HANS devices, as well as other head-and-neck restraint systems, are now commonplace at SCCA Club Racing and Pro Racing events since they became mandatory in 2012. The HANS was originally designed in the early 1980s by Dr. Robert Hubbard who partnered with brother-in-law and racer Jim Downing in 1990 to begin selling the product.

In 1996, NHRA became the first major professional series to mandate the technology. Formula 1 became interested following the accidents of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna in 1994, but it was not mandated until 2003 in that series.

Few NASCAR drivers used the product until the 2001 accident of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. at Daytona. When he became the fourth NASCAR driver to perish from a basilar skull fracture in a 14-month period, the sanctioning body soon made the head-and-neck protection mandatory.

The adoption process in Club Racing was a bit slower. Some drivers voluntarily used the technology in the early 2000s, but many felt the protection was superfluous and unnecessary in amateur racing. Today, most Club racers would disagree with that old way of thinking.

Hubbard and Downing were inducted into the SCCA Hall of Fame in 2014 for their contribution to the safety of automobile racing.

Image: Jim Downing shows off a version of the HANS and an illustration by Paul Laguette shows how it is worn by drivers