The Racing Tear-Off Story began with Plato Hoyle

For added safety, NASCAR required the teams to use Lexan®. Although Lexan is unbreakable, it will nick and pit easily, making it very difficult to clean and often creating a white haze or glare that can obscure a driver’s vision.

While visiting Geoffrey Bodine’s #7 shop, Plato immediately noticed the poor condition of these windshields after a race. He conceived of a clear film that could be applied to the outside of the windshield before the race.

Upon joining Pro-Tint, Steve Fricker continued Plato’s vision by experimenting with the application process, trying various thicknesses to improve the durability of the clear film. Eventually, he successfully created a product that could be multi-layered and removed during the race.

With the valuable help and feedback of Kevin Hamlin, then Crew Chief for Performance Product Racing’s #1 car, Pro-Tint was able to develop the innovative product that is now used by most race teams today.