What is the difference between a Drag Racing helmet and NASCAR helmet? Joe Gibbs Racing weighs in

Drag Racing and NASCAR car racing are very different and so are their helmets. On Friday, February 21, a Joe Gibbs Racing insider appeared in an official Instagram reel and gave a side-by-side analysis of these two types of headgear.

The video also featured Steve Torrence, pilot of the CAPCO Contractors Team Toyota dragster in the NHRA, and Brandon Jones, driver of the No. 20 Xfinity entry for Joe Gibbs Racing.

The two, along with the JGR personnel, discussed their respective helmets, comparing specs with each other. While Jones's helmet had a more robust build to it, Torrence’s appeared lighter due to its dedicated carbon fiber formula.

Both these helmets have to be worn for different durations. One is worn for a few seconds while another has to be worn for several hours. As seen in the video, the drag helmet came with a latch on its front to be strapped to the inside of the car to tackle the G-force, preventing the driver from getting injured from a whiplash.

But the HANS device was the same for both, except that Torrence's helmet didn't have the radio attachment.

“You don’t need a radio,” Jones remarked jokingly, pointing that out.

“I choose not to have a radio,” Torrence argued.

Someone to have experienced the best of both worlds is inarguably Tony Stewart, driver of the TSR Top Fuel Dragster who is currently filling in for his wife and drag racer Leah Pruett.

Stewart has driven for twenty years in NASCAR’s national series, winning three championships in the same. Notably, he is the only driver to win championships in both IndyCars and the NASCAR Cup Series.

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Joe Gibbs Racing circles out issue with Chase Briscoe’s car at Daytona

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in the Cup Series, suffered a major L2 penalty for an illegal spoiler base modification last week during the Daytona 500. Ironically, Briscoe was the pole sitter for the crown jewel event and it was his first attempt at the 500-miler as a Joe Gibbs Racing driver.

The penalty docked Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing 100 driver points, 100 owner points, and 10 playoff points each. It also got crew chief James Small suspended for four races and the team was fined $100,000.

The point deduction put Briscoe far behind the playoff elimination line; he is at minus 67 and 88 points. Journalist Bob Pockrass reported the same in one of his recent tweets and wrote,

"With the 100-point penalty, Chase Briscoe has -67 points and is 89 points behind 16th in the standings (the current playoff cutoff).

Joe Gibbs Racing has decided to appeal the penalty. The team said in a recent statement,

“The issue in question was caused in the assembly process when bolts used to attach the spoiler base to the deck lid caused the pre-drilled holes to wear due to supplied part interferences."

Briscoe’s next race, the Ambetter Health 400, is scheduled for February 23 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Fans can watch the 260-lap feature on FOX or listen to radio updates on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio from 3 pm ET onwards.