[NJSPEEDER]

SFI rating standards for seats, just like other SFI ratings, mostly revolve around single impact incidents. Whatever rating is on the seat is only for the first hit, any subsequent rolling or banging around isn't really covered.

This is one of the justifications for oval and drag racing sanctions having rules that heavily favor aluminum seats. While fiberglass, plastic, and carbon fiber seats are designed to deflect and return, aluminum seats are more capable of distorting through multiple shots wbefore failing.

In road racing type accidents, vastly more often than not, the car hits one thing one time then comes to a stop. Drag racing wrecks often involve multiple impacts from going between the walls or rolling over. Circle track it is extremely common to get hit by other cars after an initial impact and often even get deflected back into the wall.

When picking out seats, or any other safety equipment for that matter, keep in mind that the application is just as important as the rating stickers on it.