FAILED Thermal Protective Performance (TPP) testing. The other suit’s material PASSED TPP testing, although the thread itself melted during testing. The test results are attached for your review. These results were previously provided to Impact Racing. In SFI’s opinion, the failure of the thread poses a safety risk to those who wear these suits in auto racing.

SFI is continuing to test and inspect Impact Racing products manufactured in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 as products are made available.

Please see SFI’s press release of April 21, 2010 posted at www.sfifoundation.com for more information.

CARL V. OLSON

Motorsports Manager

SFI Foundation, Inc.

I offer my Legalease-to-Okie translation services - all in good humor of course.

Impact got caught like an Arkansas hillbilly "herding" sheep. They sued to save their reputation, SFI counter-sued and either they were right or they had better lawyers 'cause they won. Impact kissed some SFI patootie, wiped the cow patties off their boots, and got to stay in business.

SFI will be watching Impact like a hawk on a mouse that's just too skinny to eat.

When Impact said they knew safety better than SFI, and that SFI was full of rednecks who didn't just understand their engineerin', they didn't really mean it. They were just pointing in the other direction while pulling their pants back up.

Just 'cause they screwed the pooch doesn't mean the whole town should know the pooches' name, breed, and whose name Impact was yellin' while the act was goin' on.

That's very interesting. MasterCraft is an off-roading brand, whereas Impact was heavily used by Nascar and circle-track teams. Hmm.