Veteran chassis builder Murf McKinney described him as the voice of reason in a sport where there have always been many voices.

Motorsports safety pioneer Arnold "Arnie" Kuhns, who dedicated his career to improving the safety and reliability of motorsports parts, passed away at the age of 83 on June 1. Kuhns, inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame in 2002 and SEMA’s Motorsports Parts Manufacturers Council (MPMC) Hall of Fame in 2016, was widely recognized for his contributions to the industry.

"He had multiple engineering degrees but never told anybody," McKinney said. "Arnie always played the dummy in the room. Even though he had all these degrees, he had an abundance of common sense. There's not a meeting that didn't go by that he didn't say, 'At the end of the day, what's the right thing to do?" 

"That would always put things into perspective. Put aside your own agenda, put aside the politics, put aside all of that. At the end of the day, what's the right thing to do?"

In 1984, Kuhns was approached by his peers in the automotive industry to lead the newly formed SFI Foundation. The organization was established to tackle the growing concern of inferior parts that posed risks to safety on the race track. Kuhns devised an innovative system to create minimum performance testing standards for race products, which was a groundbreaking concept at the time.

Initially, SFI had only two employees managing four product standards for one race-sanctioning body. However, under Kuhns' leadership, SFI's testing and certification program grew exponentially. Today, it encompasses over 100 quality-assurance specifications used by hundreds of international sanctioning bodies, making a significant impact on motorsports safety worldwide.

McKinney will always believe rescuing SFI was Kuhns' greatest accomplishment.

"He quit his job and bought SFI from SEMA for $10,000 and started it from scratch again," McKinney said. "Now it's up to 200 sanctioning bodies and many different specs used by motorsports all the world. That's definitely what is considered making an impact."

Throughout his career, Kuhns held various significant positions within the industry. He served as the president of the International Council of Motorsports Sciences (ICMS) and actively participated in organizations like the NFPA 610 Committee for Safety at Motorsports Venues and the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine.

Kuhns received numerous accolades from prestigious organizations for his dedication to motorsports safety. In 1995, he was presented with the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) George Snively Award for Outstanding Contributions to Motorsports Safety. The United States Auto Club awarded him the Jack O'Neal Award for Motorsports Safety in 1996. Additionally, Kuhns was honored with an NHRA Wally for Valued Personal Contributions to the Sport of Drag Racing and High-Performance Industries in 2002. In 2018, he received the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame's Lucas Oil Global Achievement Award. 

Most recently, Kuhns was posthumously awarded the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) John Melvin Motorsport Safety Award for his significant contributions in 2021.

Under Kuhns' leadership, the SFI Quality Assurance Standards program became synonymous with safety and reliability in the motorsports industry. His work undoubtedly saved numerous lives on the racetrack, and his legacy will continue to have a lasting impact on the safety of professionals and enthusiasts alike.

Beyond his contributions and accolades, McKinney said Kuhns' was very good in one other aspect.

"He was a very good friend to have," McKinney said.

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