In 2002, veteran NASCAR driver Rick Mast finished an early season race when he began to feel ill. As the season moved forward, Mast continued to experience symptoms that grew progressively worse. A race in Charlotte, North Carolina was the final straw for Mast, he was losing weight and couldn’t eat. It took several months of medical tests to diagnose what was happening to Mast. Turns out he was suffering from long term carbon monoxide poisoning.
Anyone working close to combustion engines is at risk of inhaling carbon monoxide and needs to monitor for symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. The potential for motorsports drivers to be exposed to carbon monoxide (CO) is increased and therefore the risk of toxic exposure is also higher.
For decades, drivers in the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) have complained of headaches, dizziness, and fatigue for several days after races. Mast was not an isolated case. But, drivers never understood what was happening to them and most, if not all, attributed these symptoms to hard racing.
During the 2001 season, NASCAR mandated that all drivers wear a full face helmet to prevent injuries to drivers during crashes. As a result, race teams devised cooling systems that would cool a driver via a hose attached directly to a driver’s helmet. During races at short tracks, the cars are in close quarters with each other for hours, and the cooling system in the new helmets inadvertently pumped higher levels of CO from the surrounding air directly into the driver’s closed helmet.
For Mast, the issue was important enough that he got together with then NASCAR President Mike Helton to address carbon monoxide safety issues before announcing his retirement from NASCAR in January 2003. NASCAR responded to Mast’s concerns and retirement by initiating a “Fresh Air” study to look for a CO filtration solution to keep drivers safe. Engineers from Penske Racing under the direction of then President Don Miller led the effort to design and develop a new air filter, one that would utilize tech developed by NASA engineers.
The basis of the new CO filtration system was a design crafted by Penske engineers using catalysts. The catalysts were originally developed by scientists at NASA’s Langley Research Center for use on an atmospheric satellite project where they would capture carbon dioxide (CO2) and use it to enhance the operational life of CO2 lasers.
While the satellite project never launched, the catalysts are able to be used for other applications- commonly referred to as NASA Spinoffs. The catalysts are versatile enough that they can be molded into a variety of different shapes, making them useful for applications with limited space.
Penske engineers then worked with NASA to utilize a NASA Langley wind tunnel to control and isolate cooled air for filtration. As the air enters the racecar through a vent on the passenger side, it passes through an activated carbon filter (the CO catalyst). A HEPA filter will also remove any particulates that enter the system. After the air is filtered of harmful gases, it is then cooled and pumped into the driver’s helmet.
Penske named the filter system the “INCAR System”, and initially it was marketed and manufactured by Kustom Komponents. When introduced, the INCAR System was able to virtually eliminate the threat from CO poisoning, filtering as much as 70% of CO depending on track conditions and humidity levels. Since 2003 it is now standard for all NASCAR racecars to have a CO filter in them.
Although the exposure to CO is still present in motorsports, it is rare for a driver to develop severe CO symptoms during a race. Issues like weather, the equipment used, damage to the vehicle, and smaller NASCAR tracks can combine in a way that leads to CO symptoms in drivers. In fact, just this past February, drivers Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick suffered CO poisoning at the LA Coliseum, a quarter-mile track.
Partnerships like this, made between the automotive and aerospace industries are vital to the development of technology and safety measures that lead to a safer generation of vehicles.
