Bell Helmets is the presenting partner for The RACER Channel video series “Dan Gurney: All American Racer,” hosted by Robin Miller.
The first three episodes of the series have now debuted and can be viewed by clicking on the links below. Additional episodes of the six-part series will debut here at RACER.com each Tuesday.
When Roy Richter produced the first Bell helmet in a small garage behind his California auto parts store in 1954, he began a legacy of breaking new ground in safety and comfort technology that continues to this day, 60 years later.
Richter’s first helmet, the 500 (LEFT), consisted of a hand-laminated fiberglass shell and polyurethane foam liner. His friend, Cal Niday, wore one in the 1955 Indianapolis 500 – the first driver to do so – but crashed hard into the wall on the 170th lap. Although he suffered major injuries, Niday credited the helmet with preventing more serious head injuries and he was back racing just months later.
Never one to rest on his laurels, Richter always sought better, more innovative ways to progress head protection. In 1957, the Bell 500-TX broke new ground with its use of an expanded polystyrene (EPS) liner which absorbed impact force, rather than transmitting it to a driver’s head. One of the most influential helmets ever made, the 500-TX’s emphasis on protection through energy absorption remains a fundamental premise of helmet design today.
When the Snell Foundation established standards and tests to improve the effectiveness and integrity of helmets, the industry as a whole took a leap forward, but Bell remained at its leading edge.
In 1958, Jimmy Bryan was the first Indy winner to wear a Bell helmet. A decade later another great innovator, Dan Gurney, wore the first full-face helmet at the Brickyard. Gurney’s elegant black Bell STAR (sported by Dan during the 1968 British GP in the image atop this page) started a revolution, and in the 1971 Indy 500, all 33 starters wore Bell helmets.
Through the 1970s and ’80s, the innovations kept coming, including the first fire retardant helmet in ’73 and the first lightweight composite design in ’79.
Bell was also a pioneer in aerodynamics. Its 1991 Vortex used vortex generators to reduce buffeting, and the Feuling SS (LEFT), launched in ’93, featured a front splitter and rear wicker for use at 200mph-plus.
And as it celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2014, Bell’s desire to push safety and comfort to new levels is as strong as ever.
STILL PUSHING FORWARD
Bell’s unwavering commitment to creating and producing innovative, state-of-the-art head protection makes it the choice of many of today’s top racers.
Leading drivers wearing Bell helmets in 2014 include three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves (BELOW, with the Bell HP7), NASCAR Sprint Cup stars Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick, and multiple sports car champ and TUDOR Championship frontrunner Scott Pruett.
The HP7 was designed in collaboration with leading F1 drivers and teams to be as aerodynamically sleek, lightweight and efficient as possible for the demands of high-speed, open-wheel racing. Its shell and shield design has been optimized by moving the shield pivot pointer to a lower position to improve acoustic comfort, aerodynamic behavior and energy absorption. Test results show that in certain impacts, the Bell HP helmets absorb up to 40 percent more energy than standard models.
To find out more about Bell’s 2014 helmets, check out BellRacing.com.
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