I feel sorry for the local guys using Impact equipment, because now it is all in limbo. Is it safe or isn't it ? How much will it cost to replace my gear ? To some guys it will come down to race or not to.

As for Mr.Simpson, it isn't the first time his conduct has come into question. Remember years ago when his business was staffed by a large amount of illegal aliens and got busted. Makes you wonder.

SFI has been in court (along with HANS with Impact) over the fee's that they have avoided paying. For each SFI tag, sticker, or set of HANS clips , you have to pay SFI $1.25 I think it is. More than a dollar anyway. Thats every set of seat belts, roll bar padding, every pair of gloves, shoes, suits, nets, etc that is certified by SFI, you must pay. You must pay each time you send an item to be certified and tested also. Same with Snell and their helmet stickers. It adds up to a lot of money to each manufacturer.
As manufactures, we all have play by the same rules....he should too.
Illegal Mexicans twice, cotton thread in his products, counterfit HANS clips and now SFI tags made and bought from Asia......why does he even bother?

Sa

I found this on hoseheads forum.... SFI is supposedly a "non-profit" organization....

This is just copied and pasted....

First I will say, I am a long time user of Simpson race products, and have a deal to run Simpson for 2010. Got a sweet carbon fiber helmet, and custom suit on the way! That's another story though.

My experience with impact products has been very limited. I have a set of impact belts in the car, which are very high quality. Bill Simpson has done more for racing safety than ANYONE in the business with his innovations and inventions.

Do I think it is right to "forge" sfi tags? No. But I am sure there are two sides to every story as well. SFI is a "non-profit" company, and it is also the standard which rule books are written for minimum standards on a specific duty. Ever notice how the tags state "MANUFACTURER certified"? Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't that infer that each individual manufacturer tests their OWN product and certifies that it meets the minimum standards set by SFI? How does this work? Do the manufacturers do their own testing, then provide documentation on the testing to sfi then PURCHASE tags to use? if I am correct with that understanding, it seems to me that since ALL rule books specify SFI certification, SFI can charge whatever they want for the tags, and force the manufacturers to pay this money.

So, admittedly there are a lot of assumptions in my thinking here...but answer this, if the equipment meets the spec AS SPECIFIED AND TESTED BY THE MANUFACTURER, is it THAT big of a deal that someone got their tags elsewhere if they felt they were being "bribed" by SFI? I'd be MUCH more interested in seeing tests showing that the equipment wasn't properly tested vs. some crap over a tag.

Another thing to consider, just because SFI is non-profit, don't think for a minute someone couldn't be making a ton of money off of this. Just because the company doesn't show a profit doesn't mean the officers and employees of said companies aren't making large salaries. I could be wrong on all this, but it smells of ****. The reports for non profit companies are available...can someone look it up and post it?

To answer my own question, per tax returns filed the presedent/CEO for last year claimed a salary of $198,825 with additional "other income" from the foundation of $35,426. How's that for non-profit? Assets listed at 1.34m This is kinda like the mob...regardless whether the equipment meets the minimum specs or not, SFI didn't get their cut so they are railroading Bill Simpson.

http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_...00906_990O.pdf

From what I understand, Impact signed a contract with SFI. SFI made it clear that they are in violation of that contract. This is exactly why you must READ every contract you EVER sign. It doesn't matter anymore what the story is. Impact violated their contract, and now they're going to have to pay for that mistake. All other arguments/complaints should not be considered with this violation. As for Impact...I don't use any of their stuff, but I'd be suspicious from now on after hearing all the things that Mr. Simpson has done in the past. To each their own but...I'd be an educated consumer from now on by saying I wont purchase any Impact gear. Just my opinion.

A few years back, I was doing some research on fuel tanks, and bladders, attempting to find what could be considered the safest, and also the least expensive, so as to not impact the car owners so much. During this research, I asked the likely question of, just how, and who "certifies" these tanks. Much to my surprise, it wasn't a testing company at all, I was told, by the manufacurer, "we send them to the New York State Police, and they do the testing"! Now, you can believe that or not, but that is what I was told. There are a lot of ways to look at this, but on the surface, it looks like it has "political" ties, which means that it has turned into another branch of government control, and someone is just sitting back, and counting the money, which might make someone want to find another source of the tags, or, on the other face, limit the actual numbers of product sold. Anyway, as there is so much used by Nascar, I'm sure an answer will be trotted out real soon. JMHO! Bob

There should be more than one certification standard that is acceptable. I don't like it when any one entity gets that much juice. Maybe Simpson will develop his own standard and get it accepted by some sanctioning bodies. Or maybe he'll just roll over and let em kick his butt. What do ya think?

Rick Fields

When and why did Oakley, Puma, Adidas, Arai, Stand 21, etc., get a foothold in this "arena"? What happened to Bell vs. Simpson? Basic competition, or were there shortcomings that we didn't see? I feel like an "old timer" for carrying around a SIMPSON driver's bag to carry all of my mechanics gear. At the same time, I'm glad that I didn't buy an Impact bag. I'm confused, and glad that I'm not a driver. I don't know Bill, but at this point, I'm saying "what a piece of work he is....".

I want to know whats going to happen for those of us who have Impact racing gear. They lost certification so can we still run it? Do I have to go buy all new stuff?

I haven't heard a word from NASCAR, looks like they're not raising any more red flags than usual, I'd think someone would really have to go waaaay out on a limb, to make it unusable right now. JMHO! Bob

SFI went out on that limb when they de-certified them. I guess it is up to the individual to decide whether or not to risk there hide.