By Mike O’Leary
May 19, 2012 – As they have for the past five years, the King Of Indiana Sprint Series promoters will present a unique helmet to this year’s King. Made possible by sponsors Sprint Car and Midget Magazine, Simpson Performance Products and VanHorn Tint & Accessories, the helmet is always fully ready to wear in competition.
As in previous years, the helmet will be highlighted with artwork specially designed for the KISS champion by Jeff VanHorn. The KISS series promoters basically give the artist a blank sheet of canvas to work on, a plain white helmet. There are no directions or guidance, other than “Make it special.” This approach has been highly successful, given the artistic design seen on the previous helmets. The Simpson helmet is fully state of the art in the critical areas of safety, materials and construction, it comes equipped with everything a driver needs to strap it on and go racing. Yet, each of the Champion’s who have won a helmet (Jon Stanbrough in ’07, ’08 and ’10, Brady Short in ’09, and Dave Darland last year) have chosen not to wear it for racing, but rather to keep it with their personal trophies. This only makes sense in that there are no other helmets like the KISS Champion’s, and the only way to get one is to earn it on the race track.
Simpson Performance Products and Sprint Car and Midget Magazine are nationally recognized as established leaders in their fields, with Simpson’s broad safety and racing product base, and the magazine’s reputation for strong feature articles, photos, editorials and race reporting.
Located in Bloomington, Indiana, VanHorn VanHorn Tint and Accessories offers a broad range of products, including window tinting, LED lights and truck bars, rear window graphics, specialized graphics for everything from racing cars and helmets, to personal, company and fleet vehicles.
2012 KISS SCHEDULE
April 22 – Terre Haute Action Track — Robert Ballou
April 29 – Kokomo Speedway – Rain
May 4 – Bloomington Speedway – Rain
May 11 – Gas City I-69 Speedway — Dave Darland
May 19 – Lawrenceburg Speedway
May 27 – Tri-State Speedway
June 2 – Paragon Speedway