Helmets are also inspected and, if passed, receive a sticker. The foam interior is inspected to insure it hasn't deteriorated, and the exterior, to check that it hasn't been penetrated. The IRL works with the helmet manufacturers, many of whom are on site or close by the Speedway, so helmets can be repaired. Otherwise, they are sent back to the manufacturer. Most drivers carry more than one helmet, however, all of which must conform to the Snell 2005 standard.
Each driver is also required to wear ear accelerometers, which are worn in each ear and wired to the helmet for speech and to the crash box under the dash, below the driver's legs. Inside the custom-made ear pieces are wiring circuitry and a speaker. The ear sensors were introduced in 2004, and later were adopted by Champ Car, and then NHRA. Now all the NHRA Pro Classes use the sensors and also crash boxes.
After an accident, Horton's team performs an accident investigation. Results are not publicly released from accidents such as that suffered at Indianapolis on Fast Friday by rookie Alex Lloyd, when he crashed hard into the wall. The group catalogues damage and graphs information from the crash box, which is downloaded into a secure private database, along with photos of the damaged car. The information is then available for IRL doctors to view. The data is used to future define sled testing. When a driver was not injured, the data is used for the sled test to determine why the car worked the way it did. Sled testing is done at Delphi facilities in Ohio, or at the nearby Cape facility in Indiana.
The IRL has its own, very expensive, THOR advanced crash test dummy - THOR-FT standing for Test Device for Human Occupant Restraint - Frontal Technology -designed for the National Highway Traffic Safety Research & Development department. The IRL uses it to test next generation safety systems and works closely with Delphi at its Vandalia facility.
![Alex Lloyd crashes out of practice at Indianapolis [pic credit: IRL/Young]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/437090.jpg)
