NASA HPDE Tech Inspection

[walt mckenna]

I was looking forward to my first HPDE event in October 2013 at New Jersey Motorsports Park. I joined NASA Northeast, read the rule book (a few times), performed a vehicle inspection according to the form, and was assigned an instructor.

I failed tech because of the low back buckets. On low back buckets, the seat belts, when pulled tight, press down on the spine and set the stage for serious injury in an accident. I purchased high back buckets with the hole for the submarine belt (nut crusher) and have not had a problem with tech inspection since. I post this so that those of you planning on track days will be aware that not every rule is in the rule book. It might be a good idea to contact your local club and chat with a tech inspector about your setup before going to the track.

[kabacj]

Good advice Walt.

I also contacted the NASA scrutineers prior to showing up to my first event and sailed through tech inspection. Maybe I will see you at the track soon!

John

[Gumball]

Walt - the tech guys were right and thanks for the reminder for everyone. Any shoulder harness location below 10* off the horizontal will typically not pass tech for most of the larger sanctioning bodies as more than that is considered a possibility for spinal compression injuries. For that reason, if you want to run the low back seats, most will recommend a shoulder harness cross bar for the roll hoop, as well as a permanently mounted head rest.