By David G. Firestone
While helmets have been around since the beginning of auto racing, full face helmets are a relatively new phenomena, having only come around since the late 1960’s. With the advent of full-face helmets came the visor. Visors or face-shields, are clear pieces of plexiglass that cover the open area of the helmet. In addition to keeping wind and rain out of a driver’s eyes in open cockpits, they also shield the driver’s face from fire, and can be tinted for racing in sunlight. Each form of auto racing has their own quirks when it comes to face-shields. Face-shields are designed to snap closed, and they all feature holes for the connection to the helmet, holes to keep the visor closed, and handles to help open the visor. This week we will look at NASCAR face shields.
NASCAR face-shields are made for cars with enclosed cockpits. They typically come in clear, or have some kind of tint. For day to night races, the face-shield can have a tinted tear-off that can be removed when it gets dark. Sponsors will also place their logos on the shield on the area that is over the edge of the helmet, as evidenced by this Jeff Burton tinted Arai visor from his RCR days. The face-shield is in decent condition. 
This clear Impact face-shield is from JR Fitzpatrick, during his NASCAR days. It is in decent condition, has a manufacture date of 01/2007, and has been signed by Fitzpatrick.
Next week, the face-shield discussion continues with NHRA face shields.
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