Hutchens device

[2][6][8] Both the HANS and Hutchens devices are designed to restrict "forward whipping of the head" due to the change in velocity during an impact, which can lead to a fatal basilar skull fracture.

[4] In 2000, Bobby Hutchens and Richard Childress along with two other individuals started Mattec Inc.[12] That year, Trevor Ashline began developing the device.

[5][13] One week after Earnhardt's death at the Dura Lube 400, drivers Mike Skinner, Kevin Harvick, Bobby Labonte, and Elliott Sadler utilized the Hutchens device during the race.

[9][16] In April of that year, Earnhardt Jr. crashed in a race at California Speedway while wearing the device, suffering a concussion and blurred vision.

[9] In June of that year, driver John Baker was killed in an accident in a NASCAR Southwest Series event, while wearing a Hutchens device and an open-face helmet.

[16][17] In September of that year, Sterling Marlin suffered chest injuries in a crash at Richmond, then a fractured vertebra at Kansas, both while wearing the Hutchens device.

The injuries led to Marlin missing the final seven Cup Series races of the year, and required him to wear a neck brace while recovering.

[9][18] In October of that year, NASCAR safety consultant John Melvin stated that the HANS was a safer restraint than the Hutchens device, the former better preventing forward head movement during a crash.

The Hutchens device was said to have failed two of the three tests performed by NASCAR and the SFI Foundation, under new standards for head-and-neck restraints implemented for the 2005 season.