Gary:
I was simply a racer at the event. This was something I heard from other competitors later on (which is why I said "may" and not "did").
I appreciate your interest in getting the facts correct.
The incident I am talking about is
~HERE~.
At the time it was discussed among many racers in the northeast and I'm sort of surprised you do not know about it. It appears the Conn. St. Police were involved. Perhaps it would useful to see if they have a report available.
I would be very glad to hear that it had nothing to do with the HANS device.
I personally wear a HANS every time I race.
I was motivated to make my comments above because I have informally noticed that some race cars that were set up pre-HANS have shoulder belts that look as though they are mounted too far apart for proper usage with a HANS. This always bothers me and I'm sure you would not like it either. I have mentioned it to various race officials at times but I am just one guy.
Maybe some sort of campaign to research this or a poll by Simpson would be useful.