Taylor Motorsports

Hi, we're here in Anaheim, California with Dennis Taylor of Taylor Motorsports and we're going to get the facts behind safety equipment, where we started and where we are today, even though we're nostalgia racers, we still need the current safety equipment. So Dennis, where did we get started with safety equipment? Well, So if you really want to get nostalgic, that's what you have. But back in the 60s, these types of fire suit was kind of the state of the art in what was happening. It was kind of an al And then later on, it became new materials, Nomex and Kevlar and such. This suit here is from the early 2000s. It'still current today. It uses a flat style Nomex and now we can build a suit with any color combination and anything is possible anymore. And it's a lot safer than what we used to have back in the 60s. And there's also something even newer yet, and that is this new material here, which is a satin material or a European Nomex. It's built by Phoenix Custom Apparel. Those are the suits that we handle here at Taylor Motorsports. This is actually a one piece dash 20 suit for a nostalgia top fuel car or a current fuel dragster or fuel funding car. It's very, very light, very pliable, and it's very comfortable. The material tends to breathe a little bit. I have one for my own car and it's the light to wear that type of suit on a really hot day today. So this is an SFI 20 and it's a little heavy, but not nearly as heavy as Kevin's other suit. What is the SFI rating of something Well, this suit here never had an SFI rating. This was actually before the SFI foundation even came about. All they had in these days was this was better than jeans and a t-shirt. Oh my God. Well there you have it folks. This is a modern day and this is what I'm going to get fitted for. I'm very excited. The project car is coming right along. Our steering box is on the way and I need a suit in order to be safe and protected and this one's not going to do it. And we're going to fit Christie for this suit, custom made right here. This is serious, that's a fit. This really is a custom fit. We've had some problems in the past where customers have actually done the sheets and they've taken them to a tailor. And we've had problems with the suit fitting after that. And the reason is when they fit you for a suit they're exact, exact, exact. So you don't want to take this to a tailor to have it done. You're better off to measure it at home and your husband or wife measure you and then Phoenix Custom Apparel will make the necessary allowments and so forth for different sizes. Your actual height? 5 foot 10. And your actual weight while we're filming? Oh, it's. . . Can't be made to fit it all out. Okay. You can edit that part out. Gloves play a very important role, obviously, in today'safety equipment. As you can see here, this old style glove, once again, back from the 60s, made out of an al They didn't have too many high-tech fabrics back then and it had a leather palm on it. And cap skin or leather is actually very fire retardant in its own right, but still, once it gets hot, it wants to crack and break apart and shrink. Today we handle a ringer's glove. This is called the Nitro X glove. This is a 20 glove. It does have some leather on the palm because the SFI spec says that you have to have leather on the palm to feel the steering wheel and everything. This glove has got the most dexterity of any glove I've ever seen in my life. That's why we stand behind this glove. Now, this glove is also made out of carbon X material. And carbon X is a really, really incredible material. And they have set Christy on fire here and give you an idea of just how great it really is. As you can see, there's not even really any discoloration in the part at all. The three tests in effect would be to light the bottom edge of it and then pull it away. And you'll notice how it extinguishes itself fairly rapidly. And there's no deterioration in the fabric whatsoever. Now that's a pretty incredible piece of fabric right there.