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The no fire suit rule in pitlane could be explained because there's no refueling going on but the no helmets??? Crazy indeed, especially with 50-60 cars participating
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You have to remember, it wasn't that long ago that helmets were required in the pits. 2013 was the first year in America for a non NASCAR race that it was required. Firesuits were not required until 2004 for the whole crew and that was just the suit. 1991 was the first year for a pit lane speed limit and that was because of NASCAR. I did many pit stops where cars were blowing past me at 100+ mph while I was doing a pad or tire change. Even for two years IMSA had the brilliant idea of grounding cars before fueling. Even though I never remember, ever a static electric fire starting but for some reason we needed it and then it was dropped.
Years ago I always wore a bandanna around my face with a headsock over it for a tire change because back then, asbestos brake pads were banned for street cars but still used in racing. Back then pads never lasted like they do today thus it was a cloud of black soot when you hit the air gun.
A few years ago, I calculated that the amount of pit stops that they do in the top three series in NASCAR was around 4X what every other series I could think of on the planet. They do it about as wrong as can be (by sportscar standards) and you'd think there would be at least 10 dead crew and 50 fires per year. Somehow, they can do it fast, with 5 lug wheels, a floor jack and two 11 gallon dump cans along with 30-35 other cars doing the same thing at the same time. Yet in sportscar racing, we are so formal with a bazillion rules and still manage to screw it up.