May 3 2007
Kyle Bush tried, but failed, to break his HANS Device in a "big-one" at this past weekend's Busch Series race at Talladega.
Kyle gets to walk away and race another day, thanks to the safety systems in his car, and the HANS Device he wears in every race. Three years of use and abuse, then one huge front-end wall hit, 8-barrel rolls, 2 spins on his roof, and a body slam have failed to break the HANS Device.
The only injury was to his HANS Device - As James Bond might have said, "cracked, not broken."
HANS Performance Products CEO Mark Stiles commented, "We were pleased to see Kyle shrug off such a dramatic wreck. It takes a lot to even produce a slight stress crack in a HANS Device. It worked as designed, and was ready for more action - like its driver!"
He continued, "HANS Devices are the only head and neck restraints built to the strength standards demanded in all major international race series. While other manufacturers are content with simply meeting the requirements of the SFI 38.1 performance specification, we go the extra mile. It just makes sense."
Inventor of the HANS Device, Professor Bob Hubbard added, "Since we introduced the first HANS Device more than 20 years ago, we have focused our research and development on providing racers with robust and reliable products. Wrecks like Kyle's confirm the value of this investment. Having over 35,000 HANS Devices in use worldwide means we get a lot of feedback on how they work, time and time again, to help save lives and livelihoods."