Image Courtesy: Simpson Performance Products
Last Sunday, I was flip-flopping from football games to the Vegas race. Something dawned on me that I never thought about before. Both professional sports have uniforms that are meant to keep them athletes safe. Yet, most people don’t know the history of the firesuits that race car drivers wear.
So I decided to do a little research on the brand that seems to have the market share of firesuits.
Simpson. The red and white logo that everyone knows but hasn’t thought deeply about.
Not Homer. Not Marge. But named after E.J. “Bill” Simpson—the founder of Simpson Performance Products.
The California Drag Racer
When you’re young, you think you’re invincible. For 18-year-old Bill Simpson, he wasn’t any different. He chased the thrill. The speed of a dragster.
1958 was a year when he found out he wasn’t invincible. He found himself at the end of a drag strip with two broken arms.
A life-changing moment that changed his life—and racing—forever.
The crash altered his way of thinking. He began searching for ways to improve his safety.
In his Motorsports Hall of Fame nomination bio, it talks about how he created the idea of using a parachute to slow down his dragster. An idea others had before, but not as innovative as Simpson.
He researched materials and developed the first Simpson Drag Chute.
The chute that ultimately led to other revolutionary products.
Fire Meets Space
By the mid-1960s, Simpson was already becoming a safety mogul. He developed a dual drag chute and met someone who would take him further into the business of life-saving equipment.
Bill met astronaut Pete Conrad, who introduced him to the fire-retardant material NASA used.
In May of 1967, 30 out of 33 drivers at the Indy 500 were sporting Simpson’s fire suits.
And the rest is history.
Simpson Racing Suits
So my lazy Sunday in front of the TV took me down an interesting path. The brand identity of Simpson means more than a logo on a suit.
It’s a company that started to fundamentally make racing safer. What’s more impressive than that?
I could never develop chutes, suits, helmets, devices, or anything of the sort. Hell, I’m typing a story with words that have been spoken before.
However, I now have a deeper appreciation for the innovation behind the suits that save drivers’ lives.